The Buff

It’s interesting that this costume store manages to stay afloat year-​round. They have a very limited selection of costumes, though. Many of them are missing accessories. But they are of a very cheap price and it is a great place to look for a quick costume to throw together for a theme party.
BUT if you are a collector of costume parts, this place has great prices on their mixed boxes.

Best Costume place in SD! I’ve been going to them for the past decade even when they moved locations (only up the street). Not only are they staff super helpful, but have the best imagination for when i hit a creative roadblock! Since I am in the entertainment business, having this service around for all those last minute themed events has been a LIFESAVER!
Unfortunately, I hear they will be closing there doors by end of year :(NOOOOO!
I know that till then they are selling racks for almost NOTHING…
Gonna miss you ladies :(

2 words: dollar box.
I got $ 500+ worth of stuff for $ 9! Go check it out. I probably took everything anyway, so good luck finding stuff… heh.

Its simple really:
If you want to look the BEST and have the COOLEST accessories for any theme party go to The Buff! They have the best costumer and the most eclectic assortment of party accessories anywhere. A little on the pricey side but it is way better than Party City! Extremely helpful and down to earth, nice staff as well. Keep up the good work and you will continue getting my business.

Vintage clothes and accessories at a great price!

***Extremely Rude Staff****
***Horrible Customer Service***
***Extremely Expensive***
I’ve rented and purchased items from this store for years however this was just too much …
I was charged a late fee for Halloween clothes that I rented & tried returning but the store had closed early. The staff even admitted they closed early all week without posting an adjustment of store hours anywhere.
When I asked how they can close early, not post new store hours or notify the public, then blame & charge the customer for not returning the items before they closed … they said maybe you shouldn’t rent anything from here again.
Great idea!

The store you can find ANYTHING you need. I love it, whenever I have a weird clothing or costume need I can always find it at the buff! Great discount on Mondays and Tuesdays if you pay with cash ;)

I like it here, the employees are always very welcoming and helpful. I like it for fakebood, stuff for photoshoots, etc. They def need more merchandise and masks!

I don’t get it. I’mso not into thrift stores. How they smell, how they are arranged… They had a far smaller selection of skanky santa outfits than my friend and I expected, considering from the outside, you think it’s going to be a costume shop. They also were still like $ 50! Mine was less than that brand new from the internet.
Also, the people who work there just kinda seem like their hanging out versus «working» there. Although they are nice, it seemed like they were a little peeved that we didn’t buy anything.

I’ve been stopping by here about every other month for oh, about 10 years? Since long into before they moved to their current location. (old place was a little bigger, replaced by a just awful brightly scrubbed angrily cheerful girly place call «Fresh» which is fitting as I wanted to smack whoever replaced one of my favorite stores with it!)
I will admit the inventory and shopping experience is not as great as it was some years ago, back then it was more focused on used tacky/​sexy/​fetish/​funky clothing and as time’s gone by it seems like the inventory in these areas has dwindled and not been actively replaced.
Maybe because I bought a lot of it. It may have to do with the smaller location, maybe the sources they used to tap for used dried up, who knows– however don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to see– I’m mainly addressing this as others seem bewildered about its current inventory.
Still I’m going to give it a solid five stars because there just aren’t many stores within this niche in town, the staff is just SUPER I can’t emphasize this enough, all the girls that have worked there AND the owner have always had that fine line down of letting you know they’re there if you need them but don’t fawn over you or waste both your time trying to lead you to items you have no interest in.
Fact is if you are going to a party where SOME kind of costume or fun get-​up is called for, this is probably the best store in town to go to.

I’m not sure what this place is trying to be. A thrift store, a costume shop, a rental store? Regardless, it’s incredibly over priced and most of the good stuff they have is only for rent. They wanted to charge me 10 bucks more for the same accessory that I found somewhere else and it was used instead of new. Fail!

I was sad when The Buff was gone, a store called «Fresh» replaced it and it sold nothing but tacky clubwear for ladies, but then I was happy when it came back in their new location just a few blocks from the old one.
Whoa is it just me or is their staff totally amazing? I remember I used to loathe going to The Buff because they had always made me feel like my presence was such a huge inconvenience to them looking all fab and cool while running this little shop. Not anymore! They got their shit together! You can have it all! Awesome staff and great clothes & accessories!
Minus 1 star for not finding basic cop costumes for a project.
But I did score me some sweet vintage finds.
Yay!

