Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Vendor Review...Halloweencostumes.com

Occasionally I get approached to review products in which I am happy to do so.  Just so you know, I HAVE turned down several companies, even with the offer of free product because they were either 1. Totally irrelevant  2.  Poor quality  or 3. Shady at best.

There's a lot of Halloween costume companies on line, one quick search on Google will pull up a TON of different vendors.  I was given the opportunity by Halloweencostumes.com to do a review of their products.  I was given a (very) generous budget of $50.00 to get whatever that I wanted from their online store.  First of all, their website is huge; it took me several hours to browse their online catalog from men's, women's, children's, accessories, their exclusive line (I so want the Gene Simmons KISS costume to wear to the family reunion...did I mention I don't care for family reunions?)

I brought the green bean casserole grandma!  Come on Grandma,  Little Joe wants his hug! Grandma, why are you running?
 and decided that I was going to get 3 items:

A Country Diva (Dolly Parton style) wig


A Red 80 Gram Feather Boa

A Red Saloon Girl Costume, size Large (Pretty lady not included)


Now before rumors start flying (especially the ones that involve me being in the middle of them), these are for a new animatronic that I am working on.  After Halloween, well, mind your own beeswax about what I do with the wig and boa.  Actually I'm working on a skeletal can-can girl and was racking my brain to think of how to costume her...Enter Halloweencostumes.com just in time!

No, I wouldn't believe me about the animatronic either but that's not the point. 

First of all, pricing...I was VERY surprised at their low prices.  I personally have not shopped for costumes except sometimes for others for quite a while and then only locally.  They have costumes for all price ranges, most being LESS than what I spend going through the 10 items or less at the grocery store!  No kidding! Most adult costumes range within the 40 to 60 US dollar range with accessories mostly considerably less.

Second of all, quality...What's the use of spending money if you spend it on poor quality merchandise that doesn't look good?  The pieces that I got are of exceptional quality for the price.  The wig (although unable to fit my fat head) has a full skull cap and the hair is securely stitched in place; I have not found a loose hair as yet. The wig is full and does indeed resemble the style pictured, although will need a bit of styling and back teasing which is expected.  The boa was also good quality.  The feathers, although a bit pressed from the ride to Alabama, fluffed up nicely, only a minimal amount of down feathers came loose.  I was especially impressed with the dress.  The stitches are tight, there are no loose, fraying edges that I have found, the faux lacing on the bodice is stitched, not printed or glued.  The colors are vibrant and there is a generous amount of fullness to the ruffles and the skirt.  I'm impressed, I couldn't make it for what they are pricing it for in the least.

Third of all, shipping...Ever get stuck with shipping?  You find this great deal and get to the checkout to find that shipping is high as a Halloween cat's back.  They offer 4.99 flat rate shipping to US addresses for all orders up to 30 pounds.  I can deal with that.   Honestly, I know of several instances where I'm primed and ready to buy something and the shipping causes me to hit the 'close tab' key.  4.99 is reasonable, I can deal.

Some other cool costumes I want...

This would be so freaking awesome to scare kids with!
This would be so freaking awesome to scare, well, everybody with!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!  MAKE IT GO BYE BYE!!!


2 comments:

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Once you've finished your skeletal can-can dancer...you'll have to share some photos! Sounds fab!

Pam Morris said...

hey, these really are some excellent prices! and if you do get that gene simmons costume, I insist that you post pics!