As one of central London’s best-known fancy dress and costume stores, Angels Fancy Dress is no stranger to the limelight and has been featured in the national press once again; this time as part of a BBC feature on how to navigate potential controversy and avoid causing offence at Halloween.
The broadcaster spoke to store manager Andy Andreou who said that fancy dress is more popular than ever, with some going all out to impress and the now-traditional queue out of the door in the run-up to Halloween.
Referring to the recent costume controversies and the Kent university fancy dress guidelines, Andy – who has worked in the fancy dress industry for 20 years – then spoke about other costumes which may or may not be off-limits, pointing out that customers seem to be increasingly cautious.
“There was once a thing called bad taste parties, we don’t see much of that anymore,” he told the BBC. “We used to stock a Jimmy Savile costume but we stopped selling it. People didn’t buy it anymore and it’s not a very nice thing for us to sell.”
Angels will not sell outfits it believes could cause offence (such as Nazi costumes) and it very rarely gets customers requesting them.
Despite some commentators warning against costumes which could potentially stereotype other cultures, Andy says that fancy dress such as Mexico’s Day of the Dead and Bavarian Oktoberfest remain hugely popular.
The BBC went on to speak to a number of Angels’ customers to see how they felt about the issue and were faced with a mixed reception, with some remaining cautious and others drawing a clear line between dressing up for fun and dressing up to ridicule other cultures.
Halloween 2018: Top 10 bestselling costumes
Men
- Big Frankenstein
- Escaped Prisoner
- Pennywise the Clown
- Evil Jester
- Butcher Pig
Women
- Scary Mary
- Spiritless Cheerleader
- Gothic Ballerina
- Twisted Clown
- Gothic Fallen Angel
