Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How long is a standard costume hire and how much?
A. The average cost of most of our full adult costumes including a wig and/or accessories is $80 - $100, some special costumes may be a little more. Standard hire charges are for up to to three nights. It does not cost any less to hire the costume for only one night. A costume for the weekend can be taken on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and returned on Monday. Sorry, we’re not open on Sundays. If you need the costume for more than three nights, talk to our staff about the cost of an extended hire.
Q. Do I have to book my costume before I collect it?
A. Costumes can be booked well ahead of time. The more notice we have, the better chance you have of getting the costume you really want. However, you can also come in at the very last moment and if it's available on the floor you can take it to hire on the same day.
Q. What's the best day to come in for a fitting?
A. Any day is a good day to visit Costume Factory, but if you're flexible about which day you can come in, you might want to consider the following. On Mondays and Tuesdays there may be fewer costumes available to view in the store as some costumes will be in the laundry after the previous weekends hire. By Wednesday, most costumes are back on the racks, so there's more to view and try and usually it's a little less frantic. You can book your costume to collect at a later date. By Thursday, things are picking up again with bookings for the next weekend's hires. Friday and Saturday are usually our busiest days with lots of people picking up their booked costumes and also hiring costumes at the last minute. We're open late on Fridays but some of our stores close early on Saturday. On Sunday, the team takes a well earned rest and our stores are closed.
Q. What happens if I lose or damage the costume I have hired?
A. When you collect your costume you must pay a security bond which is refunded when the costume is returned on time and in good condition. The bond is an incentive amount, not usually enough to cover the replacement cost of the entire costume. If any part of the costume is damaged we will deduct the cost of repair from your security bond. If all or part of the costume is lost or stolen and cannot be returned we will have to recover the cost of replacing it, this is often more than the security bond you have paid so please take care!
Q. Should I wash the costume before I return it?
A. No, this is included in the cost of the hire. We launder, dry clean and/or sanitize all costumes, wigs and accessories when they are returned to make sure they are clean for the next customer. If you spill something on the costume you can worsen the damage by trying to clean it, this is why we prefer to do it ourselves.
Q. Do your adult costumes come in lots of different sizes?
A. We can cater for small, medium, large and extra large in mens and womens sizes, but each store has a different selection of costumes. If we know there is costume in another store that would suit you, we can usually have it transferred between stores for you to try. With 5 stores across Melbourne, we will try to find something for every body!
Q. Do you have costumes for children?
A. We specialise in adult costumes but we have a small range of kid’s costumes from age 6 - 12 in our Nunawading, Croydon and Dandenong stores. The cost of hire is usually $30 - $60 with a $100 security bond. If your child needs an adult sized costume then the hire will be charged at standard adult rates. 
Q. Can I hire your costumes if I don't live in Victoria?
A. In some circumstances we can arrange your hire to other locations within Australia. You will have to pay shipping charges and additional extended hire to cover the time the costume will be away from the store, and we may have to charge a larger amount for the security bond. For theatrical productions, we are able to hire costumes using sizing charts for each member of the cast. Over the past 28 years we have outfitted productions right across Australia and even as far away as London! However, for party hire we recommend you come into one of our stores for a fitting. This way we can also help you find all the accessories you need to make your costume complete.
Q. What happened to JC Westend Costume Hire and Costume Capers?
A. After trading for many years as JC Westend in the Melbourne CBD and Costume Capers in the suburbs, the decision was made to revert our five stores back to the company's original name of Costume Factory. After all, we are all part of the same great team. The Melbourne City store also relocated from 376 Lt Bourke St just a few doors up to the corner of Lt Bourke St and Hardware Lane (on the first floor, above Flight Centre). Costume Factory at Kensington (just 10 minutes from the CBD) is now the home of our theatrical division and still carries the name of JC Westend.
If you visit our stores at Croydon, Dandenong and Nunawading you may still see the old Costume Capers signs. We'll be progressively updating these signs in the coming months. As a result of all these changes, we have several website names which are all part of the Costume Factory group - costumecapers.com.au, jcwestend.com.au and melbournecostumehire.com.au will all bring you back to the Costume Factory website.
Q. What are your locations and opening hours?
A. Costume Factory stores are located in Melbourne City, Kensington, Nunawading, Croydon and Dandenong in Victoria, Australia.
Visit our Locations page for complete details including contact numbers and opening hours.