Cape Fear Regional Theatre holding 'yard sale' of costumes on August 30

Cape Fear Regional Theatre holding 'yard sale' of costumes on August 30
Cape Fear Regional Theatre costume manager Karen Shea held up a frilly wedding dress, a little faded, perhaps, but certainly wearable.
"I believe this one is from the '70s," Shea said. "We also have a lot of the big, puffy-sleeve '90s dresses."
The wedding dress is one of dozens tucked away on a rack in the theater's costuming room.
In another room are jackets, pants, dresses and other pieces of clothing that have either been used in plays or stored in anticipation of some future use.
They all had their purpose. Now, they all have to go.
Saturday, the public will have an opportunity to pick through the clothing, accumulated over more than a half-century.
The theater is holding a "yard sale" from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Because there's no yard outside the theater, the sale will be indoors.
Along with the clothing, some props, such as dishes, will be sold. Everything that isn't sold will be donated to charity.
"I walk in here and I recognize pieces from shows," said the theater's artistic director, Tom Quaintance. "I say, 'Oh, really? Do we need to get rid of that plaid
coat?'"
The clothing spans the theater's 53-year history, although most dates from after the theater's major renovation in the late 1980s.
Look closely, and you might spot a suit jacket from "Twelve Angry Men," a dress from "Steel Magnolias," a hat from "The Sound of Music."
Other items have never had their turn in the spotlight, but were kept on the off-chance they might e in handy one day. Hey, you never know when you might need a pair
of checkered slacks.
Finally, though, the sheer volume of clothing outstripped the theater's ability to store it all.
"We were almost literally bursting at the seams," Quaintance said. "You literally could not pull pants off the rack because there were so many in a row."
Quaintance said as far as he knows, there hasn't been a purge like this in the history of the theater.
To organize the yard sale, Quaintance turned to Shea, who only recently assumed her duties as costume manager and doesn't have the emotional connection to the clothes
that a longtime employee might.
"I'm more of a hoarder than Karen is, that's why she's the person for this job," Quaintance said.
On a recent morning, Shea was sorting through the clothes, getting ready for Saturday's sale.
Shea had her work cut out for her. In addition to the racks labeled "Men's Dress Pants," "Women's Blouses" and "Men's Suits and Jackets" were about a dozen large black
garbage bags of clothes waiting to be organized.
If nothing else, Shea said, going through the clothes has given her an education on the theater's history.
Shea pulled a faux fur wrap off one of the racks.
"It was nice once, but some of the lining isn't doing too good anymore," Shea said, inspecting the piece. Despite its imperfections, Shea said, the item might be the
perfect top-off to someone's Halloween costume or zombie walk get-up.
Shea said most of the items will be sold at yard sale prices. That means a range from about 25 cents for some children's clothing to around $25 for some wedding
dresses.
Like most yard sales, the theater's should offer at least something for every taste - even if those tastes happen to run to flowered pants suits and wide-collared
jackets.
"There are some pretty cool pieces," Quaintance said. "It's from the ridiculous to the sublime, for sure." wholesale lingerie Wholesale Halloween Costumes Sexy Halloween Costumes Online