Costumes are super amazing. They are a creative outlet that often combines with social events. I personally love getting to plan and figure out how to make the costume, then I like when things go to plan as I'm making the costume, and finally I love wearing it and show it to other people. I like to wear costumes to a wide variety of events and currently make several new costumes a year (even with college). Over time I have built up quite the collection of costumes and accessories, (these two pictures are from my recent costume sorting day, don't worry I got rid of like a trash bag full of stuff)
and storing them can be difficult. So here's a few things I've been doing for my costumes.
1) Sort Costumes (Every Piece!)
If dumping them all on the floor helps, do it, but I pulled out the costumes one at a time and made piles by category (Yes, there is a system in the above photos, lol). Hanging off my bed are mainly my formal dresses. Yes, that big white thing is one of two wedding dresses that I own. I paid $6 for it at the Goodwill. Some other categories were: Cosplay Costumes (from movies, shows, etc.), Complete Costumes, Military Costumes, Jackets, Shirts, Wigs, Accessories/Jewelry, Hair/Makeup, Seasonal (further broken down by Holiday), etc.
If dumping them all on the floor helps, do it, but I pulled out the costumes one at a time and made piles by category (Yes, there is a system in the above photos, lol). Hanging off my bed are mainly my formal dresses. Yes, that big white thing is one of two wedding dresses that I own. I paid $6 for it at the Goodwill. Some other categories were: Cosplay Costumes (from movies, shows, etc.), Complete Costumes, Military Costumes, Jackets, Shirts, Wigs, Accessories/Jewelry, Hair/Makeup, Seasonal (further broken down by Holiday), etc.
Make sure that whole costumes get put together. Don't leave Thor without his cape just because you have some other random capes. Put each costume completely together. Sometimes costumes do share pieces so just do your best, perhaps prioritize the costume you will reuse more regularly over one you might not wear for a while (and you can always leave a not of what each costume needs as I'll discuss more below).
2) Bag & Tag
Once costumes have been all put together or been put together with other things of their type (like shirts or jackets), bag each costume or category individually. I use a lot of ziplocs, some store bought costume bags (you know, the ones with the plastic buttons), comforter and sheet bags, and for my military costumes I put them in the military backpack I'd purchased.
St. Patrick's Day Costume in Ziploc:
20s Costume in an old costume bag:
I say bag them individually, but use your own discretion. For example, I had bigger bags and smaller bags. I gave Zelda and Thor each in their own smaller bag, but I had several Star Wars costumes, so I put them all in a bigger bag since they would fit and I needed the smaller bags for other costumes that didn't fit in a category like all the Star Wars ones.
Thor (Minus the cape which is being used for a different costume at the moment):
Star Wars Costumes (There's about 4 costumes and a few accessories in that bag):
Dream Costume (Yeah, I wrote earrings twice lol):
3) Separate by Priority/The Closet Bin
There are certain costumes you are going to wear throughout the year for events, and there are some you might not touch for several years. Personally, I wear the majority of my costumes to once-a-month theme nights at my church's children's program. A decent percentage of those theme nights are aligned to the holidays, so I have seasonal accessories and outfits that I want to be close at hand (in my Closet Bin) instead of in a storage container. So my St. Patrick's, Valentine's, 4th of July, Easter, Halloween (sorry *cough,* Fall Festival :}), and Christmas stuff is kept in a 10x10x10 square bin from Walmart in my closet. It also has a bag of various accessories like jewelry that I may need, and a bag of accessories for "glow/neon night" (like glow sticks, led lights, and etc.).
That's just me though, you might not need seasonal stuff to be close at hand like me, and maybe you just have a couple costumes that you use regularly and you want those to be in your Closet Bin.
Once you've sorted out the costumes and where they are going (and maybe some stuff you don't need anymore that can get sold or donated), you'll need to sort out the storage situation.
4) Storing Costumes
Once the costumes are bagged, I recommend a storage tub with a lid. Be advised to think about the climate of your home and the climate of the area you live in. For me, it gets pretty hot in the summer, and the silver glitter tape I used for my Thor helmet had melted onto the faux leather snout I'd made for my Imperial Spy costume, lol (Thor was fine but I don't think I'll be able to use the faux snout again, too much glitter remained stuck on the leather).
Putting the costumes in bags is a great way to save some space because it creates easy and flat shapes that can be stack on top of each other. There is about 14 or so full costumes in this green bin, a bunch of accessory/prop type things, the Jackets category, and I don't remember what's in the black bag on the bottom haha. (That is included the two bags that go on top of those costumes in the bin that can be seen to the left of the box):
My costumes go on a shelf in the garage usually, I don't let them go up in the attic cause they won't come back down for a while and some pieces might really not like the heat from summer.
So there is a few costume storing tricks. I'm to the point where I need to organize them because I have two tubs and my Closet Bin going lol. Hope this was cool and/or helpful! Let me know if you have a favorite costume you've worn in the comments. I particularly love my Jay from Ninjago costume, my Costco sample lady and Dominoes Pizza costumes, as well as my Star Wars Darth Maul and Jedi Costumes. . . and Thor!. . . Let's be real I love them all!
Han shot first!
H.M.S Mando
