House of Haynes Fancy Dress shop review

Where is it?
32 Oldham Street
Manchester
M1 1JN
Tel: 0161 237 3775

www.houseofhaynes.co.uk

History:
Established in 1995 by Jackie Haynes, the business originally opened in the Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Having outgrown its previous location, it uprooted to the Northern Quarter and has since remained in this thriving shopping location. Fitting in well with the independent shopping scene, Jackie believes she has now found the ideal location for the business.

What does it sell?
This store sells pretty much every fancy dress costume imaginable, from film characters, animals, historical figures and pop stars to more obscure outfits such as fruit and vegetables. Personal favourites include the newly added Lady Gaga, and Take That. All costumes are handmade in store for all shapes and sizes and specific customer requests can also be taken into consideration. All costumes, complete with wigs and certain accessories are priced at £30 for a three day hire.

Who shops there?
Those in search of a distinctly different, handmade, fancy dress costume will be spoilt for choice here. With so many different options, the shop has saved many a partygoer the embarrassment of turning up to a fancy dress party in the same outfit as somebody else. Don’t you just hate that? What’s more, the costumes are of a higher quality than most other fancy dress shops and e-tailers, so your costume needn’t look cheap and tacky.

Why shop there?
House of Haynes bares resemblance to a vintage shop, with endless rails making it a fun shop to spend hours rummaging through with owner Jackie always on hand to help.

As the costumes are for rent only, customers can chose a different costume for every wacky occasion instead of spending a fortune on an outfit they’ll only wear once. Plus let’s face it, if you dressed up as Superman more than once people might start to wonder if there’s something you’re not telling them.

Future:
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is Jackie’s philosophy. House of Haynes looks set to further expand its customer base from this thriving location via word of mouth recommendations.

Verdict:
Welcome to the house of fun...