Top 6 Fancy Dress Shops in London
Top 6 Fancy Dress Shops in London
Looking for a fancy dress shop in London to hire a costume? We have the answer here! Here are our top 6!
Whether you’re going fully Halloween with fangs and fake blood or you’d rather rock a chic vintage costume, these fancy dress shops will rent or sell you the perfect look. There are fun and frivolous options to keep, or you could hire yourself a jaw-dropping authentic costume fresh from the designers that supply London’s busy theatre scene. The choice is yours!
1) Angels, Covent Garden
Nearly 180 years old, Angels’ flagship fancy dress shop on Shaftesbury Avenue is a five-floor citadel of costume. You can buy cheap and cheerful outfits and accessories (as you can see, we had rather a lot of fun), but the real opportunity is hiring a killer outfit from their thousands of film-quality costumes, sourced from their enormous warehouse in Hendon. Angels get extremely busy towards Halloween: their staffing goes from 14 to 40, there are bouncers on the door, a one-in-one-out policy, and queues around the block. We advise getting there earlier in the day! You can also call ahead with your sizing and requirements, and staff will put together some options for you, ready to try. Their website contains only a small fraction of their stock, so an in-person visit is advised.
2) Prangsta, New Cross
The Prangsta squad specialise in luxuriously detailed vintage costumes from times gone by, aimed squarely at the la-di-da Wilderness Festival demographic. If you’re after a twisted take on Alice in Wonderland, some flapper-girl glamour or fierce Moulin Rouge sparkle, bring your most resilient credit card and go wild. Just don’t come in asking if they’ve got ‘that clown from It.’
3) So High, Soho
How high? So high. Pop into this friendly Berwick Street stalwart for a feather boa, Zorro mask, Santa suit or whatever fancy dress you’re rocking this year.
4) Escapade, Camden
North Londoners might want to swing by this well-stocked purveyor of dress-up merch, with plenty of current and to freak out your friends with this Halloween. With all the punks and goths in Camden serving as inspiration, you can put together a suitably dark costume for your upcoming party.
5) National Theatre Costume Store, Oval
For a Halloween costume fit for a West End stage, look no further than the National Theatre’s costume store, where you can hire a fancy dress outfit from their extensive archive of theatrical looks. This place is the real deal, supplying costumes to Theatreland and film producers, but they’re happy to fit out Joe Public too. You’ll need to book an actual appointment in advance, available Mondays through Thursday.
6) Disney, Old Street
This big old fancy dress shop in Old Street is your go-to place for a Halloween costume in a hurry. They offer over 35,000 costumes to hire, from vintage and historical looks. Perhaps this year your Slutty Pumpkin look can be a reality. A smaller sister store is hidden underground across the road from Charing Cross station.