When I was little I had a mean mullet. You can check my photos if you don’t believe me. As I got older, trends and popular hairstyles came and went. Fortunately for me, I had cool enough parents that let me try out a large variety of different ones throughout my adolescence. (the bowl cut, the skater cut, even had a Nike sign shaved into my head at one point)
Now that I’m older, I’m back on a mullet kick. Since it is kinda considered socially weird to have an actual mullet, (not to mention it’d take forever to grow) the next best thing for me right now is a great wig. The Buff is an excellent option of where to find one. They have a pretty killer selection of fake hair, and their mullet section is tough to beat. They’ve got all sorts of styles and colors.
You’d never expect to find good customer service when mullet shopping, but the staff here is really friendly and they know their fake ‘dos’. They ask questions and really pay attention to what it is you need. The interaction that took place when I was here went something like this…
CSR: Can I help you find something sir?
Danny: I’m looking for a great mullet wig.
CSR: Ok the selection is over to your left. Is it for any particular type of costume?
Danny: Well not really. I might go as ‘Joe Dirt’ to a Halloween party, but I basically plan on using it as an all occasions mullet. You can never go wrong when it’s business in the front and a party in the back!
CSR: Ok, well if you’re going for the natural look I’d suggest this one. The color is very similar, and with your type of hairstyle it should be a pretty spot on match.
Danny: Thank you!
I thought it was hilarious that she was so professional about mullet wig shopping. She didn’t even snicker one time. I’m sure after awhile you hear every possible joke, and it all becomes relative. Regardless of what I was shopping for the close attention that I got was much appreciated. The hair that I ended up going with is a very close match. I’ve had several people swear that it was real.
The Buff is perhaps not the best all around destination if you’re looking for a Halloween costume. The selection is not the largest, but like I said the customer service and extra items are great. If your costume needs some sort of an accessory its certainly worth peaking your mullet in here.

Halloween is way too big of a deal to wait on until the last minute. A few of us were getting started on our costumes last weekend so we went to PB knowing there would be four or five places along Garnet to find our rocker gear. The Buff was the best and most helpful store we visited, hands down.
The staff was great. There were two girls working there on this Sunday afternoon. Even though they were busy with the seven or eight other people in the place, they made sure to check on everyone and answer our questions. They knew exactly where everything was that we wanted, and they were honest about what they didn’t have. They actually seemed enthusiastic to help you out, not just sell you some cheap plastic garbage like the other Halloween store employees do.
The only reason that The Buff doesn’t get five stars is because the place just doesn’t have enough, even though there is a lot for such a small space. If the staff of this place worked at Buffalo Breath (the huge warehouse of costumes with the shoddy customer service) near Old Town, Halloween would be a lot easier and more fun for everyone.

Cute little place. A bit crammed but there are interesting finds. Friendly service. There was a dollar box that I got excited about and didn’t have to dig too much to find something I was interested in.
Basically a hit or miss, just like any other store. Good place to go if you need to put together a costume also. I was able to sell a few items that Buffalo Exchange didn’t want to take in (the items I was bitter about them not taking) haha so yay for that!

I don’t understand all the rage about The Buff!
I checked it out for my first time last weekend and was pretty unimpressed. There was hardly any vintage clothing that I was even slightly interested in trying on, and the majority of their store seemed to be dedicated to costume rentals/​sales. I suppose this store would be handy if I was actually looking for a funky costume, but even so, the prices seemed pretty high to me.
I was hoping to find a new treasure chest in San Diego, but I can never see myself revisiting The Buff.

I love The Buff! The store is small but it’s crammed full of all kinds of treasures. I’ve never gone in without finding something that I couldn’t leave without, they have a great selection of fun jewelry, random costume stuff and purses. As long as you’re in the mood to sift through the racks, you’ll love thrifting here. It’s one of those places that you want to tell everyone about so it will succeed, but then regret telling everyone because you want to keep it a secret for yourself.

My sister is a clotheshorse, and wanted to get rid of the clothes she didn’t want anymore… so we went to Buffalo Exchange in PB.
They didn’t want to take anything, so as we were walking back to my cousin’s truck we stopped into the Buff.
I was impressed by their selection of costumes– they even carried the costume that I wore to Denise’s B-​day party. I bought cinnamon toothpicks out of nostalgia and the owner (?) Karen even ended up taking some of my sister’s clothes. The employees are really friendly and helpful as well.
Check it out :)

I shop in the buff. Online, at least. But I also shop in the Buff, occasionally. While they have a large selection of costumes and vintage clothing, the prices are high and the rental fees steep. The Buff is best suited for accessories or that special something, like a superhero eye mask, piece of bling, or spectacular wig that complete your look, year round.

The Buff is still on Garnet. It just moved down Garnet a bit. I’ve seen better thrift/​costume stores, but I like the attitude of this place better than Buffalo Exchange. The owner is nice, and she’s been there for a while so I feel alright about the fact they only give you $ 2-​$ 3 per item you resell. I bought a vintage nurse costume here once but didn’t end up wearing it. I tried to sell it back to them, but they wouldn’t take it. Ain’t that a bitch?
They have a lot of costume rentals. Which brings up an important point: if you work for 7 – 11, McDonalds or the like, remember to save your uniform when you get fired for stealing slurpees/​mc nuggets. The rental prices for a humiliating uniform was $ 60!