I'm currently in the process of starting a new student theatre organization at my university, and we're very tentatively considering a production of Gypsy in January 2013. Right now, I'm trying to draw up a working budget for the show so that I can get some sense of whether we can realistically do this or not.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that the costumes for Tessie Tura, Electra, and Mazeppa (the three burlesque strippers in Act 2) are probably too intricate/expensive for us to build ourselves, so we'll most likely have to rent them. Does anybody here know of some costume companies that might rent out costumes for these roles and/or what this is likely to cost us? I'm somewhat new at this, so I'm wondering if someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

Well, for a start, where are you? USA, UK, elsewhere? Try Yell.com for costume hire.

I tried Yell.com, nothing came out. I am in US.

Dear rcs,

I think that you might try calling a local strip club. They'd more than likely have a few costumes that you could use. Of course, the fact that you should request CLEAN costumes almost goes without saying.

Thank you in advance for your reply, and good luck, with regards to the show.