Chickens, bunnies and hula music? What you can find at The Costumer

Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it is a Christian holiday, it has roots in both Pagan and Hebrew traditions celebrating the Vernal Equinox and the arrival of spring. The Costumer has a full supply of fun items for your church’s Easter pageant to your personal Easter Party. Fill out our plot plan and check out the Easter party. The Costumer's  generic Easter plot includes biblical costumes from the era of Roman prefect Pontius Pilatus.

Every party needs an Easter bunny or a fancy chicken. Or maybe it needs something different?

Easter is March 31st, but on April 1, 2013, the 135th annual White House Easter Egg Roll will be held with a new theme. This year the theme will be “Be healthy, be active, and be you” First dog 'Bo' will be staring in the Easter Egg Hunt.  They are inviting followers on Twitter and Facebook ages 5-13 to join the fun on the South Lawn and of course let everyone know from their experience.

Are you thinking of having an Easter egg hunt? Everyone loves a ‘hunt’ no matter what it is.

I never realized how many calories the Easter candy had. Those Peeps looked harmless to me.

I think for you and me; we should skip the Peeps. You don’t need many of the Peeps to knock your diet out for weeks.  Although they are fat free, they’re loaded with sugar. About a row of four bunnies and you’re at 130 calories 8 grams of sugars, which means 32 grams in a serving of four.

You’re better off with those jelly beans. Each bean is about 6 calories—35 bean serving is about 140 calories and 37 grams of sugar. If you eat too many, it will mean a lot of gym time.

Let’s not forget the Cadbury Cream Egg with 170 calories each.


If you’re planning on overindulging, maybe you should do it while attending a spin class. I just found out the seven ounce hollow chocolate bunny has 1,250 calories. How depressing! I’m not going to look any further.

How about filling the Easter baskets with some things that might be healthy and long term will make everyone happy?

Summer is coming. Who wouldn’t love a new pair of flip-flops painted in a bright color? Bubbles are fun; add some jump ropes, lip balm, sunscreen, balls, stickers and coloring books. Water guns can be fun as long as the weather is good.

If you want to keep the healthy thing going, how about making a carrot cake, there are lots of low-calorie recipes and why not add some zucchini to increase the roughage? You can create your own low calorie chocolate candy with dark cocoa, a little butter and honey. Next add dry fruit and nuts and you’ll have an amazing treat.

Want to play? How about Hula Hoops for everyone, including the adults? We don't have the hoops for you but buy some and  add them to our  Hula Party CD? With lots of great moves, you're bound to keep down the chocolate bunny calories.

Hooping is a high-quality work out which will improve core strengths, tone your stomach and let's not forget your butt. This high energy workout burns about 400-600 an hour. It's right up there with Zumba.

Hooping can also improve your balance and posture and make you more coordinated. It might even bring back some great memories.

The hoop is also considered the ancient symbol for gnosis, (knowledge with wisdom). It is the perfect symbol of infiniture, the snake that eats its own tail, the cycle of death and rebirth, and the change within the whole.

Costumes always make a party more fun; get to us early and get your favorite Easter outfit or Hula CD.

Have some fun, make the party different; just get moving.

Chad and Tina’s Virtual Life Journal: Trouble in Paradise?

Chad and Tina’s perpetual party is ever ongoing.  Since their Thanksgiving and fall harvest parties in November 2012, until today, there hasn’t been a single day that they haven’t been in a festive mood. Granted, living at The Costumer 1995 Central Ave in Colonie, has afforded them many opportunities and also given them many opportunities that they can afford.

Tina is wowed by their amazing selection and courteous, knowledgeable staff, while Chad is happy that their reasonable prices for rental costumes and sales items won’t break the bank.

Right now, Chad is prepping for a children’s Easter party and an adult spring fling, while Tina spins the wheel of fortune, hoping that good fortune will come to those fortunate enough to visit them at The Costumer.

They enjoy life and find reason to celebrate everyday.

The Costumer wants to know:

What’s your reason to celebrate?

Want the best party? Check out the 'Plot List' at The Costumer

Giving a successful party is hard work. I always worry if my guests will have fun and will they like each other.

I know I have fun at parties if I have something to do besides making small talk with people I don't know. When I give a party, I want people to think of my home as a wonderful place, filled with energy and excitement. I also believe it's my responsibility to make it happen. My hunch is you feel the same way.

Undoubtedly, you've been to parties that really left you cold and disappointed.

Here are some tips to help with your party planning.

1. Design your guest list with people who you think will connect, have things in common and make an effort to have fun. I have some friends, not too many thank goodness, who wait for everyone else to make them comfortable. They want others to approach them, never reach out and bring very little to 'the party'--so to speak. They're just hard work.

2. Think about the best parties you've attended. We all like people who make us feel important connect with us and make us glad we've attended. One way to achieve this is to have a theme party. Think about Halloween. Everyone gets a chance to play, take on a new identity and act out a fantasy. Why does this work? People have something to think about--they have a purpose.

In other words, I get to be anybody but me! Think about the most interesting party you've attended. Themes allow you to help people have fun by giving them ideas on what to wear and what to bring.

