I have directed Plaid twice. For costumes I rented tuxes with white dinner jackets for the four Plaids and classic tuxes for the piano player and the bass player.(Actually, we exchanged for ad space and just paid the cleaning fee. It was a great deal.) You are going to need to have, along with the plaid jackets, plaid bow ties, plaid cumberbunds, plaid pocket squares, and plaid sashes. We bought a whole bolt fabric so it would all be the same and we had enough left for extra touches like a piano shawl.The kooky costumes you are talking about are part of the Ed Sullivan sequence. They fall more under the catagory of props then costumes. I would say that the costumes are easy if you can construct jackets. There are quite a few props in the show, but it is not too bad.  Really it is all about the voices and the personalities.

As far as renting out the costumes after, it hasn't worked for us. We have lent our props out, but not the jackets. The chances that you are going to have four guys all they same size in two different shows is slim and the jackets have their names embroidered on the inside and they really should match.

L.

I had one Plaid 6'3" and 140 lbs. Gorgeous voice, but it was like dressing a toothpick!

L.