Green unitards, pinstriped pants and ‘80s-style prom dresses lined the racks of the Theatre and Interpretation Center’s annual costume sale Thursday and Friday.
Dozens of NU students rummaged through the aisles of costumes worn in previous theater productions, hoping to find one fit for this Halloween. Garments were sold for $3-$10, while hats, masks, glasses and shoes were sold for as little as $1. Though most of the items were visibly worn, many students thought the costumes’ prices were reasonable.
McCormick junior Tim Healy, who works in the TI’s set shop, walked away from the sale with a green chest plate and belt “perfect for a Ninja Turtles costume.”
Most of the costumes are designed by graduate students and stitched by professional costumiers.
The profits from the sale went back into the costume shop’s budget for designing and creating new pieces for future productions.
The sale helps the costume shop purge old costumes to make room for new ones every year, said Communication junior and TI employee Tracey Green. Each production can have dozens of costumes, and at least three productions are performed per quarter.
Many of the costumes sold were made for productions performed within the last year, such as “Mass,” “Danceworks 2010,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Girls vs. Boys”. Others were more than a decade old, like dresses from NU’s 1999 production of “West Side Story.”
The costume shop usually gets rid of a fair amount of old costumes at the Halloween sale, Green said.
Not all the customers were looking for Halloween attire, however. Communication sophomore Anna Miles was shopping for costumes to wear in other productions and said the sale was a good way to save money and recycle costumes. Miles said she was most impressed by the variety of costumes as compared to that of last year’s selection.
“I wasn’t expecting much, but it’s a lot better than I expected,” she said.
Green, who manned the sale Friday afternoon, said this year’s sale was very successful and was surprised by the number of students who purchased items.
“So many costumes were sold Thursday that we had to restock for Friday, ” she said.
