Reflections Vintage and Antiques transforms into a halloweener's haven just after the September long weekend. After replacing last season's bridal wear with this season's witches and clowns, (expect to see Christmas apparel next) Reflections wins for the most organized seasonal thrift shop I have yet to visit. I was fooled by the cluttered racks upon racks of inventory when I first entered the store. Let's call it an organized mess, shall we?

As I make small talk with the storekeepers, they tell me they try to offer customers everything they'd need to put together a costume head-to-toe, whether it's piecing a variety of accessories together, or buying a packaged set. For every genre of costume, they offer an extensive collection of vintage and packaged. I saw five styles of The Wizard of Oz' classical Dorothy dress (new and old), and even more options for housewife costumes (classic fifties aprons and muumuu housedresses).

They even have a handful of exotic options should you decide to dress up like a Harem or Sheikh. I get the impression they want customers to feel like they can look like an Arabian belly dancer without opting for the Jasmine costume (though they do sell those too).

In a word, the costumes here are authentic . I didn't see anything that reeked of store-bought "hot hurse." Their focus is on longer cut, traditional style costumes that range from the classics to the not-so-classics. I saw everything from my Disney favourites, to overdone angels/devils, to more unique ensembles such as geisha dresses, renaissance costumes, and steampunk get-ups.

While most of the guy's costumes seem to be uniforms of some sort, I was impressed to find their guy's firefighter's costume to be an actual vintage piece they retrieved through a charity. In terms of price range, they won't sell anything over $100, with most of their vintage stuff selling at around $40. I appreciate their desire to please all demos . For instance, for their masquerade mask collection they offer both paper macheed and metal plated options.

Photos by Jesse Milns