The National Opera and Ballet in Amsterdam put 10,000 costumes up for sale this weekend. 5,000 enthusiasts received a ticket to see opera costumes being worn in the Decoration Studio. In the end, according to the organization, 9,500 costumes were sold.

Stijn Schoonderwoerd is Director of the National Opera and Ballet. “The website was down when tickets went on sale, and they sold out in no time. We usually make our sets and paint the backgrounds in the set studio.”

The opera and ballet company wants to use the proceeds to fund the digitization programme. The costumes will then be given a barcode, among other things, so that they can always be quickly tracked.

From huge cakes to mythical creatures, visitors came away with the strangest creations:

“I will be defending my thesis in February and looking for something one of a kind”“,” says the visitor. There were also fashion enthusiasts from abroad. “I drove four hours to be here,” says one visitor from Ghent. She wants to make some “cupcake fashions.” Later that day she emerges from a studio Decoration with two large boxes. “We did it, two cakes!” she says with a smile.

“It remains special for people to wear all kinds of things to an event like this, and then continue to shop partially or completely wearing these creations,” says fashion designer Robbie Doifman.

In addition to the costumes, hats, shoes and leftover fabric were sold. The elements come from nearly seventy productions of the Dutch National Opera, such as Marco Polo and Le Nozze di Figaro. Most prices ranged between 1 and 450 euros, but there was also a dress priced at 1,250 euros. The art piece was a four-metre-long pink dress from a show about the French Queen Marie Antoinette.

Selling handmade pieces is always a pain, says Doifman. Until last summer, he was director of costume, hair and makeup at the National Opera and Ballet for 23 years. “I’d rather not sell anything. Especially since we make fashion through a creative process. But I like to see people happy here.” From becoming and fashion gets a second life.”

Director Schönderword: “A lot of people find it special that they are wearing something that was worn on stage.” In addition to refined handicrafts, used clothing from Hema was also sold. For example, the director says of the soldier’s uniform shirt: “We don’t need such a custom-made shirt.” However, they have stitched the singer and production name where it is worn on the shirt. “This is what makes the shirt special,” the director says of the soldier’s suit, which was on sale for 10 euros.

The National Opera held ex-costume sales in 2018. Then there were long queues at the Music Theater in Amsterdam and 4,000 old costumes were sold.