Cave 2 Clothing Exodus

Costume Cave 2 is culling thousands of items of costuming
in a ONE-OFF SALE!!

Support the sale - Help ensure the Wellington TV, Theatre and Film industry don’t lose this important resource forever

Costume Cave 2 is almost unknown to most Wellingtonians, although many will be familiar with The Costume Cave, Wakefield St, it's mother company, which hires fancy-dress costumes to the public. Cave 2 was set up exclusively for theatre, film and TV hire, and the garments have been collected from many sources including Avalon TV studios, the Palama "Dark Knight" series, South Pacific Pictures (Xena), Downstage Theatre wardrobe, Wellington Theatrical Wardrobe and Access Art. This unique and valuable resource is one of the largest of it's kind in New Zealand.

Due to necessity, Costume Cave 2 is holding a once only sale. It's a rare opportunity to purchase from an incredible selecton of vintage clothing and shoes dating back to the 1960s, 70s and 80s and by doing so, buyers will be helping keep the most useful parts of the collection available to the industry.

Why is it being sold?
The extensive Wellington Theatrical Wardrobe collection was purchased 3 years ago by Sharon Mathews (owner of The Costume Cave) and it has been added to from film and TV companies since that time as smaller industry wardrobes have shut down.

Unfortunately for Sharon, who had been juggling both her incredibly busy costume hire business and the theatrical hire, the Cave 2 collection became unmanagable to maintain and house, so she realised she had to let it go. Unable to find a solution to keep the huge wardrobe within the industry, Sharon has been forced to put the collection up for sale.

The loss of the Cave 2 collection would have a huge impact on Wellington’s creative industry, with theatres, film-makers and production houses being forced to source costumes from outside of the region. Costume designers Gillie Coxill and Zoë Fox, who have been managing Cave 2 for the last 18 months on Sharon's behalf, decided that rather than the Wellington theatre and TV community lose the entire collection forever, they would take it over, downsize the rather over stocked collection and offer the excess for sale to the industry and public – no mean feat!

Over the past month or so, Gillie and Zoë have been undertaking the mammoth task of culling the racks and racks of garments and boxes and boxes of shoes. They’ve uncovered clothing of every colour, shape, style and print under the sun and have rediscovered some absolute gems that have had them both appreciative and laughing out loud.

There are dozens and dozens of beautiful suits, dresses, skirts, trousers, shirts and accessories, plus hundreds upon hundreds of shoes and boots to fit all shapes and sizes. Many items are brand new, some with the original price tag still attached. Others have appeared on screen and tread the boards on the backs of an impressive array of homegrown and international actors and actresses.

Its been a difficult task choosing what to keep and what to sell, however they’ve managed to do it and are sure that all Wellington’s vintage clothing lovers, costumiers, fashionistas and the curious young and old alike, will find more than a few gems of their own to take home.

The sale will be open to the public for just four days only: Thur 15th, Fri 16th, Sat 17th and Sun 18th February at Level 1, 233 Willis Street, Wellington. Doors open at 10am and shut at 2pm.

ENDS

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