Helen’s Pacific Costumers

Amazing service, they went above and beyond to make my costume rock! I had a last minute gig and needed to perform the next day. They took great care of me! I’ll be back for sure. Portland is very lucky to have such a shop!!!

This place is a gem — tons of costumes to rent — wigs, face make up, stage blood, breads & mustaches. I actually went ON Halloween this year & they still had costumes to rent & plenty of people to help.
Tip — adult costumes only — just a tiny selection of kids costumes.

Great Selection but I just learned today that the only day they are closed during fall hours is Wednesdays. :(

Helen’s is so fun and affordable. Their staff are always creative, helpful, and pleasant. High quality options when you don’t have time to DIY.

I was very pleased with this costume shop. From the time I came in to get a 50’s Elvis costume, I felt that I was a valued customer. They took the time with me to get it right, and had valuable suggestions. The wig was fantastic! I found them to be reasonably priced and easy to deal with.
I will most definitely do all of my costume needs here at Helen’s. And with the tremendous stock I saw, I won’t be disappointed.

I was thrilled with this costume shop… they gave great service in person and over email, had lots of options for the biker costume I was putting together, and even were willing to sew a patch on for me. And their selection is huge. I don’t like how far away they are from me, but hey, I’m in Beaverton. Not their fault. :)

I called into this shop on a Friday afternoon just before Halloween. I was looking for a brown afro wig to pull off a Bob Ross costume. To my relief, the woman on the phone told me that they did have one and they’d hold it for me. I was able to drive across town and pick it up shortly before closing time. When I got home just a few minutes later, I put the wig on and noticed it wreaked of pungent perfume. I hadn’t noticed in the shop, because as you’d imagine, costume shops have a particular scent all their own. Unable to stand the smell, I was forced to abandon my costume for the night, which was a huge letdown. At the very least, I figured I could return the wig the next day and get a refund. I would have done so immediately, but the shop was closed. I explained the situation the next day to the woman working the store, who was was very nice and understanding, but she told me I’d have to speak to the manager another day about a refund. I called in later and the owner refused to give me a refund. She cited various reasons that seemed, at best, disingenuous: it cost them the sale price just to do the paperwork (it was $ 15 and the paperwork took two minutes), the wig was clean (implying I’m lying), and that I should have returned it sooner (impossible). She even yelled at me on the phone, which she probably allowed herself to do only because nobody was in her store at the time (hmmm, I wonder why). Bad merchandise, and terrible customer service. Avoid this business! If you ever get fleeced, you won’t have any hope of resolving it.

It’d been years since I dressed up for Halloween. The last I can remember was gearing-​up at Andy & Bax for a John Locke (Lost) outfit that cost me an arm and a leg, and then joining my friends in a balls-​to-​the-​wall Halloween treasure hunt around town. We lost. And then, my costume sat in my closet for a couple years gathering dust until I recently moved and decided to toss it. I don’t do a whole lot of «costuming» in general, so you can imagine my terror when I was invited to a huge Halloween house party this year.
As usual, I waffled and procrastinated — waiting for the perfect idea to settle — all the while worrying about spending tons of money on some failed costume. At first, I was going to bust-​out my old «Commie Santa» outfit from past SantaCon adventures… then, I realized I’d tossed everything but the robe. My second idea was to go as some character from Minecraft (a game which holds a special place in my heart) — a creeper or enderman, perhaps. Of course, I had this Minecraft idea within mere days of the party and didn’t really have the time to print out box designs for the outfit. I also didn’t want to be wearing a giant box on my head during a party where I could potentially meet a hot lady friend. Scratch that. Then suddenly, it dawned on me… I would be grumpy cat. I mean, I was already irritated by having to face my own fears re. dressing up for Halloween, so why not run with it?
Obviously, I had to buy makeup and cat ears. In typical «me» fashion, I immediately started researching tips on professional face painting and learned about which brands of makeup to buy. After hours on teh Interwebz, I suddenly realized that this would be a whole lot of work… There were only a couple days left until the party, and I had a list of very specific items to purchase. Naturally, I figured a local costume shop would carry more of the high-​end makeup I was seeking.
Google Maps revealed a place called Helen’s Costumers way out on 75^th & NE Glisan and I decided to scope it out. The shop itself was tiny and nondescript. Barred windows kept out would-​be makeup thieves (I hear, a big problem in this neighborhood) and the main entryway was a cramped ordeal. In the midst of explaining my costume intentions to one of the employees — a lady who was especially spacey and distracted — I realized that doing this right, with good quality makeup and setting powder, would cost a pretty penny. As I paused for a moment, overwhelmed by the assortment of makeup supplies, the lady asked «Have you ever done makeup before?» No. No, I certainly haven’t. Not outside of some cheap-​o Chinese manufactured junk you’d find at Fred Meyer, anyway…
It so turns out that Helen’s offers, by appointment, custom makeup services! Now I knew I’d found the right place… For $ 50/​hr, in a 1hr appointment just before the party would commence, an artist met me, did my makeup, and handed me a custom head piece. The artist used a print-​out of Grumpy Cat for reference, and did a decent job over all. I’d gone into the experience imagining solid, vibrant colors with perhaps some fake whiskers to accompany. Her style, however, was far more abstract and theatrical. No whiskers. She applied the makeup in layers, using powder to set the colors as she went. The cat-​hat was a bit odd with ears that were almost donkey-​like in size and shape, but it all ended up coming together in an interesting, Grumpy Cat hipster sort of way. People at the party really liked my makeup job, which was a relief since I wasn’t sure what to think about it initially.
In short, $ 50 for a custom makeup job by a seasoned artist is a great way to go for Halloween. This was not a flawless experience, however. The shop itself was a bit intimidating — small, cramped, hallways and rooms all over the place — and the employees seemed off in a world of their own. Their website is a disaster, and I left after my first visit feeling a bit uneasy as to whether or not this was a place I could trust. As it turned out, everything went pretty smooth. If you consider the fact that I would’ve easily paid around the same amount for a DIY job, I think it was money well spent.