Costume Accessories Shop in Marine Parade: Parkway Parade

WoW! Let's Party, at 80 Marine Parade Road #02-K2 inside Parkway Parade, is the east-side outlet of a Singapore party-supply chain that keeps a solid wall of costume accessories alongside its balloons and tableware. It is not a costume rental house. What you find here are the pieces that finish an outfit on a small budget: party wigs, capes, masks, face paint, fake tattoos, vampire fangs and Halloween props, all at fixed retail prices you can check on the chain's website before you leave home. For families in Marine Parade, Katong and the East Coast, it is the nearest one-stop shop for a school Halloween party or a themed birthday.

The company's own About Us page tells the story plainly. It begins in 2008 with Joe Lim, a software engineer at Hewlett Packard who left to start a business selling party supplies and balloons. He built an online store first, then opened four retail outlets and a distribution warehouse. The page also says that over the past eight years he has mentored young trainees.

The official contact page lists the retail outlets as Parkway Parade, AnchorPoint on Alexandra Road, Jelita on Holland Road and Moulmein Road in Novena, plus a main office and warehouse on New Industrial Road. That warehouse is a pickup and office address only, so for walk-in shopping the malls are where to go, and Parkway Parade is the one with the longest daily hours on the east side.

Prices here are the ones on wowletsparty.com, in Singapore dollars. Party wigs sized for adults and children start low: the black Bob wig is S$19.90 and the long, layered red Glamorous wig, the obvious pick for a mermaid or a pop-star look, is S$29.90. These are synthetic party wigs, made for a night of fun rather than repeated styling, so they suit kids' parties and one-off events best.

Capes are a fast way to turn everyday clothes into a superhero outfit. The one-size red, white and blue cape costs S$19.90 and is sized for both kids and adults. For the face, small superhero eye masks in red are S$4.90, while the plastic Skeleton Jaw Mask, which covers the lower half of the face with a skull's nose and teeth, is S$13.90. The two-faced latex mask, a heavier Halloween piece, sells for S$34.90.

The cheapest upgrades are in the make-up section. Halloween vampire teeth in one size cost just S$2.90, enough for a whole class of little Draculas. Silver cream face makeup in a 0.21 oz pot is S$4.90 and works as a base for robots, ghosts or tin-man looks. A pack of 14 stitches tattoos, the kind you soak in water and press onto skin for a Frankenstein scar, is S$4.90.

For props, the 130 cm witch straw broom is S$9.90 and photographs well at a party. Bigger Halloween decorations are on the shelves too, from a bloody zombie hand to hanging zombie heads, so you can dress the room as well as the guests. The FAQ notes that some items listed online may not be in stock at every outlet, so bring a short list and be ready with a second choice.

Because every price is online, it is easy to add up an outfit before the trip. A quick vampire look for a child comes to S$22.80 with the S$2.90 fangs and the S$19.90 cape, and the cape can be reused next year as a superhero. A witch costume built from the S$9.90 broom and the S$29.90 red Glamorous wig costs S$39.80 before you add a hat or a dress from home. A Frankenstein's-monster face needs only the S$4.90 stitches tattoos and a pot of face paint, so it is a good choice for a teenager who wants something gory without a mask.

For a class party or a family group, the per-head maths matters more than any single item. Buy one base item each, such as a wig, a cape or a mask, and share the cheap extras like fangs, tattoos and face paint across the group. That keeps the total low and means everyone leaves with something they can wear straight away.

In the outlets the shop accepts NETS, cash, PayNow and credit or debit cards. The chain's FAQ explains that each retail store, showroom and online store runs its own promotions, so the shelf price on the day can be lower than the website. Online orders are paid by card or PayPal, not cash on delivery, and the shop does not take orders by email or phone. If you order online for self-collection, the FAQ asks you to call at least half an hour before you collect.

This is a retail shop, so there is no fitting room for costumes and no rental service. Check sizes on the packaging, and keep children's wigs and masks for indoor parties where they can be taken off easily. Weekday mornings after 11am are the quietest; Saturday afternoons in late October get busy with parents buying for school events.

Parkway Parade sits on Marine Parade Road, and the chain's own directions note the bus stop beside Cote D'Azur, served by routes including 15, 31, 36, 43, 47, 48, 134, 135, 196 and 197. Marine Parade station on the Thomson-East Coast Line is a short walk away, so the mall is easy to reach without a car.

After shopping, walk south through the underpass to East Coast Park for a sea breeze and a bike path, or head north into Katong and Joo Chiat, where the pastel shophouses on Koon Seng Road make a fun backdrop for costume photos before the party. Both are close enough to cover with a shopping bag in hand.

WoW! Let's Party, at 80 Marine Parade Road #02-K2, Parkway Parade Shopping Centre, Singapore 449269, opens daily from 11am to 8pm. Prices above are from wowletsparty.com. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a family dinner spot in Katong after your shopping.