| Product: |
joke.co.uk |
| Date: |
05.02.08 (403 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Professional and attractive website, tailored service and fancy dress items for virtually any theme!
Disadvantages: You may need to stick the kettle on if you need to speak to customer services.
The occupational hazard of working in the people-orientated business of recruitment is that you are inevitably going to have associations with the normal and the nutty of personalities. Consequently, it is highly probable you are going to receive an invitation to a fancy dress party at some point. There are about ten million themes one of these parties can take, and the one I so happened to be invited to was a 'pimps and ho's' party. I will say now that being a 'ho' was not an option for a macho man such as myself. Either way, I did not have a single thing, as you'd imagine, in my wardrobe to reflect a pimp. Therefore, what were my options?
Luckily, the recent emergence of retailers of fancy dress costumes has caused the industry to take a giant leap. Four years ago, costumes were unobtainable, particularly not in the variety where you could buy it, most costumes were for hire. Typically, if you are a party-goer unlike myself, you are probably going to attend a few parties during the popular seasons of Halloween and Christmas, and maybe once or twice at other times of the year for general random fancy dress parties. Buying costumes, but at a very reasonable price, is therefore an appealing solution than hire options.
When I typed into Google 'fancy dress costumes', one of the first websites that manifested on the results page fortunately happened to be a locally based fancy dress giant. It also just so happened to be one of the world's best online retailers of fancy dress costumes - Jokers Masquerade.
Background
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Jokers Masquerade is the brainchild of Managing Director Mark Lewis. The business originated from humble beginnings, operating from a shed back in 2001. With use of a strong vision, strategy and business acumen, Mark rapidly created an empire, spearheading Jokers into the world top 5 of online fancy dress retailers, and among the top 2 in the UK. They now operate in a 40,000 sq ft premises in Newbury and have a product range that comprises of well over 10,000 fancy dress costumes.
Jokers Masquerade's most recent and famous exposure to the media arose when a selection of players from Liverpool's Premiership football team, which included Peter Crouch, were snapped sporting their fancy dress costumes at a Christmas Party in 2006.
The website
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You can buy any fancy dress item supplied by Jokers Masquerade on their website - www.joke.co.uk. You are also able to purchase via the phone, the number of which is on the website.
Visually, the site is very colourful and attractive, and each and every product they stock is modelled by a person of the appropriate age and sex.
The homepage allows access to a variety of different categories along the left hand side of the page and along the top, meaning you have a variety of pages - such as 'Half price items', 'New lines', 'Promotions', and 'Wholesale' pages, accessible for one central location. A solution to your problem is therefore easy to find within seconds.
From the website, you are even able to view a live webcam feed of the warehouse, sales office and front door area. The reasons for this, I believe, are because they are an open and transparent company and to give consumers an insight into how effectively the operation is run.
The Costumes
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Jokers Masquerade provides costumes for any occasion, for any age, and for any part of the body.
Bodywear - This range consists of everything you could possibly imagine, from normal to naughty and bold to banal. If you want to dress like Elvis, Ali G, a pimp, a pirate, a barbarian, a playboy bunny or superwoman, you can get those costumes here. These are available in adult sizes, ith teen and children sizes sold where appropriate.
Face masks and gear - There is a wide range of high quality face masks available, in order to allow you to look like your favourite hero or villain, such as Freddy Krueger, George Bush, The Queen, Mick Jagger and Saddam Hussain. Moreover, you are able to purchase beards, sideburns, moustaches and wigs. The wigs range is vast - you can obtain judicial, regal, eighties, rockstar and TV character wigs.
Headgear and footwear - To add finishing touches to your masquerade, you can get a massive range of hats, such as witch, cowboy, police, pirate, bowler and top hats. Furthermore you can purchase a range of shoes such as high heels and thigh boots.
Costume Accessories - To compliment your outfits, you can also purchase accessories such as jewellery, toy weapons, sunglasses, nails and gloves. These can be purchased for very cheap prices and look very good.
Mascot gear - If you just so happen to feel the need to dress up in mascot gear, e.g. looking like a bear or teddy or football mascot, even this option is available.
Lastly there are seasonal costumes such as Christmas and Halloween fancy dress, which are available all year through.
Themes
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Jokers has the licence to produce clothing ranges for the below films, cartoons and tv programmes. This means that for either you or your children, you are able to purchase very cool and well-known suits within the following classifications:
Superman - this includes various Superman and Supergirl costumes, such as the muscle chest version of the former and sexy version of the latter.
Harry Potter - you can find Gryffindor, Slytherin, Quidditch and Death Eater outfits along with wands and wigs.
Star Wars - here you will fit costumes of Yoda, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and Jedi Knights along with light sabers and helmets.
Marvel Heroes - you will find the superhero costumes of the Incredible Hulk, X-men, Captain American and many others.
Nightmare of Elm Street - you can dress as Freddy Kruger and terrify your friends at the party.
This just goes to indicate the level of success this company has managed to achieve in that they have been allowed, by very well known brands, to supply these costumes to the public. It also shows that these brands also must have trust and faith in the quality and reputation that Jokers Masquerade has built.
Personal experience
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Due to the ease of navigation around the site, I was able to find the range that catered for pimps and ho's party within the space of 30 seconds. Luckily I did not actually have to buy one because, having a lovely young son, I was able to decline the invitation... "Boo" I hear you all saying... I bet you were looking forward to seeing some pictures of me looking ridiculous. Having said that, with my group of friends, I won't be able to avoid these parties forever. Should I be invited to a fancy dress party which is more my taste, I have a supreme resource at my hands.
A friend did accept the invitation, and due to living in the same town as Jokers Masquerade, was able to purchase online and pick up at the company address of Bone Lane in Newbury. If you happen to live close, this is a great option in order to get your item instantly. Delivery is also an option, which is explained below.
The costume my friend bought was a purple Adult Pimp Suit & Hat, which costs £20.99 on the website. The quality of the costume was very high - the colour was very rich, and the detail was realistic so as to not make him look like a caricature. The strength of the material was also excellent, given the very reasonable cost of the item, showing that Jokers do not sacrifice quality for price.
The only aspect of the service that my friend had issue with was the customer service side. When he called to clarify that 'Customer Collect' at the premises was an option, it took seven minutes of being on hold before finally getting through to an advisor.
Delivery
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Delivery is obviously an option, and items purchased before 4pm will normally be sent out the next day. The normal delivery time is 3 to 5 days, which costs £4.99 for any size or shaped costume. There are premium options which cost more but will get decrease delivery times, such as the 1 day guarantee option and the 'next day by 9am' option, meaning that they want to do their best to meet the demands of customers.
For international consumers, delivery is available at different costs to Europe, but at a price of £40 minimum for USA and the rest of the world.
Personal opinion
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Jokers Masquerade gives the appearance of an absolutely world class retailer. The website is professional, visually attractive, easy to navigate around and answers any possible question you should have about Jokers' service. The product range is gargantuan - you will virtually find any character you'd like to dress as or any theme of party you would go to.
The efficiency of the operation is obviously very good - items are despatched very quickly and will arrive at your door within five days, and also there are tailored options for other consumers to get their costumes sooner, which means for the customer that Jokers Masquerade is a hard working retailer that endeavours to meet and satisfy a wide variety of needs.
I can honestly say, in conclusion, that unless I was to be invited to a fancy dress party with the most unbelievable and out of this world theme, Jokers Masquerade can provide a costume for party.
Summary: Jokers Masquerade can meet all of your fancy dress needs!
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