Thread: Would you "rent" a costume?

I am in a bit of a financial bind, as we all are, so I am trying to think outside-the-box on things I can do to help improve my family's income. So, tell me what you think of this idea (this isn't an ad posting, honest. I am thinking only of doing this locally and I haven't even decided if I will do it yet):

VAHANA’S COSTUME CLOSET
Bellydance costume rentals

Why buy?
Get a new look for every performance at a fraction of the cost to purchase.

 Turkish sets - rental $20 per night, colors offered: copper, gold, and peach includes bra, belt, skirt, veil
 Egyptian set - rental $20 per night, colors offered: royal blue includes bra, belt, and skirt
 Professional set - rental $30 per night, colors offered: Red velvet w/ gold includes bra, belt, and skirt
 Beledi Dress - rental $30 per night, colors offered: Red velvet multi

Also available: harem pants for under your skirt, rental $5, colors: black silk, purple silk, purple sari
Veils for rent – Silk $20, dyed multi, purple, black, gold, red, green
Chiffon - $5, navy, purple, red, white, black

Contact Vahana to reserve your “new” costume today!
dancingesquire@yahoo.com or ph. 818-326-5452
Belly Dance with Vahana

suggestion: make sure you have an iron clad contract and take security deposits in case of damage.
will this be for dancers or the gp?

Oh, I should have added that. Thanks, Sabrina.
I will only rent to other dancers for halfas and the sort. I thought maybe students would rather rent for their first hafla than purchase? Plus, I have a few new dancers in the lineup now at the restaurant and I know they only have one or two costumes. This would give them the chance to have something different if they need it, without the cost of purchase.

I didn't think of a security deposit. I would need that especially for the Abla (red velvet).

I am hoping to only be renting to dancers I know. But, anything can happen to the costume even with someone I know.

I know someone who had a sword given to her by an Arabic Prince. She loaned it to a close friend, who set it on top of her car, forgot it, and drove off. It was trounced several times by several cars on the freeway.

I was going to say the same thing as Sabrina. People don't take care of other peoples things like the would if it was their own. Take note of any damage before they rent and make sure they sign something. Silk stains, beads get broken, etc.

There is one dancer in Sydney who has a studio that also hires out costumes. A friend of mine hired one when she was asked to dance at a restaurant at short notice and she didn't own one. In Australian dollars it was $35 a night with $200 bond for I mid range costume.

I think your prices may be a bit low as well. Costume rental companies charge substantially more for very cheap looking cotsumes.

Are your costumes insurable if you do this?

I think the idea is very interesting. Can you keep us posted if you do decide to do it?

I believe a similar idea was discussed here a while ago - recently enough that you can probably retrieve it through search, it could be useful?

How would you handle alterations to the costumes to fit different dancers? If someone needed a belt let out an inch or taken in an inch, would they do that? Would you? What if moving the hooks damaged the costume?

Compared to what I have paid to rent a halloween costume in Austin (which was a corset and a can can skirt)-$50, I think I would charge more for my $700-800 pharaonix. Just my opinion, I think $50 is maybe more appropriate??

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

How would you handle alterations to the costumes to fit different dancers? If someone needed a belt let out an inch or taken in an inch, would they do that? Would you? What if moving the hooks damaged the costume?

This is very important to consider, some people aren't as careful ripping out hooks, I don't know!!

There are plenty of companies that rent out evening gowns and couture which are just as delicate, so I don't see why this wouldn't work. Perhaps you could interview someone who runs such a company?

Ohhhh while being a great idea if you're filthy rich and dont have a personal and intimate relationship with your costumes (read you've NEVER worn them yourself - you couldnt care less about how the costumes would fit and feel on you)....I would have a hard time trusting someone with one of my precious costumes. I admire your bravery.

As for hooks etc - could you add more hooks on the costumes that are for rent and make the straps adjustable PRIOR to renting out to give people more options and avoid potential damage during "fitting and alteration"?

I would bump up my prices too if I were you. With the prices you quote you are much more likely to end up with damaged goods and people not respecting the costumes enough when handling them. Also, consider that if you pay $450 for a costume it will take around 23 nights of renting said costume out to "cover your cost" at $20/night. There is no way that costume is going to survive 23 nights on the road on different dancers in order to even have you come out in zero balance.

Personally, I'd not rent out any costumes I actually cared about. But if you've got ones that you're tired of and don't really care to wear much yourself any more, this might be a way to generate additional revenue from them.

I winced when I saw that you're thinking of renting out a precious Abla. Yikes! If it's damaged, it's irreplaceable! I could see renting out a lower-cost costume, such as one from al-Wikala (Mohammed abdel Ghaffar), but I wouldn't rent out a couture costume by a higher-end designer unless it was already stained and wearing out.

Your prices seem very low to me. I suggest checking out what other businesses in your city charge for renting out bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses, and Halloween costumes, and I wouldn't charge less than they do.

Remember that this will result in real work for you - tracking each rented garment to ensure it returns to you, dealing with people who write bad checks to you, doing repairs such as mending seams, mending tears, replacing hooks that have come loose, etc. You may need to deal with removing sweat stains, cigarette odors, and such. This work is not trivial.

Yeah the costume my friend rent was an older costume and my friend actually bought it with her $200 bond.

The costumes I am thinking of renting, aside from the Abla, are all $100 to $200 sets. Basic workhorse type. The Abla I just thought I would throw in there since I wasn't able to sell it and I don't think much is selling right now anyway.

No way no how would I rent out my beloved cossies! Those I wear and have a special relationship with, but I don't wear the ones I listed (aside from occassionally wearing the Beledi dress).


But now that everyone mentioned it, I think I wouldn't want to rent the veils out. Silk does snags so easily. I'd rather carry a few to sell than to have holes in the veils I use to teach class in.

Thanks for the suggestion to check with prom dress rental shops and Halloween costume shops. I'll see what rental prices are for those items. I'll also need to investigate how they manage alterations, hooks, snaps, etc.

Plus, the time and effort for maintenance.

These are all great things to consider. Keep 'em coming!

Instead of moving hooks for each person (very hard on your fabric), I'd suggest having multiple hook settings already set on the bra & belt - that way they pick from what's available. Straps tho - a bit harder to do, unless you use snaps for adjusting.

some of my own belts have multiple settings - and it's just for me!!
Depending on the day (pms, weight loss or gain) my hips can fluctuate up to 3". I don't always have time to re-set before a show, and you always want a good fit... :-)

I used to work at a shop in Ashland OR that rented out costumes and you definitely need to raise your prices. You will be getting the costumes dry cleaned pretty often and you'll have to recover those costs as well as time/materials to repair them. Please, for your own protection make a good contract, taking down all pertinent info such as their driver's license info, current credit card, phone numbers, date(s) of rental. A question you might get is "If I have the costume for two days, but only wear it on one of those days, do I still have to pay for both days?" Something to think about. If you haven't done it already, reinforcing the fringe on your costumes would be a good idea, as well as stipulating certain situations you DO NOT want the costumes to be in. If you have detailed and high expectations from the get-go there is less room for erroneous interpretation. Make sure you have supplies on hand to do repairs and inexpensive garment bags available for transporting your costumes.
Not to be snarky here, I've just seen the condition our rental costumes have been returned in and it is a bummer.
One more thing...that Bella is probably too valuable to rent out unless you know the dancer really well, enough that she will probably baby that thing as much as you would. Good luck...it sounds like alot of fun.