By DCist Contributor Stephanie Taylor

Halloween is fast approaching, and because the scariest day of the year was inconsiderate enough to fall mid-week this year, much of the drunken pin the rib on the skeleton madness begins next weekend.

But the District has very few true costume shops. If you’ve sorted through your closet and still haven’t found a winner for this year’s costume, we thought we’d offer a few suggestions as to where to dig up something suitable.

Backstage Inc.
Costume Studio on Capitol Hill closed its doors roughly two Halloweens ago, making Backstage Inc., also on the Hill near Eastern Market, the only year-round costume shop inside D.C. city limits. Backstage has more than 2,000 rental costumes, most of which are “period” costumes ranging from the Grecian toga all the way up to the 70s. Rentals range between $30 and $200 (a leather Darth Vader set-up complete with a voice box mask) and are for the weekend prior to the holiday. For an extra $5-20, you can rent through Halloween night. The store also sells those tacky costumes in a bag (standard fare such as a devil, pirate, etc., and the more adventurous kissing booth, tic tacs not included), boas, face paint, wigs and masks. There’s an elephant mask for sale, complete with a red, white and blue sailor’s hat. For those who refuse to say good-bye to the boy wizard phenomenon, there’s the Dobby mask.
545 8th Street SE
(202) 544-5744

Photo from inside Backstage Inc. by Stephanie Taylor