Costume storage solutions and theatres giving back to the community
Anywhere you've got costume stock to pull from, you are pretty much guaranteed to have storage issues--how and where to store everything you own, methods for making it easily searchable, easily organized, how to fit everything into the often-limited space that you have. If you have a costume storage at your facility, like me you are probably always on the lookout for new and innovative storage ideas.
I've mentioned it before, but it bears a second look: Dickinson College hosts an online database of costume collection storage images--basically, pictures of how different facilities store costumes, all over the world. The archive includes all sizes and types of costume facilities, from universities to community theatres to rental businesses to professional companies, all kinds of stuff! This is a wonderful resource for those looking to overhaul their existing storage, expand their storage, or build a new facility. You can see how others deal with different storage issues, and adopt ideas that you like! The site allows guests to view it, but if you want to upload images of your own you need to contact Sherry Harper-McCombs at harpermc-at-dickinson.edu about getting a password.
To search the site though, go to ICON, Dickenson's virtual media center (choose Guest Account) and click on "Browse Collections" in the sidebar. You will be given a list of categories with radio buttons. Choose "Costumes." This will take you to the primary search page. You can search based on article of clothing (for example, if you want to see how other facilities store difficult items like hats, boots, or armor), on construction material (if, say, you have a bunch of unused pegboard wall and want to look at ways others have utilized pegboard for storage), or on the type of facility--university, rental house, etc.
Culling Overflowing Stock!
You are, like us, probably also concerned about what to do when you simply have more stock than you have space or use for, especially if the clothes are still in wearable condition! What with incoming donations and ongoing productions using newly-purchased or -made attire, we take in far more costumes and clothing items than we wear out.
I know that many theatres who operate without state-sponsorship raise a lot of money through yearly costume sales (especially in October!) or by running ongoing eBay auctions as a means of dealing with stock overflow. However, theatres like ours that are in residence at a state university often are restricted from such sales by legal SNAFUs. As such, we've always got to look for other ways to deal with overstock. Donation of clothing is our primary means of removal. We've got several stock-culling projects underway right now that i'd like to highlight.
Denim culling
One of the coolest things we've done this fall was participate in Access Cotton, sponsored by Cotton Incorporated, the "fabric of our lives" people. They've partnered with Habitat for Humanity to collect and recycle old denim into home insulation for HfH houses. Our stock manager and several student workers and volunteers went through our denim stock (jeans, overalls, jackets), culled out things in odd sizes/styles or too damaged to keep, and hauled them over to the drop boxes on campus. This program is especially great because it doesn't matter how damaged the denim is--it's getting shredded anyhow. If you don't have a participating organization in your community, maybe it'd be worth contacting the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and seeing whether they want to get involved with hosting one--could be not only a great way to cull your denim stock, but also to gain some great visibility for your theatre, AND to give back to the community and help some folks in need!
Fur culling
Most theatres have far more fur coats in their stock than ever would be used onstage--it's one of the most commonly donated articles of clothing. Furs are also hard to store properly, take up lots of space, and quickly become rotted when stored improperly (as they often have been before being donated even). Culling your fur stock frequently is a good idea, but what to do with them?
Start by calling local animal shelters and wildlife rescue centers, and ask if they'd like them for bedding. Or, if you live near the Humane Society headquarters in DC, they take old furs through their Coats for Cubs program--if your theatre's within a day's drive, see if a local chapter might want to co-sponsor a fur drive and deliver the results of the collection. The same goes for PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virgina, who collect still-wearable fur coats for the needy. College campuses are a great place to find animal rights groups who may help with fur recycling.
Coat/Jacket/Sweater/Pullover culling
Fall and winter are the perfect time to cull your sweaters, coats, jackets, and pullovers from stock. Churches and community groups are spearheading clothing drives for the needy at this time, or you might elect to head up your own warm-clothing drive! Here, we're going to be taking ours to the "anything warm" clothing drive sponsored by our local YMCA, but organizations like One Warm Coat can provide you with all the tools you need for either hosting your own drive or finding one nearby to drop your culled items off.
Business attire culling
There are many organizations all over devoted to the intake of business attire donations--suits; shirts/blouses; dresses; slacks; ties; skirts; briefcases; dress shoes; coats and accessories (purses, scarves, jewelry, belts). Often they are part of larger community organizations who help low-income men, women, and at-risk youth in learning to interview for employment and better their economic situations. Some examples are the many different local organizations in the US that make up the Women's Alliance (many of which also provide clothing and training for men), and Dress for Success, who have chapters all over the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
It does take some time and labor to deal with stock culling, but if you have folks in the shop put in just one hour a week toward sorting and culling a box of stock, you can quickly get together a pile ready for pickup or drop-off, free up some space and feel good about where the culled items are going--to reuse, rather than a landfill.
