“Every costume has a memory associated with it, a story to tell” says Caro Harkness, Head of Wardrobe, and as Scottish Ballet prepares for what might be perhaps its biggest Spring clean yet in advance of its move to a brand new home at Tramway at the end of 2008, the forthcoming costume sale allows everyone the opportunity to purchase their very own piece of ballet history; from Dame Margot Fonteyn’s costume in Peter Darrell’s Beardsley-inspired The Scarlet Pastorale, to the 14th century style designs based on the prints of Albrecht Durer in Darrell’s Giselle.

Next month, Scottish Ballet’s current headquarters will be opening the doors to members of the public to host its first ever costume sale. From 2pm - 5pm on Friday 1 June, and 10am – 5pm on Saturday 2 June, costumes, including assorted headdresses and accessories, spanning 30 years of Scottish Ballet history will be available to purchase, from as little as £5.

Famous story book characters including the wicked sorcerer and magical genie in Robert Cohan’s Aladdin, nestle alongside the beastly jackets and glamorous fairytale world of Cinderella and her prince in Peter Darrell’s Beauty and The Beast, and Cinderella, respectively. And it’s not just the characters from such well loved tales that will adorn the hanging rails of Scottish Ballet’s sale. Every era is covered, from the roaring 1920’s in Kenn Burke’s That Certain Feeling, lovingly designed in-house by the Scottish Ballet wardrobe, to the 1950’s spiv suits and dresses of Adam Cooper’s Scratching The Surface, designed by Lez Brotherston.

Experimentation and fantasy are celebrated in the widely acclaimed designs of Jasper Conran, in Galina Samosva’s The Sleeping Beauty, 1994, and Swan Lake, 1995 both featuring hours and hours of handiwork in details such as individually sewn bugle-beads. And, for budding ballerinas come tutus in a kaleidoscope of colour, style, shape and length from the classic tutus of Oleg Vinogradov’s Paquita to the romantic tutus of Galina Samsova’s Les Sylphides.

Ballet fans will also have the opportunity to pick up other unique or historical pieces of Scottish Ballet memorabilia at a special Ballet Bric-a-Brac stall selling archive posters, programmes and even signed pointe shoes.