A Guide to the Best of Southern California : SHOPTALK : Halloween Heaven

IT’S A SURE BET that the Dick Tracys and Breathless Mahoneys will be stumbling all over one another at Halloween parties this year. If you want to stand out, the Center Theatre Group Costume Shop stocks 40,000 costumes from its theater and film productions. A woman can slip into Lynn Redgrave’s decollete gown from “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” while a man might enjoy the elaborate chiffon-robe ensemble Mick Jagger wore in Shelley Duvall’s “Faerie Tale Theatre” production of “The Nightingale” (both pictured).

The majority of the garments were designed and made by hand for celebrities in Ahmanson and Mark Taper Forum productions, as well as “Circus of the Stars,” and rent for $45 to $200 a day. There are also the typical masquerade costumes that start at $25 a day. The shop has several books of photos from CTG productions and a list of classic costumes (Cleopatra, sultans, musketeers). If you want to be a witch, you won’t get just any old witch costume but rather an elegant black sheath and hat from Vaclav Havel’s “Temptation.” “We do have Elviras and pirates,” says Lady Jane Reddell, shop spokesperson, “but we think people are getting tired of seeing those.” And if you’re looking for Ninja Turtles for the kids, Lady Jane will refer you elsewhere.