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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Consultant can make you look your best for Halloween

 Store employees, from left, Stacie Cates, Shannon Wyckoff, Stephanie Mauget and Dolly Perry  model costumes at Value Village on Thursday. Store manager Shawn Vose dubbed them the “Value Village People.”  (Jesse Tinsley)

Tough economic times don’t have to ruin your Halloween fun.

Lauren Green is a seasoned costume consultant with Value Village. Green, who was dressed as Queen of the Zombies, helps people put together unique costumes on any budget.

For those who need some spooky inspiration, there will be a Halloween fashion show at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Value Village at 708 W. Boone Ave.

Q. What is your job as a costume consultant?

A. Basically, my job is just to help people figure out – like if they come in and they don’t know exactly what they want to be – help them get ideas and, once they have their idea, put all the pieces together. If they don’t want to have a new, packaged costume and something kind of unique, I go through the store and help them get it all together using used stuff.

Q. What have been some of the most popular costumes this year?

A. It’s pretty much always pirates and vampires are like the biggest thing. We’ve had a lot of film characters – like Iron Man for little kids was a big one.

Q. What is the price range of the costumes?

A. There’s things for as little as $2.99 all the way up to $50. Used ones are obviously cheaper than the new ones, but you can get them in pretty much any price range you are looking for.

Q. What has been the most challenging costume you have helped someone put together?

A. Somebody wanted to be the Queen of Hearts from the new Alice in Wonderland movie but we didn’t get Queen of Hearts costumes like we were supposed to, so I had to put that together with a lot of different used stuff, and new stuff too. So, that was kind of a challenge because she has that huge, elaborate dress. But, we made it work, actually.

Q. What’s been the most unique costume?

A. Last year, somebody was a lamp shade. They wanted to be a big lamp. So, it was kind of like, where do I even start with that one?

Q. When someone needs help, where do you start?

A. I usually start with asking them what they want to be and then I kind of get the main costume pieces together. Then, I kind of ask them what their price range is. Do you want something easy, that’s in a package, or do you want to have a unique costume and I’ll help you put that together if you want? And from there it’s pretty easy. I know where pretty much everything is in the store.

Q. Do you have any other suggestions for people working with a tight budget this Halloween?

A. Don’t be afraid to kind of get creative with it. If you can’t find exactly what you want, there is usually some kind of alternative. … And if you need help, that’s what my job is.