It was a business that started by accident when friends asked to borrow Wendy Gibson’s handmade costumes, but 30 years later the doors to Wendy’s Wardrobe are shutting for the final time.

The beloved fancy dress shop, which has been at its current premises in Chatham High Street for 22 years, has transformed partygoers into the likes of Alice in Wonderland and Indiana Jones for decades.

Customers have fallen away over the years however, and Wendy’s daughter Hazel, who now runs the shop, has made the difficult decision to close.

She said: “It’s been one of those things where the internet and supermarkets have hit us hard.

“We’ve always kept up to date with all the trends and latest films but what we haven’t been able to do is compete with the internet prices and the packet costumes people want.”

Hazel said increasing wages and business rates, as well as the closure of Globe Lane to build the bus station, had also had an impact.

“We used to have traffic jams outside the shop every evening and people used to look into the shop windows,” she said.

“We’ve tried all we can but the footfall just isn’t there and the people that do come in, come in in case their costume doesn’t arrive from the internet.

“You spend time with people choosing the perfect costume and then they say they’ll see if they can buy it online. It’s soul destroying”

Alongside costumes created by Wendy herself, most of Wendy Wardrobe’s 3,000 outfits come from small businesses or the British Costume Association trade shows.

All the stock, which covers three floors, is now for sale and includes Darth Vader and Storm Trooper costumes which are just six months old, released for the new Star Wars movie.

She said: “You want to keep going because of loyalty and the love of the business but it gets to the point where enough is enough. It’s kind of taken all the fun out of it. That’s not how I want to remember it.”

Wendy was working as a dressmaker for a company on Chatham High Street when word began to spread about the costumes she was creating for her children and her friends.

“Well I think you’ve just started a business” was the reply Wendy got from her neighbour when she asked what to do with all the requests to borrow her homemade costumes.

Wendy’s Wardrobe started out in a portable building on the outskirts of Walderslade in the 80s, before moving into the premises in Chatham High Street.

Some of Wendy’s original creations - including dresses made for a nine-month-old Hazel - can still be found hanging in the shop.

Hazel said: “She came full circle from where she started. Even today she’s talking about making pirate waistcoats to go with the shirts incase anyone wants to buy them.

“We’ve seen children grow up, they may only pop in at Halloween but someone who would peer over the counter is now 6ft 4in. It’s a little bit heart wrenching.”

The store now only has a couple of a part-time staff but Hazel remembers when there would be five members of staff working on a Saturday and they would be so busy, they would struggle to find time to grab a cup of tea.

Wendy’s Wardrobe will close for the last time on Saturday, May 28.