It has been a part of the city’s Halloween tradition for well over a century, helping to deck out party-goers in their costumes ahead of the year’s spookiest date.
And this year was no different at Elliott’s Fancy Dress Shop, with queues of excited shoppers building up along Ann Street throughout the day.
The city’s fancy dress hub has been delivering costume options to Belfast’s shoppers for 138 years.
Watch: Belfast shoppers queue for last-minute Halloween costumes
It’s been in the hands of owner Clark Elliott’s family since it first opened and is the longest-running costume shop on the island of Ireland. From the outside Elliott’s may appear small, however, inside it holds a plethora of outfits and accessories; everything from spooky ghouls to whimsical witches, it truly has something to delight every trick-or-treater.
Clark said: “The reason people can and do queue is because we have a vast stock. We have thousands and thousands of costumes and a ridiculous amount of accessories.
“The shop is much bigger than it looks from the outside, it’s a bit deceptive but there’s a vast amount of storage.”
Popular costume choices vary from year to year based on the latest film trends, but Clark said the classics costumes are always a hit too.
“This year the most popular ones would be from Beetlejuice, so Lydia and Beetlejuice himself,” said Clark.
“Other popular ones would be Ghostbusters. They’d usually be driven by the last big feature film or Netflix release but there’s always the consistent popular costumes like your witches, wizards and prisoners.”
During their busiest time of the year, the Ann Street shop also offers a huge range of accessories including wigs, makeup, fake blood and two rooms filled with hats, perfect for adding the final touches to the spooky costumes.
Some of the accessories on display (Picture: Peter Morrison)
Clark’s age-old store has built up a loyal customer base which continue to come back year after year.
“We’re long established and it’s very difficult for fancy dress to survive all year round, we’ve just been here long enough and adjusted and adapted to the climate.
“The students leave it to the last minute so they’ll probably come in the last few days.
“It’s always nice to have them come for the first time because a lot of them haven’t been here and don’t know we exist.”
He added: “The spending is pretty good considering the climate. A lot of people are just accessorising but there’s always demand for the full costumes as well.”
While business is booming for Clark he warned of increasing pressure on the store with the growing prevalence of online shopping.
“I’ve been here for more than 25 years and there’s been a massive difference. There’s much more pressure for us but with online we’re able to ship throughout the UK and Ireland,” Clark explained.
Clark Elliott pictured behind the counter in his store (Picture: Peter Morrison)
“But we do recommend to come in store — it’s important to keep the high street alive.
“I think it’s better people come in and have the face-to-face experience.
“There’s a steady crowd and we have enough costume to last right through to Halloween, we always keep a vast stock.”
When Clark finishes up this year’s Halloween sales he’ll be taking his kids out trick-or-treating and getting into his own fancy dress gear.
The costume shop owner hasn’t decided just yet on this year’s get-up.
“I always go out trick or treating with my kids and then a house party after that.”
“Last year it was the devil but this year I haven’t decided, I’ve just been full-on trying to serve the customers. I haven’t had the time to get into anything just yet.
“I like it to vary it up. Last year I was fully painted in devil horns and blood so we’ll see this year — I’ll try and get something like that going.”