MILWAUKEE — When Halloween costume stores pop up in vacant storefronts all over the state, it seems like all of them have most of the same items.
But there’s one costume shop in Wisconsin that is very different from the rest.
Miller and Campbell Costume Service in Milwaukee has been around for 100 years. Throughout the century, the business has switched names and locations a few times, but it’s always offered truly unique pieces. It’s now located on South 1st Street, just south of West National Avenue.
“It’s like a museum,” said Casey Harris, the manager of Miller and Campbell Costume Service. “It’s keeping up with the history, keeping track of it, and getting it in the hands of people who appreciate it.”
Harris held up a military-style jacket hanging on one of the racks. The year embroidered in the fabric is 1943.
“There’s a lot of history here, and preserving that history is something that all of us here really, really care about,” said Harris.
Halloween is the start of the busy season at Miller and Campbell.
Mary Siegel helps at the shop and is also a customer. She says there’s nowhere else she’d go for her costumes and special costume makeup.
“It’s the year of Barbie, right?” asked Mary. “I am a professional costume designer, and I can’t just do the blonde hair and typical outfit, so I am going with a very specific fairy Barbie from my childhood. I must get makeup to paint my entire self purple.”
Siegel said there are few businesses left, like Miller and Campbell. It’s the kind of place that allows you to step into a different world.
“It’s creating those amazing one-of-a-kind memories, on top of creating one-of-a-kind costumes,” said Mary. “You come in here and it’s an experience.”
Casey said people come from all over to visit the store to see and touch thousands of different costumes. She helps keep the vintage pieces in good shape, and if someone needs a costume she doesn’t have, she’ll try to make it.
“It fulfills everything that I want in a job, which is using my creativity every way I can,” said Casey. “I can do sewing. I can do hair and makeup, wigs, all that stuff while I’m still making a living.”
Miller and Campbell Costume Service also rents out costumes for a lot of theater productions.
From the stage to Halloween parties, they’re always preparing for the next big event.
“We will have the Santa rush, and after the Santa rush, we will have a couple winter holiday things, then the Easter Bunny,” said Casey.
Rather than compete with the mass-produced items of big-box costume retailers, Miller and Campbell works to stay unique and remains in a class of its own.