Wednesday night, a fox, a Cleopatra, a sailor and many more creative costumes hit the runway in the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom at the very first Second-Hand Zombies: The Salvaged Costume Show. This fashion show featured creative thrift store costumes from Kitsch-22, Custom Cranium and Buffalo Exchange. The event was orchestrated by two campus publications, Her Campus Oregon and Envision.
Upon entering the ballroom, one saw a row of tables stocked with snacks and plastic spiders. Immediately to the right, Envision and Her Campus members hosted booths with information about their publications. Two of the thrift store sponsors had small booths set up in the back as well. As promised, Buffalo Exchange came with a rolling rack full of costumes available for purchase, ranging from a full-body inflatable getup that makes whoever wearing it appear to be riding an ostrich, to a sexy police outfit and a table full of wigs, crazy glasses and masks.
“We buy costumes year round, but there is always an increase of costumes dropped off in October and November. We offer 30 percent cash back or 50 percent trade in-store,” said Buffalo Exchange employee Janelle Derven.
Custom Cranium’s table was filled with spooky animal claws, bones and fur. Darien Goldman, a Custom Cranium employee, stated that everything they make is real and handmade. All animals died of a natural death, so no animals were harmed in the making of these items.
Audience members enjoyed popcorn from an old-fashioned popcorn maker and Luna bars, which were placed on every seat, as they waited for the show to start. Soon enough, DJ Good Vibes stopped his techno music set so that the two hosts of the night, UO students Jordan Hathorne and Jacob Salzberg, welcomed Kalen Wolf of UO’s Comedy Club to the stage. Wolf kept the audience laughing about everything from grandmas to her lack of style.
When Wolf finished her set, the music changed, the lights dimmed and the first set of models from Kitsch-22 took over the runway. First a dress with glow-in-the-dark designs, followed by a Cleopatra, a Maleficent, a Catwoman and a Wednesday Addams, among others. Next were the Buffalo Exchange costumes, including a cupcake, a few hippies and a skeleton body-con dress. In addition to their costume, each model wore costume makeup resembling faces of the undead, thus the show’s name: Second-Hand Zombies.
The last set of models flaunted Custom Cranium’s animal furs. One of the more memorable ones was the first: a fox fur, complete with the head, tail, limbs and claws, draped over model Jesi Wu’s face and shoulders. Wu said it was warm, heavy and smelled strange. The retail price of the fox fur is a whopping $1,200.
Once the show was over, the models walked back out on stage to shower the audience in confetti and express gratitude to the event’s coordinator, Alison Jelden, with a bouquet.
The show was an effort to raise awareness and support Eugene’s thrift movement. When asked what she loves about thrift shopping, Wu said, “Knowing there is a story behind every piece of clothing, like why someone bought it and chose to give it away.” Overall, the event was successful in inspiring and encouraging audience members to buy their costumes at one of the many thrift stores in Eugene this Halloween.