Our costume stock includes a substantial number of pieces of American and European 19th and 20th century men’s and women’s garments including hats, nightwear, and other specialty pieces from shows that TheatreWorks has produced. We also have a wonderful selection of regional, military, occupational, and fantasy costumes that have been used in our productions. We are continually growing our costume stock as new pieces are built or bought for our productions.

While we often have a wide selection of costumes for a particular show from our past season repertoire, we do not stock our costumes as full shows. This lets you select from a wider range of costumes to meet the needs of your specific production. Our costumes are usually one of a kind items, although we may very occasionally have multiples of certain costumes.

TheatreWorks makes its costume stock available for rent to the local theatre community, schools, film companies, and other professional organizations. We cannot accommodate individual rentals at this time.

Yes, an appointment is required to either rent or return costumes. We prefer to schedule appointments at least 48 hours in advance. You can request an appointment by sending an email to  costumerentals@theatreworks.org.

Costume rentals are “self-service” and you should plan on making an appointment to select your costumes approximately 4 to 6 weeks prior to your show opening. The costume rentals manager will be available to help you locate items within the stockroom. We allow you to pull extra costumes so you have choices in fittings. We will not charge you for these costumes as long as the extras are returned before your show opening or event.

At this time we do not have the facilities to ship costumes. Rental policies and prices are subject to change without notice. Each rental requires a Costume Rental Contract to be signed. Although we love to work with student designers, the contract must be signed by an adult 18 years or older.

No, we do not have the facilities for handling large groups and we don’t have dressing rooms to try on costumes. You should plan on bringing your cast member measurements and a tape measure.

Costumes may be altered to fit, but must be returned to their original condition before they are cleaned and returned. Costumes that are returned with alterations will be charged an alteration damage assessment to cover the labor costs to return the costume to its original size and/or pre-rental condition. This includes hems that are left in place following your production.

All alterations must be sewn. No costume may be sent into production with safety pinned alterations.

Additionally, tape, iron-on bonding web, glue or any other type of adhesive may NOT be used on costumes.

Costumes may NOT be cut, dyed, painted, or permanently altered without written permission from TheatreWorks. You may NOT “improve” our costumes without prior permission from TheatreWorks. This includes adding trims or other embellishments, especially trims that incorporate sequins as that may render our costumes not cleanable. If our costumes are permanently altered without permission you will be charged the replacement value of the costume.

Our costumes rent on a piece by piece basis and our rental rates are established for a 4 to 6 week production run. However, if your production runs 2 weeks or less, you will be eligible for our short run discount. Our rental rates vary depending on the type of costume item, the age/condition of the costume, the type of construction, and the costume’s current replacement value.

A security deposit is required at the time of the rental pull. Rental payment is due at the time of the final return. TheatreWorks Costume Rentals can accept payment by either check or credit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, or American Express as well as personal checks.

Prop rentals are handled independently of costumes. To set up an appointment, you must contact the Props department at proprentals@theatreworks.org.

No, we do not stock commercial costumes such as popular cartoon characters, Disney or Warner characters, Santa, or Easter Bunnies. We do not rent our costumes for Halloween or other party use.