by SARAH WOLF

Daily Currents Editor

Scenario: you’re overcome by an uncontrollable urge to shop. You are craving a pair of bell bottoms, a cute little dress or a fab costume for that upcoming theme party.

Problem: you can’t find that special something at the mall, and you wouldn’t even know where to begin in Des Moines. Solution: a soon-to-open, new-and-used clothing and costume store.

Ridiculous Rags, located at 2414 Lincoln Way in Campustown, is just the answer to all of your far-out garment needs. Nanci McCune, owner and founder, compares Ridiculous Rags to Raggstock, because both stores carry funky new and used clothing.

But the twist that sets Rags apart from thrift stores and the like is the costume rental. McCune worked for four years as the costume director at Ames Community Theater, and she is channeling her expertise into her newfound store.

“I’ve been collecting things for a long time,” she said. “[When I worked at the Theater], I got the feel of what people like to rent.”

She has garnered quite a mass of interesting costumes and special effects that are just the ticket for theme parties and Halloween.

McCune scours bargain basements to find her merchandise, which ranges from the hopelessly out-of-date nightmare to the resurrected fad that’s trendy and hip once again.

She frequents rummage sales in Ames and other cities, like Minneapolis, to score great clothes.

“If you look hard enough at garage sales, you can find them,” she said. “I found three leisure suits at a sale this morning. Little towns are good for that because people keep stuff in their closets for a long time.”

Rags will also feature catalogs of wigs, makeup and costumes so a customer can find the perfect Elvis hair or Kiss face paint, which McCune can then order.

A buyback program is also in the works, and she accepts donations “depending on what they are.”

Costumes will most likely be for rent with a deposit or for purchase with cash only; McCune has learned a valuable lesson from her days at the Theater.

“I had a lot of problems, a lot of bounced checks,” she explained. “People were keeping things that weren’t necessarily expensive, but were hard to replace.”

McCune hopes to have Ridiculous Rags open by July 1. For more information, please call McCune at the store at 292-1809 (keep trying if no one answers).