3. How can you plan a theme? Obviously there are holidays, which come with recognizable themes: Halloween, July 4th and Valentine's Day to name a few. If you're looking for something a little different, check out The Plot List and Theater and Show Rentals at the Costumer. With over 60,000 + theatrical costumes from over 390 shows, there are lots to choose from.

Once you've chosend a theme, call and ask about the availability on wigs, decorations, and costumes. The people at The Costumer are well versed in fun and party planning and can give you the scoop on what to do next.

4. Plan the party around your favorite show. A couple of years ago, I saw Guys and Dolls at the Park Playhouse in Albany, New York. I've loved the music since I was a kid and my next door neighbor appeared in a local summer stock production. I went and looked online at The Costumer for Guys and Dolls and found wonderful costumes. For other shows such as South Pacific, there is music and the karaoke CD. Now we can have some real fun! No doubt you've got a friend or two dying to grab the microphone.

5. Plan your food, drink, invitation and decorations to correspond with your theme. Determine ahead of time what you would like your guests to bring and let them help out. You know, treat your party like your high school prom and ask for guests to be on the decorating committee.

6. Have a photographer available and post the photos on Facebook and tag your guests. You'll get known for having the best parties in town; that means, a ton of exciting, new guests.

Don't forget to make sure you check out The Plot List and check to make sure the costumes and wigs are available. There are certain times of the year The Costumer is inundated with high school plays and Broadway shows and many costumes are out.

Besides, the summers are great times for themed parties; no coats and boots to worry about. Call The Costumer at 877-218-1289.

Need help with a wig or the Harlem Shake? We have both!

Why would you need a football helmet? If you were going to do the Harlem Shake, you would need a helmet or a huge mask to cover up your head. If you prefer a football helmet, we actually have vintage ones.

The Harlem Shake is definitely the latest craze; when and where did it come from?

There are varying answers to this but about 12,000 videos were uploaded between the 4th and 11th of February 2013,  and over 4000 videos are being uploaded every day!

Most people trace the craze to a street dancer named Al B, who used to entertain the crowd at the Rucker tournament, which is a legendary basketball league in Harlem. It was brought into the mainstream by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, who brought the dance into a couple of videos he made with one of his artists, G Dep.

 What was considered the Harlem Shake has no connection to today’s rage. The Shake starts with someone, usually masked, walking into a room and dancing. The people in the room pretend not to notice until the Baauer’s beat starts, and then everyone in the room starts dancing outrageously. The outrageous dance usually lasts no longer than 30 seconds.

No one knows why the Harlem Shake has taken off except that it is within the crucial 30-second video length.

Need help putting your Harlem Shake video together? Call us. The Costumer has horse heads, chicken heads and plenty of other ‘big heads to wear for the event.

If that doesn’t work, we’ve still got the Easter bunny. Remember Easter is just around the corner, and we’ve got lots of costumes.

Looking for a wig? We’ve got plenty of them. In fact, we have so many; we need a wig stylist to keep everything current.

Our wig stylist, Allen Yeardon, boasts 52 years in the business but came out of  retirement and take another swing at hair styling. This time is a little different; Allen is styling wigs for The Costumer located in Schenectady, New York. The Costumer has hundreds of wigs for theater and everyday wear in stock. Their are costume wigs, fake beards, costume moustaches, even costume mullet wigs (you don’t really want to have to grow one of your own, do you?) in stock throughout the year.

The day I checked out Allen he was styling  a  Marie Antoinette wig. (I also noticed he was wearing the male version while he was working. One of the perks he says. )

Allen explains that wigs take a lot of care. Unlike human hair that continues to grow and has its own natural oils, wigs need particular treatments to keep them looking good. Wigs have a tendency to get the ‘frizzes’ around the edges, unless they are conditioned with the right products.

The key to looking good in a wig, according to Allen, is to make sure your natural hair is tucked securely under the wig cap so you don’t have a ‘wig malfunction.’

Common sense tells you that the wig should be placed on your head similar to where your hair is naturally. There are straps inside the cap that can be t be adjusted for a firmer hold or if necessary, tape and glue can be used.

Apparently, the hair under the wig provides the platform for the wig and must be positioned to keep the wig stable and natural looking. If the wig doesn’t look right, it’s likely because it hasn’t been positioned or styled properly.

The  quality of wigs is so much better than they were years ago. The wigs must be able to last through continuing performances as well as a number of changes during the performance. If a performer portrays a number of characters in a show, it may require having several wig changes.

Usually we can tell if someone has been wearing a wig, but it’s been said that Raquel Welch has been wearing wigs for years, and no one ever questioned her brunette locks. In her case, she had the same color for years, and it always looked natural. No doubt she has more than one wig.

And then there was Lucille Ball who looked like she was wearing a red wig but wasn’t.

“Many people think you can put on the wig and go, says Allen. This is like getting out of bed and not combing and brushing your own hair. It has to be placed properly on the wearer’s head so it looks like its part of their head. There are ear tabs inside of the cap to guide where the wig should be positioned. One of my jobs is to make sure wigs fit properly.”

Contact us for the  finishing touches on your costume with a wig, beard or moustache.