Help my friends and me become fabulous '50s starlets for Halloween.

October 22, 2008 1:05 PM

My friends and I are planning to attend a Halloween party as starlets from Hollywood's Golden Age - Veronica Lake, Ava Gardner, Susan Hayward and Audrey Hepburn. Can anyone recommend a place in the New York metro area where we can rent or buy fabulous '50s-style dresses at a reasonable price?
posted by zembla3 to clothing, beauty, & fashion (4 comments total)

I really like the label Stop Staring!, which you can buy online here.

I did a little searching, and it looks like you can find Stop Staring! dresses at the following locations in Manhattan:

Patricia Field on Bowery St in NYC, Enz's on 2nd Ave in NYC and also at Trash and Vaudeville at 4 St. Marks Place in East Village.
posted by Evangeline at 1:30 PM on October 22, 2008

new york is full of old ladies that were young and stylish in the 50s—why buy something new when you can get one of their beautiful vintage dresses instead? try what goes around comes around on w broadway, screaming mimi's on lafayette, or any of the beacon's closets.
posted by lia at 2:23 PM on October 22, 2008

I'm not sure what you mean by "reasonable," but I highly recommend Etsy and Ebay for vintage dresses. Ebay dresses generally start at $10.

Vintage dresses abound at both Buffalo Exchange and Beacon's Closet in Brooklyn, where the dresses usually run from $10-60.
posted by zoomorphic at 2:32 PM on October 22, 2008

New York certainly is full of old ladies, stylish and otherwise, but you'll find that quality vintage clothing will cost you an arm and a leg in Manhattan, particularly evening wear. The good thing about reproduction clothes is that they're cheaper, they fit, and they don't smell like death and moth balls. But hey, I'm not a purist.

I've had some good luck buying vintage dresses off Ebay, but if you're in a hurry and you want to be sure you get it right the first time, you'll have to do some footwork. You could try Cheap Jack's on Broadway too. They're not actually all that cheap, but they have a big inventory.
posted by Evangeline at 7:40 PM on October 22, 2008