Explore Stratford's Giant Costume Warehouse

If you loved to play dress up when you were a kid, or you still do, or you're a theater geek -- and let's face it, all of these categories often overlap -- do yourself a favor and sign up for a tour of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Costume and Props Warehouse in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

This is one of the largest costume warehouses in the world, housing more than 50,000 items worn during shows staged over the years in the annual festival, which runs through October. Nota bene, this is a guided tour -- you're not allowed to run willy nilly down the aisles marked "men's jackets, medieval" or "ladies' coats, 90s", nor are you allowed to rummage through a plastic box marked "glitzy ruffs".

You're also not allowed to touch the costumes, which is more of a serious challenge than you might think, although you are allowed to take pictures. After you tour the prop section (and learn that what stands in for blood on stage is a combination of beet root and cocoa powder -- good to know) you are released into a special area where -- yes! -- you may try on selected costumes to your heart's content. And there are hats. The number of images uploaded to Facebook over the course of a season from this part of the warehouse must be unfathomable.