October has a way of sneaking up on performers.

One minute everyone is settling into fall classes. The next minute there are costumes, character shoes, tights, hair requirements, school productions, Halloween events, and somebody urgently asking whether anyone owns a pair of black fishnets.

We love this part.

Costumes are fun. Performances are fun. The little backstage details are fun too—at least when you discover them before the dress rehearsal.

The glamorous world of tiny emergency items

Big costume pieces get all the attention, but performance days are often rescued by very small things: the right tights, a hair net, extra elastics, safety pins, a spare pair of shoes, a bodyliner, a garment bag, or something that keeps a costume where it is supposed to stay.

If you are heading into recital, competition, theatre, or school-musical season, now is a good time to look through the costume list and ask:

• Are the tights still the right size and colour?
• Do the shoes still fit?
• Is the dancer’s hair requirement clear?
• Is there anything the costume needs underneath it?
• Do we have a bag or system for keeping all of this together?

Bring us the weird request

One of the things we want Act One to become known for is being the place where you can walk in and say, “This is going to sound strange…”

We are good with strange.

Show us the costume photo. Bring the production note. Tell us the director wants “something kind of like this, but not exactly this.” We may have something in stock, something unexpectedly useful in older inventory, or a supplier option worth checking.

And if your studio, school, or theatre group keeps needing the same thing every season, tell us. Those repeated requests are exactly how we decide what Act One should stock more deeply next year.