Rental industry standards typically expect costuming to be returned professionally dry-cleaned or laundered. However, we prefer to handle all of our own care of the costume and do all of our own cleaning. The cost of this service is factored into your rental rate for each piece, which sometimes reflects a rental rate that is a bit higher than standard rental industry rates. Also some of our more elaborate and delicate costumes require special handling and care, which is reflected in their higher rental rates.
Please DO NOT attempt to clean or repair any costuming yourself!! Please DO notify us upon return of your costumes of any known damage needing repair or any spills or stains that have occurred to any costume.
For any costuming that is sent out on hangers and/or in garment bags and with any identification tags, these items are to also be returned and in the condition and manner that they were sent out. Any broken hangers need to be replaced and anything damaged or missing will incur a replacement fee billed to the credit card on file. All costumes should come back on their hangers or in their bags/boxes and completely together in the same manner in which they went out. An added service charge of 5% of the total bill will be billed to the credit card on file should there be a costuming mess returned to us.
A prop, decoration, or set piece determined by The Magical Wardrobe to be damaged beyond normal wear and tear will incur a damage charge as determined by evaluation from The Magical Wardrobe. Costuming is considered damaged but repairable if it is returned with any of the following: minor rips, tears or cuts, damage from pins, broken zippers, missing buttons or medallions/embellishments/badges/trim, detached garment pieces. Repairable costuming will incur a damage fee determined by the evaluation of a costuming repair staff member and billed according to the rates set forth in the following paragraph. Costuming is considered damaged and not repairable and thus no longer rentable if it is returned with any of the following: irreparable tears, major seam damage, irreversible alterations, major cuts, burning, or having make-up or other permanent stains that render the costume non-rentable will be billed the 3x replacement value fee and in either situation, charged to the credit card on file.
Any prop, decoration, or set piece damaged will be billed to the renter at $35 per repair hour, with a minimum of a one hour charge, plus the cost of any needed materials. Any costuming that is returned damaged or with alterations that have not been taken out and the costume returned to its original condition will be billed to the customer at $25 per seamstress repair hour, with a minimum of a one hour charge, plus the cost of any needed materials.
If an item is damaged beyond repair the customer will be notified of the cost to replace the item and the credit card on file will be charged the replacement value (rv) as indicated on the website’s item listing or in the rental contract.
If a costume is returned in a condition that is not able to be repaired satisfactorily based upon our own seamstresses’ assessment or is stained for which cleaning can not remedy, then the customer will be notified of the cost to replace the item and the credit card on file will be charged 3x the replacement vale (rv) as indicated on the website’s item listing or in the invoice contract and in accordance to the explanation of replacement value given below.
We have done our very best to be fair in our pricing, which is well below the industry average for such charges, and we will evaluate any situation with as much fairness and understanding as possible, but please keep in mind the high costs we have as a shop operation to provide this service to you and these costs must be covered if we are to be able to continue providing our high quality costumes and amazing service to you!
Should a costume or item either not be returned (in the case of loss or theft or due to damage) or be returned in a condition that necessitates replacement as determined by our staff, then the credit card on file will be charged. Standard industry practice is that replacement value is a calculated multiplier that factors in the cost of replacing the costume based upon its costs to either rebuy or remake as well as the potential costs from loss of business and extra staff hours to address the inventory loss. Rates are typically very high to encourage responsibility of use and discourage irresponsibility and hopefully avoid hardships on both the renter and the company. Industry rates have been noted to be as high as 10x the replacement value of an item. We have elected for 3x, which only covers the basic needs and assessment of the situation. This has been chosen to help keep any necessary charges as low as possible to create as small of a post-production impact to a theatre or school’s budget as possible. We are working to provide a RV number to each item in our inventory. Not all items will have them at the time of your rental, but should there be loss or damage, a RV number will be assigned at the sole decision making of a Magical Wardrobe staff member. The assigned RV number is not up for debate or negotiation. This number is the amount that will be billed at the conclusion of the rental period should the item not be returned or is found in a condition that necessitates replacement.
Props must be returned in the exact manner in which they left the shop. Painting and modification of a piece, unless cleared though a Magical Wardrobe staff person via a written down correspondence, will result in a replacement value charge.
Costumes may be altered to fit (except in the case of a few high valued special outfits, which will be indicated as such), but MUST BE RETURNED TO THEIR ORIGINAL SIZE before returning. Minor alterations (hems, waists, cuffs) are acceptable as long as the alteration does not damage the costume and is reversible. Alterations requiring cutting and dying or spray painting of costumes is never allowed. Iron-on bonding web, mending tape, glue, stitchwitchery, or any other type of permanent adhesives may NOT be used on costumes. All alterations must be made by hand sewn basting. Machine stitching may incur damage fees. The Magical Wardrobe will charge a $100 tailoring fee billed to the credit card on file for any costume that is returned altered. This is a huge deal for our shop as we rely on the sizing we label in our costumes to be accurate so that the costume fits each actor that rents it. An unknowingly altered costume will not reflect the size we have labeled in our costume and thus will not fit the next person after your use of the costume and this could cause very significant issues to a show and negative feedback on our service.