To make the the correct decision for you, the best way is to go through the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

So what are the benefits of fancy dress hire?
Fancy dress costume hire has the advantage in that you can return the costume after the party, but this can also turn out to be a bad thing because not only do you have to pay for the hire of the costume, but you also have to then have the hassle (and the cost) of going back to the fancy dress shop to return the costume.

So what are the benefits of purchasing a fancy dress costume?
If you buy your fancy dress costume from an online fancy dress shop, like Jokers' Masquerade not only do they have a massive variety of fancy dress costumes and accessories (more than ten thousand) to choose from, so plenty of fancy dress ideas but you also don't have the pain of having to collect the garment and then having to take it back when you are done. Also remember often when going to a costume party, you'll be attending as a couple, the great thing as there are plenty of costumes for couples available now.

Cheap fancy dress costumes
The majority of people also assume that fancy dress hire is cheaper than buying a costume, but this is not always the case, sure there are some fancy dress costumes for sale that are not cheap like the deluxe starwars costumes, but there are plenty of cheap fancy dress costumes that could cost you even less than costume hire. At a company like Jokers' Masquerade fancy dress, you can even search for costumes by budget, which is handy.

It is also possible to find fancy dress hire online options, but to date most don't offer the large selection of costumes that you can find when you buy. What has to be one of the main disadvantages of hiring costumes especially online is that you can never be sure what the condition your costume will arrive in, buying a costume has to be the better deal because it arrives brand new, in the box.

If you are also planning on hosting a fancy dress party, and are looking for some ideas for fancy dress themes, browsing an online fancy dress shop is a great place to quickly get loads of fancy dress ideas.

And for me here is the final nail in the coffin for costume hire, if you decide that you don't want to wear the costume again, you could always sell it on an on line auction website after the fancy dress party, who knows your brand new Tinkerbell costume may end up costing you nothing!