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THE BASICS:
There are only 2 pieces of equipment you need to curl, shoes and a broom.

Shoes are the most important piece of equipment you will invest in as a curling.  Now some of you are saying "Why should I buy shoes when my club provides sliders and tape for free."  Let me just say this, your game will improve 100% if you use curling shoes.  There is an old saying "You are only as good as your equipment", this does not mean that if you buy the best curling equipment you will be the best curler, but it does mean that you will not be as good of a curler using inferior equipment as you would be if you used the right equipment and in this case that is curling shoes.

Curling shoes come in a wide range of styles and prices and there are a variety of slider types:

Recessed
Recessed Slider

Flat
Flat Slider

Perimeter
Perimeter Slider

In addition to the traditional teflon, there are now also red brick and stainless steel sliders available.

If you are shopping for your first pair of curling shoes, my advise would be to talk to people at your club, see what the better curlers are wearing.  In the end it comes down to personal preference.

There are probably as many different curling brooms on the market as there are shoes.  Here again, what broom you use is going to be based on your personal preferences.  Most clubs have a supply of brooms for there members to use.  Some clubs even offer free brooms to new members.  In both these cases the brooms are most likely going to have wooden handles and fixed heads.   These are OK for beginners, but as your skill level improves you are probably going to want to upgrade.  Your choices are many, fixed, swivel or rotating heads, wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber or composite handles, and just about any color your can think of for both the head and handle.  Which should you use, here again you can see what is being used at your club.  Ask if you can try out another members broom.

For both shoes and brooms, don't skimp. buy the best you can afford.  If you go with the cheapest it is going to cost you more in the long run because I can guarantee you will be wanting to upgrade long before you actually need new equipment.

BEYOND THE BASICS

Now that you have decided that curling is the greatest sport ever, you can really get down to outfitting yourself.  There are gloves, pants, shirts, jackets, vests, socks, stop watches, handle grips, strategy boards, broom bags, equipment bags, the list goes on.  To see what's out there, check out the stores on the Links page.