Costumes & Sizes Explained
Okay, lets get one thing straight right at the top here. Fancy Dress Costumes, Outfits and Accessorires are NOT High Street Fashion Garments. They are often mass produced in Countries like China and are designed to fit sizing structures that have been specified by different costume wholesalers. As a result, one manufacturer/supplier's size 'Small' is equal to another's 'Medium'. We print in the eBay description the size we have been provided with and we believe that in most cases, this is very accurate indeed.
As a general rule of thumb, most Costume sizing fits with our traditional UK sizing system for women, men and children. Accessories like hats and wigs are designed to fit a broad spectrum 'average' which may mean it does not fit you. Some costumes come in a 'one-size' only format and these are often the kind of outfit that is made from a lycra or elasticated type of material. The polyester, cotten type materials tend to be more close fitting.
Obviously, buying clothing of any type at distance is fraught with decisions! You can't touch it, feel it, smell it or see how big your bum looks in it! We are more than happy to answer any specific questions you have about individual products and if we have the item you are looking at in our showroom then we will happily go and get it and touch it and feel it for you! Regretably, eBay is NOT a cheap place to advertise or sell goods within. We are charged significant fees on advertising and then again on selling an item so when items get returned to us because they didn't fit, it can be costly for us and of course a waste of time for you. Therefore we strongly advise you to consider your choice of sizing including costume material and cut before clicking the buy button. Once an item is sent out, if it comes back to us for reasons other than being faulty then we will have to charge a 10% restocking fee to cover our eBay fees.
Some good tips on sizing are to consider these things;
How Tall Am I?
Adult sized outfits tend to be based on average heights for men being 6ft 1inch and women being 5ft 6in. If you are quite tall and are looking at a trousered or all in one costume with legs then there's a good chance it won't fit you. Similarily, if you are shorter than average then you might end up with a trousered style outfit looking too big.
What material is it?
Look at the picture, this often says a thousand words. Is it stretchy or is it fitted looking. If you are a border line size 14 but sometimes a 16 then hedge your bets on a fitted style costume and go for a larger size. If on the other hand you often find that you border on being small or extra small then its likely that a stretchy outfit will be best in the smaller size for you.
Ladies - Am I fairly buxom or Petite?
If you are a more shapely lady, then you need to consider if your boobs are going to fit into some types of costumes. We recommend going for the larger cut sizes if this is you! If on the other hand, you are quite petite then smaller sized costumes normally make a better choice in the fitted type of materials.
Men - Am I a Rugby Boy or a Jockey shape?
Chaps, if you are on the bulkier side and you are looking at fitted types of materials or outfits then you're going to be better mostly going for the larger sizes. On the other hand, if you are quite slight then there's little point in selecting mediums or larges as you'll probably do okay in a small.
Children - Am I text book sized?
Kids can be really difficult to get costumes for as they come in so many shapes and sizes for their age range. One 4 year old can be nearly as tall as anotehr 7 year old so if you are buying for children then consider not what age they are but what height they are. If you ahve a talelr than average pre-schooler then go for the medium size as this will likely look and feel better than the size designed for most 3-5 year olds. Often a child is standard height but not always shaped that way! The bigger kids will nearly always need to go for the taller sized costumes to accomodate them more comfortably.
A word about quality
The quality of all our costumes meets industry standards and they are fot for purpose. The purpose is for novelty use, fancy dress parties or as a theatrical representation. They are not made to last like normal clothes. This is not to say that they are poor quality, but they do have their limitations, especially those that are of from the budget ranges. We want you to enjoy your costume and get as much use from it as possible so consider how you intend to use your outfit when making a decision on the budget you have to spend. It's pretty much straight forward that the more expensive the outfit, the better quality it will be. | 
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