A college-aged brunette in a sequined red mask and neon green heels walks by, brandishing pink cheetah-print heels in the direction of her boyfriend. He stands next to a group of three students wearing Massachusetts Institute of Technology gear as they look at a rack of full-length astronaut suits.
Other patrons pass, trailing scraps of costumes and shouting to friends, adding to the excitement that employees said characterizes Cambridge’s Garment District in October.
Even though the Kendall Square store is currently undergoing renovations, employees at the store said late Sunday night that it still has all of its old character – and its business.
“They’re putting all new windows in and new siding,” said Alyssa McAvinia, an employee, “but it’s still going to be the Garment District.”
The two-storied shop, which brands itself on its website as an “alternative department store” that sells vintage and recycled clothing, converts itself into a costume store each fall as college students flock back to Boston.
The store has paused renovations for the Halloween season. Accessories, shoes, stick-on facial hair, a rainbow array of make-up and an explosion of costumes inside distracts from any external signs of construction.
Employees said they do not think that the integrity of the store will be affected by the partially finished overhaul.
“I know people will still love it,” McAvinia said.
The building, built in 1893 from the shell of an even older building, is the last known architectural remnant of Cambridge’s soap manufacturing industry, formerly one of the city’s largest, according to the Cambridge Historical Commission website.
Inside, circular garment racks feature black-and-white signs boasting costumes ranging from burlesque and fairy tale-inspired to doctors and nurses to pleather. One unlabeled rack holds nothing but full-body chicken suits.
A wall of top hats flanks one of multi-colored, multi-era sunglasses that are, according to a sign, “only $10.” At the ground level there are racks of costumes, a selection of rubber masks, costumes in bags and costumes for rent for the swells of shoppers – even after 10 p.m. on a Sunday – to weave their way through.
Throughout October, The Garment District remains open until midnight seven days a week.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” McAvinia said. “You can get as silly and as crazy as you want to.”
McAvinia, who said the piles of clothing outside the dressing rooms or the mismatched trail of abandoned Go-go boots do not intimidate her, does not work at the Garment District year-round, although she said she used to. She said that she and other old employees come back to help out for Halloween.
“It’s pretty fun,” she said. “The past two days, it’s been pretty bad. We get hundreds of people in here.”
Store manager Lydia Coyle said the crowds always swell as Halloween approaches.
“Every day is fast-paced, hectic and exciting,” Coyle said. “The down side of this time of year is that it does result in some very long days for us, but the time passes so quickly it’s hard to notice.”
Bethany Post, a theatrical costume designer and seasonal employee of the Garment District, said she is impressed by the variety of people’s costume ideas.
“It’s really cool to see the range,” she said.
Post said Dead Steve Jobs is one of the more interesting costume ideas she’s heard.
As customers walked back and forth over the black-and-white tiled floor on Sunday night, recent Harvard University graduate Rawan Haddad said that she comes to the Garment District every year.
“It’s the place to go for Halloween costumes,” she said. “You’re guaranteed to walk away with something, even if it does get pretty crazy right before Halloween.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
I had only just set up a webpage of which I need to have high quality contents. This blog has presented me with loads of innovative Ideas and new trend of which I’m very pleased.