Bring your old costumes back from the grave this season at Apocalypse
Infatuated with adding all of the costume components to your Amazon shopping cart? Are you scrolling through Dollskill’s Halloween shop or scouring the seasonal Spirit Halloween store for the perfect outfit for this spooky season? Given the environmental effects of this one-time shopping, both of these options are haunting. For the environment, it’s probably best you close those tabs and stop lurking around websites that are frightening contributors to fast fashion.
The spookiest part about buying overpriced costumes is not the act of purchasing them, but the waste they cause when we throw them away after the Halloween season concludes. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend $10.4 billion on Halloween this year, billions of dollars more than last year.
What’s even scarier is that most costumes range around $45 when bought brand new, and after they are used once, they are either trashed because of the poor quality or they disappear into the back of people’s closets to collect dust.
This old method of trashing our used costumes or letting them sit in our closets to rot does not have to continue. Luckily, there is an affordable and unique alternative to this wasteful behavior this year: second-hand shopping.
Many thrift stores make this option easy for you, setting out Halloween ensembles that they have saved all year, and even providing you with vintage wear to create your next perfect decade’s costume.
Located on Boulder’s Pearl Street, there’s a store that goes above and beyond this expectation to get you to put your old costumes to good use. Apocalypse wants your old costumes to bring them back from the dead year after year. This store is filled with unique, affordable accessories they have accumulated all year to ensure that you have the best Halloween attire.
Not only is the costume selection at Apocalypse incredibly unique, but you will get more from your money too. Prices of individual costume pieces range anywhere from $5-$20 dollars, bringing your total to around $50-$60. This includes all of your accessories and pieces you can reuse all year. Stores like Dolls Kill or Spirit often charge $60 and up from costumes made of scratchy cheap material that won’t last more than one night.
Apocalypse isn’t your average thrift store and the decor itself will inspire you to put an eye-catching look together. With mannequins showing their latest interpretation of a costume to dazzling pieces of clothes everywhere you look, it’s hard not to get inspired in the spooky mecca of this second-hand store.
Apocalypse founder, Madison Moorhead, knows there are many alternatives to turning to Spirit Halloween or Amazon this season.
“Borrow stuff from friends, shop second hand, and use things that you already have in your wardrobe… reclaim the lost art of constructing clothing and appreciate all of the hours that go into it,” Moorhead said.
Georgia believes that Apocalypse is making a change in Halloween style, “I do feel as though it has helped people experiment with their style, especially when they see a piece that they can use in a costume but also in their everyday life. Not to mention the staff absolutely loves to help the customers create their costumes.”
Employee Georgia Wheatley came up with a costume in less than 5 minutes from just looking around the store, creating a futuristic twist on an alien princess with items within arms reach.
Customer Julie Bottke says she found the perfect pieces and the right inspiration when shopping at Apocalypse this Halloween season.
“I went in there looking for something to complete my Halloween costume and came out with a whole new look… It’s definitely more affordable than Amazon and I am sure no one else will have the same costume as me,” Bottke said.
If you already purchased your costume from a big brand name rather than a second-hand store, it won’t come back to haunt you next year since donations are always accepted.
If you’re still looking for a last-minute costume, give Apocalypse a try and enjoy the Halloween season in a sustainable style.
