LETTER FROM AMERICA

Working in an industry which puts a smile on people’s faces every day is a real pleasure, as Ed Avis – the executive director of the National Costumers Association – reveals in his latest column.

Right:Ed Avis is the executive director of the National Costumers Association. Contact him at executivedirector@costumers.org.

Mixing The Ages – What The Decades Can Learn From Each Other

We just wrapped up the 2021 National Costumers Association Success Summit, a totally Zoom based event designed to help the US costume industry get past the COVID gloom. True to its name, the event was a success – eight hours spread over two days, packed with practical, useful information to grow a costume business… plus a lot of virtual networking and socialising.

What really stood out for me was the interesting mix of ages in attendance and how they interacted. On one end of the spectrum was a large group of retired members or those near retirement. These men and women have been the heart of the costume industry for decades. They built successful costume businesses during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and now many are entering a quieter phase.

On the other end was a group of younger members, several of whom joined the NCA in just past year (yes, even during COVID we scored some new members!). These are people who are completely in the exciting growth phase of their careers and businesses. They are trying new ideas – lots on online selling, pop-up shops, etc. – and serving important new markets, including the drag community, cosplay fans, and other markets that are helping sustain costume businesses that have lost general costume retail sales to Amazon and the big box stores.

What I loved most was seeing the groups interact. The more senior members revealed their deep knowledge of the industry when the younger folks asked for advice on a wide range of topics – for example, did you know that you can use a Clorox bottle to create the structure for a fancy Las Vegas showgirl headpiece? Or that performing simple magic tricks for customers can be a great way to entice the purchase of said tricks?

And the younger members also provided spot-on advice on a wide range of topics that may not have always been a focus for the senior generation. How to serve the drag community, for example, was extensively covered in one panel discussion on serving unconventional markets. A key part of that conversation involved the importance of being sensitive about language – don’t assume you know the right pronoun to use based on a customer’s appearance, for example.

In our final social event, which we called the Fancy Hat Ball, several senior level members discussed an upcoming, casual event called Spring Fling. This is basically a weekend full of eating, drinking, fun and games that a core group of members has participated in for at least the past two decades. It’s not an official NCA event so it never occurs to me to tell new members about it. But once the younger folks heard the details, they said they couldn’t wait! It will be a melding of generations that will serve our industry well.

Inset: Young and old interact with some exciting results.