You see the bright pink trim and walk in. On the staircase is Rags, a larger-than-life-sized tomcat mascot. On the shelves, masks of all shapes and sizes stare at you. Hurried customers surround you.
You’re at the Garment District, a Cambridge thrifting staple for 40 years. And this is the busy season. October generates nearly 20% of the shop’s yearly sales, thanks to customers shopping for and assembling Halloween costumes.
“October is three times the size of an average month,” said Chris Cassel, president and part owner of the Garment District. “The last two weeks [generate] nearly all that increase in revenue, with the last seven to ten days [before Halloween being] the biggest.”
History of the store
The Garment District building at 200 Broadway dates back to 1893. Lysander Kemp & Sons, a soap manufacturer, occupied it until World War II, and in 1986 the Garment District opened as an offshoot of Harbor Textile Waste Co. In 1981, Harbor Textile started selling extra bales of clothes to the public for a dollar a pound, and the Garment District still runs “By The Pound” on Saturdays, though the clothes are now $2 per pound.
According to the Garment District’s website, the store prides itself on being a sustainable business, passing on unsold clothes to businesses that repurpose the fabric.
In 2007, Boston Costume, a costume rental shop, moved from Chinatown and joined the Garment District.
“When it really went nuts was, you know, 2008 and 2009,” Cassel said. “Amazon was still effectively a bookstore — they weren’t selling Halloween costumes, so you needed to buy them at a local store back then, and it’s sustained since.”
To prepare for Halloween, Garment District employees must begin their sourcing months in advance.
“We can’t produce enough in October to sell all of what we sell in October,” Cassel said. “We produce it over the year, hang it, tag it, organize it, buy it, search for it if we think we need something that’s going to be hot.”
What’s in this year
Pop culture, especially social media trends, dictates what’s popular with Cantabrigians. In 2015, the Pizza Rat meme was a phenomenon. “We worried about not having enough rat costumes because someone’s going to want to just walk around with a slice of pizza in a rat costume and follow that meme,” Cassel said. “You have to think ahead about what’s going to be the popular thing.”
This year, Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” inspired countless costumes. The other big trend? “We’ve been seeing a lot of fairies, and I’m not sure what it is, but there’s been a big uptick in fairies, wings and tutus,” Cassel said.
Griffin Willner and Gavin Miller had a different plan before they hit the Garment District this week.
“I’m dressing up as Marnie from ‘Girls’ when she sings ‘Stronger’ by Kanye West at her ex-boyfriend’s company party,” said Willner, a research coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital, inspired by the upcoming revival of Lena Dunham’s 2010s show, “Girls.”
Miller was also going for a film-inspired look. “I’m going as Killing of a Sacred Beer, which is just ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer,’ but I have a beer in my hand the whole time,” Miller said.
Some customers are using the Garment District as a supplement to their DIY costumes. Lila Williams, a student at Lesley University, said this year she’s going to be Miss Piggy.
“I got stuff for Miss Piggy here,” Williams said, gesturing to the bundle of clothes in her hands. “I’m going to make my own latex prosthetics.”
Sydney Rogers and Birch Klomparens came to the Garment District with no real plan.
“We’ve kind of just been wandering, but inspiration has not struck,” Klomparens said. “I want to wear a bob wig, but I don’t know what I will be.”
After journeying through thrift shops all day, Rogers said they landed at the Garment District because of its focus on costumes.
“We needed something more focused on costumes and this place has a great reputation,” Rogers said. “We stepped in, and she [Klomparens] was like, ‘Ok, I think we’re in the right place now.’”
This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom Initiative.
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