Fancy Dress - A Guide To Buying Online

The most common complaints regarding buying fancy dress online are:

The costume is of low quality.
The costume is badly sized
The costume did not arrive in time.
Customer service was not knowledgable or not even available.

The main question is 'How do you know that you are dealing with a reputable business?' Lets be honest, you can have a web based business running from a garden shed. Well firstly you should find out if the website runs alongside a retail costume shop. This is important because the people who you will be dealing with will know the costumes and accessories that are being sold. They would have seen the items being tried on in the shop and if you contact them, they are in a position to answer your questions honestly. An established costume shop will also be aware that their reputation is at stake. Bad news travels just as fast as good news!

Look out for a money back guarantee. This shows that the business has confidence in its products. However, do check out the small print.

How much is delivery? The cost of the item may be lower than other sites, but is the postage higher? What type of postal service is being used? The Royal Mail will not admit a record delivery package is lost for 15 working days, so be aware of what the postage policy is.

Do order your item in plenty of time. No matter what postal service is being used, once the item has been sent, it is basically out of the sender's control. So reduce the risk of being disappointed by giving yourself enough time.

Be realistic. If you are purchasing a low cost costume, the costume will not be to the same standard as a more expensive one. Cheap, budget costumes can look fantastic with the correct lighting

Costume sizing has been and is still an issue. Luckily manufactures are waking up to the fact that not everybody is a size 10 and larger sizes are now being catered for. Do not assume. Unless the costume description actually states what size it is I would double check with the company. A good company will happily measure (or have this information at the ready). Be honest about your size.

Any good company will give their contact details very clearly and WILL allow you to ring them up and talk to a 'real' person as sometimes this is exactly what you have to do.

Check when the company is available to take your call, or email as you will want an answer quite quickly to your question.

From a business owner's point of view, I want to get it right first time. A costume that has been sent out and subsequently returned costs me money.

Let you imagination run wild, you can be whoever you want to be.

Fancy dress parties get going straight away, there is no need to wait for the alcohol to start flowing. Fancy dress is also very good at getting people to mix, so is a great idea for engagement parties and other functions where guests will not know each other very well.

Choose your theme carefully. Think about the age range of your guests, and also the different sizes. You can't ever choose a theme that will suit all of your friends and family, but try and be realistic. If they need a very struct theme, give them one, but if you know that they will happily 'think outside the box' you could try a more obscure theme such as a Letter party, or London Underground Tube Stations.

Why not be a bit different and have your own costume party. As I have already said, these type of parties are just fantastic.

We have plenty of theme ideas on our other lenses (check out some of the links on this page) to help you choose your theme and we are always looking for new themes to work with. If you have a brilliant idea for a party, just pop it into the comment box at the end of the lens. We've recently been asked for advice about television adverts as a theme. So watch this space, I am sure a new lens will be appearing soon!