I well remember my Mum's 'costume room'. It was the box room in her house and was piled high with costumes for any solo, duologue or play that she had ever put on or even thought she might put on sometime in the future. She had made and/or customised many of the costumes herself. I'm sure there are many such costume rooms in existance throughout the country. Time passes and I think that many speech and drama teachers now buy costumes for their productions.
At our recent drama teachers' workshop in Limerick, Mary McCoy-Rudden, during her session on putting on plays with children, referred to a company in Britain called IDS. IDS stands for International Dance Supplies but they supply, according to Mary and others, a wide range of durable, washable and, most importantly, reasonably-priced costumes to suit most productions. She said that they are also very reliable, easy to deal with and send costumes well-packed and promptly. (I know this sounds like an ad but it's not!)
I've just been on to IDS to see how to access the catalogue. A very helpful woman called Jan told me the following:
As IDS is a wholesale company, any body wishing to purchase from them needs to register their school/ academy/ group name with IDS (they won't sell to individuals). Once this has been done, IDS will give you a password which you can use to view the full catalogue on-line and make purchases (you can also purchase by phone). Once registered they will also send you a hard copy of the catalogue and email you with updates and special offers. There is no minimum spend, by the way. They say that they understand that many drama groups are small.
So here are the contact details:
IDS, Harlequin House, Forde Court, NEWTON ABBOT, Devon, TQ12 4BT, UK
The person I talked to (Jan) gave me her direct line and said that anyone reading this who is interested in registering could contact her. So, Jan's number is (from Ireland) 00.44.1626.882206.
The website is www.ids.co.uk
If anyone has other suppliers, please let me know at mail@irishboard.ie
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- Irish Board of Speech and Drama
- Dublin, Ireland
- The fastest-growing, friendliest, most approachable, and most flexible speech, drama and communication examining body in Ireland. Our professional approach to exams, our encouraging and experienced examiners and our accessible and modern syllabus have made us a firm favourite with speech, drama and communications teachers throughout Ireland.
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