Kallang Theatrical Costume Shop With $39 Same-Day Rentals

CCM Costume Rental runs its showroom, which it calls the Costume House, from unit #02-09 at 9 Kallang Place in Kallang, and it is one of the few wardrobes in Singapore where you can walk in, try on a Victorian frock coat, have the seamstress pin the hem and carry it home the same afternoon. Sets cover school concerts, Book Character Week, dinner and dance nights and full stage productions, and the business has been family-run since 1998.

The About Us page credits the founding to a woman the family calls its own fairy godmother, and a photo shows her in exactly that costume. What began as her passion project has now passed through two generations of the same family. Older press pieces still list the earlier home on Kelantan Lane, but the official site now gives only the Kallang Place unit, and the mobile number, is unchanged.

The family now describes the business as a social enterprise. It works with community groups on dress-up days for senior citizens, including a retired airplane engineer who became a captain for a day, it supplies Book Week costumes to children from lower-income families, and it offers subsidised pricing to non-profits and charities. It also says it hires inclusively, bringing in staff from diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Every price on the site covers a full set with its accessories, subject to availability. The FAQ puts the starting point at $78 a set and says most costumes average about $96. The cheapest route is the Day-Time Special, where you collect when the doors open and bring the set back before closing that same day, which means 7 pm on weekdays and 3 pm at weekends.

To see how that works, take the Medieval Female N09 listing. It costs $39 on the Day-Time Special, $78 for one night, $117 for two nights and $156 for three. A Victorian Male D21 set steps up to $48 for the day and $96 for one night, and a Chinese Emperor D09 in XL is $60 for the day or $120 for one night, which is useful to know before costing a palace scene.

A refundable deposit of at least $100 is taken for every set that leaves the Costume House. The FAQ is candid about the reasoning, explaining that the amount has to be larger than a Grab fare to the shop so that people bother to bring the costume back. Changing your costume after you have confirmed it costs an extra $10 admin fee, and the shop discourages it.

There are no cash refunds. If you cancel, the team asks for the reason and looks at it case by case, with full or 50% credit for situations management treats as unforeseen. Online orders are confirmed over WhatsApp on the next working day, and CCM keeps the right to swap in a similar alternative if your first pick is not available.

The fitting is where this shop earns its loyalty. An in-house seamstress adjusts costumes at no extra cost, as long as the fabric allows it, and the site warns that a costume that is too small is the hard case, because the team may not have matching fabric to let it out. Popular designs are often held in more than one size, and the stylists will suggest a similar style in a size that does fit.

Walk-ins are accepted at any time during opening hours, lunchtime included, for selecting, fitting, collecting or returning. The team still asks for a heads-up before a group visit so that enough staff are free. Adult ranges include plus-size options, and the Merchandise section sells accessories, makeup, masks and Worbla thermoplastic for anyone building armour or props.

The standard rental is one night, which means you take the set today, wear it to the event and return it the day after, on the next operating day, so a Friday pickup comes back on Monday. Collecting early or keeping the set longer costs a top-up. Laundry is handled by the shop, so costumes come back as they are, without a wash at home.

For productions the wardrobe takes made-to-measure orders for theatre groups, School SYF bands, choirs and dance teams, and graduations, with a lead time of four to six weeks before express fees apply. Orders of more than ten sets can get a custom promo code, and orders of more than 20 sets get extra service perks. The Costume-on-the-Move package adds free two-way delivery for bulk orders.

The online catalogue is sorted by theme, and the tabs alone show how far the range goes beyond Halloween. There are festive sections for Chinese New Year, Christmas, Easter and National Day, kids' ranges from fairy tales to uniforms and royalty, and adult themes that include Victorian and medieval, mythology, retro, sports, superstar, and TV shows and games. Searching by keyword online before the fitting cuts the time you spend on the shop floor.

The shop states that its costumes are not brand-specific characters but are inspired by classic storybook figures and cosplay designs, so a search for a generic description such as shepherd, eunuch or princess will turn up more than a film title. Shepherd sets, for example, follow the same $39 day and $78 one-night pricing as the medieval range, which makes a nativity play easy to budget.

Kallang Place sits in the low-rise industrial pocket between Kallang Bahru and the Kallang River, a few minutes from Bendemeer MRT station on the Downtown Line. After a fitting, Bendemeer Market and Food Centre is the obvious lunch stop, with its hawker stalls under one roof and plenty of space to spread a costume bag on a table.

For a walk, follow the Kallang Park Connector along the river toward Kallang Riverside and the old Kallang Airport area, a flat path that suits a bulky garment bag better than a busy mall. Jalan Besar's shophouses and cafes are a short bus ride south if your group wants a sit-down meal before rehearsal.

CCM Costume Rental, 9 Kallang Place #02-09, Singapore 339154. Hours are Monday to Friday 11 am to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 3 pm, eve of public holidays 11 am to 3 pm, and closed on public holidays. Sets start at $78 for one night, and a refundable deposit of at least $100 applies to each set. The Day-Time Special halves the one-night rate for same-day returns.