Our stock of Fancy Dress and Theatrical costumes is continually being upgraded. We only buy in the best and many of our costumes are still produced by Jan.

In Canterbury we have twenty rails of costumes for self selection and a further twenty four of theatrical and specialist costumes

British Costume Association

We are members of the British Costume Association and also have many contacts with members of the American Costume Association through whom we keep up to date with trends and suppliers.

The Business is owned and run by us, Jan & Cliff Critchett, and we have been involved in supplying costumes for parties and for the theatre since 1972. In those days we were both involved in the amateur theatre and the rental of Jan's home produced costumes for parties came as a natural extension to this connection. In those days, Costume Hiring businesses were rare and we had to make all our own decisions about how one should be run.

We started in the cellar of our village Post Office and General Stores and our village customers, at times such as New Year and Hallowe'en, were often displeased that we were busy with costumes instead of exclusively attending to their needs. We still have loyal customers who we met in those early days.

Shortly after we took over Marlowe Costume Hire in Canterbury and expanded the business to cater for larger theatre groups, corporate hirers and the increasingly discerning customer who was more concerned with style than with cost.

We have now taken the (difficult) decision to close our Deal shop and to concentrate our efforts on Canterbury where we are already serving customers throughout Kent

We still supply budget costumes as well as top of the range from our range of over 4,000 and we carry a comprehensive stock of wigs, make-up and accessories (plus the ability to offer advice on correct usage).