It comes as no surprise to me that that Gaga lady spent 3 hours in Afflecks last week. Weird yet…read moreindelibly wonderful is an apt description for it. Having said that, I must make a more pronounced effort to frequent this magnificent Manchester location more often. Yes, it can be a bit daunting at first, a maze of weird and wonderful stalls and shop fronts. But its worth getting lost here every once in a while, why? Because you'll find private vendors here who have a genuine passion for their respective products and services and the corporate whore in them has yet to emerge. It's refreshing. My first ever visit to Attic was unfortunately without a license to roam. I was missing a single item for my Halloween dressage and was told Attic had it in stock, thus this was a last minute dash and grab job. The meandering nature of the shop floor plans didn't help much but the fact that it wasn't rammed like most other shops before 5pm was a huge bonus. First thing of note, the customer service was incredible! Out of breath having run to the top floor headless chickenly looking for the joint armed with a sweaty quizzical facial expression I was kindly approached almost immediately and offered help. A mere five minutes later I was a sent packing a calm and happy customer back running down the stairs headless chickenly once more. What great service eh? Now five minutes equates to an hour in Inception time (See Nolan's brilliant 2010 scifi flick Inception) so thinking Inceptionly, I discovered that this place caters for pretty much ALL your fancy dress needs. Whether you have a Lord of the Rings fetish, or you're a self confessed Star Trek geek there's something here for everyone. They also have fabrics and other random tools and tricks of the trade perfect for creating your very own costumes (If buying the readymade ones isn't your cup of tea) Ultimately venturing into Attic is journeying into another world of sorts, which is both scary and exciting. The former because a longer than necessary amount of time spent here prompts the thought "hmmm I wish it was fancy dress all the time." It really is a literal form of escapism manifesting itself into a physicality. Which as it turned out this Halloween, is heaps of fun! I for one will definitely be returning and discovering more about this place as research for my next film project. The place is a production costume design gold mine. For the rest of us, it definitely is a one stop shop for all your fancy dress needs.

Huge huge selection of fancy dress here. I challenge you to find any costume/character that is not…read morein this attic shop- truly amazing! Going into this shop made me wish my friends were not becoming convinced they are older and mature now-opting for a dinner party of a fancy dress occasion. I will fight on and pursue a night as a Smurf soon..all with this shops help :)

It's that spooky time of year again and everyone is rushing to get their scary outfit. Have you got…read moreyours yet? If not, you might want to head down to All Star Costume Hire on Great Ducie Street. I came here last year in a flat out panic to find an outfit for the theme 'Celebrity Death Foretold'. Unfortunately I didn't find anything fitting so instead plumped for the Chewbacca mask with and hip hop tracksuit. It got a few laughs... The staff are extra helpful if you're looking for something specific. The place is like an Aladdin's cave, there's a ton of wigs, masks, accessories, whatever you need to complete your outfit. Check out the website first to see what I mean!

I'm going to give this place three stars. I am going to do this begrudgingly…read more This is because getting a pre-made fancy dress costume makes you a spoilsport. This is not the point of fancy dress. If everyone does this then the whole party is ruined. If you all go to a fancy dress party and everyone is in an immaculate hired or purchased costume, you are at a poor party. This is not fun, This is not interesting. Its exactly the same as a normal party except that every guest is £30 down because they've bought a costume instead of wearing their normal clothes. People will then save the money they've wasted by not drinking or eating as much, and some will spend time worrying about their finances. Hardly party time. The whole fun of fancy dress is making your own. This allows scope for funny costumes, jokes and even ones that are funny just because they are bad. It can also be fun to make them! However, I will have to give three stars, because I have to admit that if you are in the market for a pre-made costume, this place is about as good as it gets. Great stock, all different kinds of stuff. They've got almost every type of costume you can imagine, and the prices are really good. So it's the best of a bad thing. 3 stars.

Pretty decent place to get any fancy dress stuff from. I've bought a few things from here in the…read morelast few years for parties and other things. I bought a 'female gangster' outfit from here nearly 5 years ago for a friend's birthday when we went out on a night out. Everyone who went out for the night out all had a brilliant night and people who had seen us all in the fancy dress had a pretty awesome night as well

Great family run fancy dress/ joke and dance shop in Stockport, great variety- nice to browse…read morethrough, staff are lovely. It does attract the alternative kids as there isn't much else like this in Stockport. Stairs to the basement are quite steep, gets really busy before halloween!

Whenever I need a fancy dress outfit for either Halloween, Christmas, New Year or just for the sake…read moreof it; I always go here. This shop has most defiantly grown over the years and now had their own website business as well as the shop. Who doesn't enjoy going having a look at the costumes or accessories here? It really is top-quality stuff and if they do not have it in store, then order it for you. You can try the stuff on too, so you know if it fits. You could seriously spend the whole day in here.

This place is an Aladdin's cave and treasure trove of fantastic rolls of fabric, vintage buttons,…read morecostumes to buy and hire and the owner offers a fantastic alteration service on all garments. If you don't immediately see what you were after, ask as you'll get lovely, helpful service.

Hazel is a diamond I always bring my alterations to her. She has been amazing at helping with…read morematerial for dressmaking and fancy dress. Wonderful woman. Jean x

A fantastic service, they delivered amazing quality mascots to us and they did it so quickly, I was…read moreamazed! We previously had work done by someone else and to be honest it fell short of our expectations which was a shame because it was for an important event. When we'd heard about some of the work they'd done for another company we thought we'd give them a call and see what they could do, it was well worth the call! I wholeheartedly recommend Costumes with Character, thanks so much to the team

From the owner: Bespoke Mascot and Costume Character Creation and Design.read more

Incredible art store. I was blown away by how well stocked the store is. I loved the top floor with…read morecool crafts and unique art gifts to purchase. The second floor had every art supplies I could dream of, and the bottom floor was an amazing selection of paper and canvas. Truly a great art store for all

Incredible place, but dangerous at the same time as you could easily spend a lot of money in here!…read more The first time I popped in was when I needed a few items for an event and I thought I'd gamble on Fred Aldous having the stuff I needed - they did! Anything you need for arts & craft or decorations they have it and with some good choice! I've now been in a few times when I need to pick up bits and bobs or essentials for work i.e. scissors etc. Loads of interesting present and gift ideas in here as well so if you're out and about birthday shopping or it's coming up to christmas - I'd say Fred Aldous is a great option with some similar style stuff to Oklahoma! Most of the stuff here is well priced and I've always been fairly surprised that my total wasn't higher when purchasing as I think the interior and style gives off an expensive vibe but really it's good value for money! A short simple review for a top NQ shop!