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London's best fancy dress shops

Stuck for outfit ideas? Dress to impress with our guide to the capital's best costumiers

You don't need to wait until Halloween to transform your look – social occasions are at least twice as fun when there's fancy dress involved. Cast off your going out uniform and switch it for, say, a 1920s flapper dress. Or perhaps an Elizabethan doublet.

  • Angels

    119 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8AE

    London’s most famous and well-equipped fancy dress shop stocks everything from opulent Elizabethan frocks to contemporary, freakish rubber costumes.
 There are new costumes being added constantly, from Angry Birds to the Honey Monster. Opening hours are being extended for Halloween, but if you can’t make it in to the shop, go online: their website features thousands of outfits and UK delivery is free.
    View the listing

  • Beyond Retro

    112 Cheshire St, London, E2 6EJ

    One of London’s biggest and best second-hand shops and an excellent place to get kitted out for a fancy-dress party, with a mighty selection of cheap garments and accessories from the 1920s to the 1980s. There are also branches in Soho, Dalston and Brighton.
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  • Charles H Fox

    22 Tavistock St, WC2E 7PY

    This is the place professionals in the film and theatre industries come for make-up, wigs, latex and lashes. 1-2-1 tranny workshops are also on offer, alongside glamour, editorial and avant-garde make-up workshops.
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  • The Costume Studio

    159-161 Balls Pond Rd, N1 4BG

    An impressive selection of authentic-looking costumes and trimmings but at a price: around £80 per outfit for a week’s hire. Their attention to detail makes them a popular choice for costume drama-inspired dress. If you’re channeling 'Downton Abbey' or 'Jane Eyre', The Costume Studio can help.
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  • Escapade

    45-46 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AJ

    This well-known Camden shop has an extensive range of masks and accessories, as well as full character outfits from Harry Potter to Superman. You can also order from their website to avoid the inevitable and enormous Halloween queues.
    View the listing

  • National Theatre Costume Hire

    Chichester House, Kennington Park Business Estate, 1-3 Brixton Road, SW9 6DE

    Any member of the public can can make an appointment at the National Theatre's costume warehouse, whether they're looking for a specific item or a whole ensemble. Rails are arranged chronologically from dramatic eighteenth-century ball gowns to 1920s flapper dresses for women, and from top hats and tails to Elizabethan ruffs and doublets for men. Enthusiastic staff are on hand to help you build a top-to-toe look (from £120). More high-class fancy dress than cheap party-shop.
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  • Prangsta

    304 New Cross Rd, SE14 6AF

    A bespoke costumier in New Cross with a unique made-to-measure service as well as ready-made outfits and staff who can help you put a look together thanks to their styling service. This is the go-to venue for circus styling, and 18th century outfits are their bestsellers, but recent demand means they’ve just increased their 1920s range.
    View the listing

  • Screenface

    48 Monmouth St, WC2 9EP

    A vast selection of theatrical make-up, fake eyelashes and body jewellery will help you get into character. Plenty of scary effects available for Halloween, from realistic gelatin wounds to dental-fit vampire fangs. Book in for a dramatic make-over if you’d like them to do the hard part for you.
    View the listing



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Comments

By Tuesday Greenidge - Dec 27 2011

Ten years ago I could not afford the stuff in this shop, but I dreamed about them often. Today I was able to make a purchase. The clothes are definitely not cheap, but they are so unique and most are beautifully crafted designer stuff, that it is well worth a visit.
Get yourself down there. Esther will manage, just with her charm and her delightful (never annoying) chat to turn your browsing into buying.
Trust me , it's a real treat. ’ve been walking past this shop for the last 15 years and it cheers me up every day. Crazy Clothes Connection is one of the few remnants of the “Old Notting Hill” which hasn’t been pushed out by the ever-increasing rents.
So, what’s the secret?
Even just walking past the shop and looking in the window on my way to work in the morning is fun - this must be the largest collection of utterly unwearable shoes in London.
It gets even more fun when the awnings are down and the space below filled with rows and rows of weird and wonderful stuff.
At long last, I had a reason to enter the secret den. I was in no doubt that this is where we would find our outfits for a fancy dress party. And so we did.
But we also found a lot more. It is a real experience to meet Dereck who generously shares his view of the world and his experiences - at 82 he has quite a few stories to tell. It is he who is responsible for the old time jazz filling the street on a sunny afternoon, his record player positioned between the clothes rails on the pavement.
His daughter Esther knows her stuff and soon found us just what we needed.
Crazy Clothes aren’t cheap-cheap, but all their stuff is of great quality and doesn’t have the musty smell you encounter in many second hand stores.
But it’s the people who make this a real experience - don’t go if you’re in a hurry as you’ll be missing out.

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By Nadia - Dec 26 2011

Considering the media coverage that Party Superstores had since they were victims of the London Riots and the fact that the owner supports his own charity in South East Asia from the store earnings im amazed you didn't even mentioned it!!!
Not to even say that they have a great range of party stuff.

http://www.partysuperstores.com/

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By Martin R - Nov 23 2011

Where is the best place to get a good quality mens Pirate outfit (hire or buy) in London?

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By Ahmed Trading Co - Nov 17 2011

Dear Sir/Madam

We are bona fide Manufacturers and Exporters
Embroidered Badges , Banners ,Hackles and Pipe Band
Instruments.
Our quality is fine and prices are very moderate. We
Can execute all orders within required period.
Awaiting your favourable response and assuring you
Our best and prompt services.
At all times,
Very truly yours,
For Ahmed Trading Company.
info@rich-bro.com
www.rich-bro.com

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By Martin - Oct 27 2011

Antoinette in Sydenham is also very good for hire costumes!!

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By Rosie S - Oct 22 2011

There's also an awesome shop on Hoxton street called I FANCY YOU great for all this that live in shoreditch/london fields area

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By Sergio Lucero - Oct 20 2011

For people in the Angel/Islington area, don't forget Preposterous Presents!! They have great Halloween gear and could certainly use the help as this may be, in their words, their last Halloween. In business since 1978!!!
262 Upper St, London N1 2UQ. http://www.preposterouspresents.co.uk/

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By Sergio Lucero - Oct 20 2011

For people in the Angel/Islington area, don't forget Preposterous Presents!! They have great Halloween gear and could certainly use the help as this may be, in their words, their last Halloween. In business since 1978!!!
262 Upper St, London N1 2UQ. http://www.preposterouspresents.co.uk/

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