Northumberland Players Costume House
At this time, we are not offering costume rentals.
Northumberland Players Costume House: the “Jewel” of Northumberland Players
Since the late 1970s, a group of faithful and ever-increasing volunteers of Northumberland Players has worked diligently in the specialized costumes department of this live community theatre company. In 1984, a two-storey apartment above a downtown Cobourg store became the first centralized storage space for Northumberland Players’ costumes. Previously, the costumes had been tucked away in various locations including private homes. A “mountain of garments” was organized with great care by Verna Templer. Assisted by enthusiastic volunteers, the team sorted, maintained, repaired and received existing and incoming production costumes and donations. Verna remains very involved with the administration of the collection with volunteers who have experience in film, television, theatre, music and related performing arts.
The Players’ costume collection represents years of expert design, research and sewing, augmented by donations of vintage clothing. The Northumberland Players’ Costume House vintage collection represents most fashion styles for men and women over the past 120 years. The women’s vintage hats and dresses number in the hundreds. There are rare, authentic men’s ensembles. Children’s costumes are also available. As well as the historical pieces, there are costumes representative of many eras including medieval, Shakespearean, Edwardian — and for the entire cast of over 45 theatre productions (see Group Collections).
The centralized costume space soon became integral to the Northumberland Players’ success as a theatre group and a significant resource for costume rental to other groups and individuals. It gained a reputation as one of the best collections of amateur and professional rentals between Hamilton ON and Montreal QE. There have been rentals to the CBC, the Canadian Opera Company, various theatre and school groups across Ontario. Now, over 10,000 costumes have a home at a larger location at Northumberland Players Costume House.
To read more about the success of the Costume House, see http://ontarioeast.ca/success-stories/northumberland-players