I've mentioned it before, but it bears a second look: Dickinson College hosts an online database of costume collection storage images--basically, pictures of how different facilities store costumes, all over the world. The archive includes all sizes and types of costume facilities, from universities to community theatres to rental businesses to professional companies, all kinds of stuff! This is a wonderful resource for those looking to overhaul their existing storage, expand their storage, or build a new facility. You can see how others deal with different storage issues, and adopt ideas that you like! The site allows guests to view it, but if you want to upload images of your own you need to contact Sherry Harper-McCombs at harpermc-at-dickinson.edu about getting a password.
To search the site though, go to ICON, Dickenson's virtual media center (choose Guest Account) and click on "Browse Collections" in the sidebar. You will be given a list of categories with radio buttons. Choose "Costumes." This will take you to the primary search page. You can search based on article of clothing (for example, if you want to see how other facilities store difficult items like hats, boots, or armor), on construction material (if, say, you have a bunch of unused pegboard wall and want to look at ways others have utilized pegboard for storage), or on the type of facility--university, rental house, etc.
Culling Overflowing Stock!
You are, like us, probably also concerned about what to do when you simply have more stock than you have space or use for, especially if the clothes are still in wearable condition! What with incoming donations and ongoing productions using newly-purchased or -made attire, we take in far more costumes and clothing items than we wear out.
I know that many theatres who operate without state-sponsorship raise a lot of money through yearly costume sales (especially in October!) or by running ongoing eBay auctions as a means of dealing with stock overflow. However, theatres like ours that are in residence at a state university often are restricted from such sales by legal SNAFUs. As such, we've always got to look for other ways to deal with overstock. Donation of clothing is our primary means of removal. We've got several stock-culling projects underway right now that i'd like to highlight.
Denim culling
One of the coolest things we've done this fall was participate in Access Cotton, sponsored by Cotton Incorporated, the "fabric of our lives" people. They've partnered with Habitat for Humanity to collect and recycle old denim into home insulation for HfH houses. Our stock manager and several student workers and volunteers went through our denim stock (jeans, overalls, jackets), culled out things in odd sizes/styles or too damaged to keep, and hauled them over to the drop boxes on campus. This program is especially great because it doesn't matter how damaged the denim is--it's getting shredded anyhow. If you don't have a participating organization in your community, maybe it'd be worth contacting the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and seeing whether they want to get involved with hosting one--could be not only a great way to cull your denim stock, but also to gain some great visibility for your theatre, AND to give back to the community and help some folks in need!
Fur culling
Most theatres have far more fur coats in their stock than ever would be used onstage--it's one of the most commonly donated articles of clothing. Furs are also hard to store properly, take up lots of space, and quickly become rotted when stored improperly (as they often have been before being donated even). Culling your fur stock frequently is a good idea, but what to do with them?
Start by calling local animal shelters and wildlife rescue centers, and ask if they'd like them for bedding. Or, if you live near the Humane Society headquarters in DC, they take old furs through their Coats for Cubs program--if your theatre's within a day's drive, see if a local chapter might want to co-sponsor a fur drive and deliver the results of the collection. The same goes for PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virgina, who collect still-wearable fur coats for the needy. College campuses are a great place to find animal rights groups who may help with fur recycling.
Coat/Jacket/Sweater/Pullover culling
Fall and winter are the perfect time to cull your sweaters, coats, jackets, and pullovers from stock. Churches and community groups are spearheading clothing drives for the needy at this time, or you might elect to head up your own warm-clothing drive! Here, we're going to be taking ours to the "anything warm" clothing drive sponsored by our local YMCA, but organizations like One Warm Coat can provide you with all the tools you need for either hosting your own drive or finding one nearby to drop your culled items off.
Business attire culling
There are many organizations all over devoted to the intake of business attire donations--suits; shirts/blouses; dresses; slacks; ties; skirts; briefcases; dress shoes; coats and accessories (purses, scarves, jewelry, belts). Often they are part of larger community organizations who help low-income men, women, and at-risk youth in learning to interview for employment and better their economic situations. Some examples are the many different local organizations in the US that make up the Women's Alliance (many of which also provide clothing and training for men), and Dress for Success, who have chapters all over the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
It does take some time and labor to deal with stock culling, but if you have folks in the shop put in just one hour a week toward sorting and culling a box of stock, you can quickly get together a pile ready for pickup or drop-off, free up some space and feel good about where the culled items are going--to reuse, rather than a landfill.