SEATTLE — "We feel like we're kind of a museum of wearable art as well as a kind of service," said Kyra Stewart, the owner of A Masquerade Costume.
Stewart started the business out of her home in 1999.
"At the time I had only 12 masks," Stewart said. "Threw some pictures online, and people got to wear my vintage clothes and my private collection and stage-worn stuff, and here we are 24 years later."
The company has stayed close to its theatrical roots.
"[We are] Constantly looking for things that are fan-made or things that are cottage-made or historical replica pieces," Stewart said. "We try to get the good stuff."
They still provide outfits for stage productions, but do big business this time of year in Halloween haute couture.
Stewart said, "I'm seeing a trend of going back to the basics a lot Stewart said. "So we're getting a lot of people who want to do vampires but good quality vampires. They want to do the pirates but, like, cool, what is my inner pirate? People are doing wizards again, witches again. They want to do a lot of the classics."
"I think we're seeing a lot more radical self-expression where people are finding their inner side," said Stewart, "something inside that's a little scarier, a little funnier, a little sexier, but piecing together their layers. And they can do that with this collection."
A Masquerade is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. They're located at 16640 Cleveland St. in Redmond.
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