As our family continues to grow, the need for more house space continues to grow as well. But since we are not moving into a bigger house (yet), we need to get creative with the space that we have. Some sacrifices are necessary (office space now in the garage), some moving is necessary (Hayden to the bigger room downstairs), some creative thinking is necessary (hello, cat closet!), and some purging is necessary (good bye, certain furniture and boxes and bags of “stuff”). But some things never change, and one of those things is that the Parkinson household has and will always have a costume closet. I have big dreams that later in life (when we live in a huge waterfront mansion, of course), I will have an entire room dedicated to our costumes – I envision a Hollywood dressing room type of room, complete with full length mirrors, lights, display shelves, comfy seating, etc. But for now, in our suburban family home, it is a costume closet. And it is finally organized and put together! 

This closet used to be part of the office, which has now been carpeted and will be Hayden’s bedroom primarily and our guest bedroom when he is not here. There is a new post coming soon on those updates. 🙂 The closet doors are off right now, but they are going back up tomorrow so this will be closed off when not in use. But here is a picture of the completed costume closet:

Now some people might ask why we would have a costume closet. But the better question is why WOULDN’T we have a costume closet?! Here are a few quick reasons why we Parkinsons have/need/want a costume closet:

• We (usually) have hosted a Halloween party every year since we’ve been together, starting back in 2004, and we have been known to host theme parties throughout the year as well.
• I have too many dance costumes/uniforms/outfits to count from my many years of dancing and performances.
• Jeremy’s band has played in many Masquerade Mayhem shows that required themes and costumes.
• I saved all of my prom and homecoming gowns from high school, as well as 10+ years of corporate holiday parties and formal dinners, plus my many bridesmaid dresses.
• Jeremy has a “thing” for Superman 😉 and has been given many Superman-related shirts, capes, costumes and accessories since he was a kid. And he has kept them all.
• I have saved certain “questionable fashion choices” that I have made over the years because they are just way too cool to give away or get rid of.
• Even before I had Zara, I always knew that I wanted to have a good dress-up collection for my daughter(s) to be able to play with.

So there you have it, we have a costume closet. It is mostly adult-sized costumes, but there are a few kid sized things and pet costumes in there too. I’m sure I will keep meaningful kid costumes throughout the upcoming years, but as they are outgrown, I’m sure we’ll pass a lot of those along. This costume collection is for re-using as needed, our friends can borrow from it, the kids can play with it all, etc. You never know when there might be a radical 80’s night or a theme party or a specific event that requires a certain accessory – but we’re usually ready for anything!

On the women’s side, we’ve got a plethora of accessories to choose from (belts, necklaces, feather boas, suspenders), skirts and tutus, dance costumes, formal dresses, and a variety of pre-packaged women’s costumes…

On the men’s side, there is an assortment of superhero costumes, capes, jackets, masks, and specific character costumes, like Indiana Jones complete with a whip and a biker dude complete with ass-less chaps. Yep you read that right! 😉

In the middle, we’ve got hanging shelves that are compartmentalized for certain themes, like sequined items, tiaras, makeup, glasses, and specific themed accessories like 80’s, gangster, animal tails and ears, and specific colored items…

Up top, we’ve got our bigger items that need to keep a certain shape….

And down low, we’ve got multiple bins full of shoes, flat hats, scarves, gloves, wigs, jewelry, etc…

And what fun would this be if we didn’t take a quick trip down memory lane and show a few of these costumes in action?!

First up, gotta love the 80’s!

And of course, the dark, scary, random gore (plus Clark Kent 😉 )…

Themed couples costumes are always fun…

And the random fun ones…

Is it Halloween yet?! When’s our next theme party?! We’re ready for some more dress-up fun! And that, my friends, is why we have a costume closet! 🙂 Let me know if you need to borrow anything; I’m sure we have it!