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<p>LUZERNE &#8212; Are you feeling a little devilish?</p><p>For years, Barbara Gavlick-Hartnett&#8217;s store, Costumes By Barbara, has been the kind of place where you might find a red tunic with jagged red edges and, of course, a set of red horns to wear on your head.</p><p>It&#8217;s also the kind of place where, if you really want to spark conversations at the next masquerade ball, you might try on a white, roundish getup with a bright yellow spot on the front. The yellow circle is the yolk; get it? Slap on a set of red horns and you&#8217;re a deviled egg.</p><p>&#8220;When people come here, they&#8217;re mostly in a good mood. They&#8217;re looking to have fun and go to a party,&#8221; Gavlick-Hartnett said, explaining why she enjoys outfitting people in everything from kilts and lederhosen to mummers&#8217; finery, fairy godmothers&#8217; pink tulle, and cartoonish animal heads.</p><p>&#8220;One man wanted to surprise his wife, so he rented a chipmunk costume and took her a dozen roses dressed that way,&#8221; the costumer said with a chuckle. &#8220;I think he just wanted something cute.&#8221;</p><p>But after more than 30 years creating and renting costumes, Gavlick-Hartnett, 63, said she is ready to retire. She&#8217;d like to sell her business and more than 1,200 outfits to someone who would have as much fun with costumes as she has had.</p><p>&#8220;I always liked dressing up,&#8221; she said, reminiscing about growing up in Swoyersville, borrowing relatives&#8217; old bridesmaid gowns and letting her imagination run wild, especially if she added an old-fashioned hat to the ensemble.</p><p>&#8220;They used to wear hats all the time, with feathers and netting,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You could &#8216;be&#8217; anything.&#8221;</p><p>Reflecting on various fashion eras, Gavlick-Hartnett said, &#8220;I like all of it. I like that Renaissance look. I like flappers. I like novelties.&#8221;</p><p>Halloween is a busy time for costumes, Gavlick-Hartnett said, but adults sometimes rent them for interactive mysteries or to be in a play any time of year.</p><p>Earlier this week, the window display in her Main Street storefront had a bucolic theme, with three mannequins sporting a gingham dress, coveralls and a pink pig suit.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like they&#8217;re going to the fair,&#8221; she said.</p><p>She also keeps two sewing machines near the front windows, to take advantage of the natural lighting. The ironing board is near the back of the shop, past the flapper dresses with their swinging fringes, past the pile of pirate hats decorated with skulls and crossbones, past the colonial togs that look like something Betsy Ross or Ben Franklin &#8212; or perhaps John Wilkes and Isaac Barre &#8212; might have worn.</p><p>With so many costumes from which to choose, does Gavlick-Hartnett know what she&#8217;ll be this Halloween?</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been a scarecrow. I&#8217;ve been a witch, of course,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Maybe this year I&#8217;ll be a Gypsy.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">About half of the costumes in her collection of more than 1,200 are outfits Barbara Gavlick-Hartnett made herself. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090717barbara1.jpg</photo0><caption0>About half of the costumes in her collection of more than 1,200 are outfits Barbara Gavlick-Hartnett made herself. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090717barbara2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Barbara Gavlick-Hartnett, owner of Costumes By Barbara, poses among the many costumes in her shop on Main Street, Luzerne. After more than 30 years in the costume business, Gavlick-Hartnett, 63, said she&#8217;s ready to retire. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090717barbara2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Barbara Gavlick-Hartnett, owner of Costumes By Barbara, poses among the many costumes in her shop on Main Street, Luzerne. After more than 30 years in the costume business, Gavlick-Hartnett, 63, said she&#8217;s ready to retire. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Three decades of dressing up people was fun</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne costume maker ready to retire after 30 years of fun and fitting