On Costuming

The following are Jade's thoughts on her costuming....

My grandmother was the one who taught me how to sew, but I never really became enamored of costuming until (again) college, where I discovered renaissance faires, science fiction conventions, ball room dancing, and historical recreation. As a college student, I was too broke to buy those really neat ren fair costumes, so I decided to make my own. I discovered that I actually had a good time creating costumes, and from there it just flourished.

Costuming is the art of taking a two-dimensional object (i.e.: fabric) and wrapping it around a three-dimensional form (i.e.: the body). This art form is a lot harder than it sounds because 2D objects don't like wrapping around 3D objects without a lot of coaxing.

However, costuming is not limited to just making costumes or sewing. It also means creating the necessary "accessories" for your costume, such as shoes, jewelry, hats, masks, and other assorted items, because what is a costume, but a sum of all the pieces that you wear: outfit, shoes, masks, jewelry, etc. Consequently, I have picked up various skills in a variety of areas, including mask making, jewelry & beading, millinery, and yes, even making shoes.

Costuming does take quite a bit of time in the creation. Hand-made outfits are sometimes difficult to fit to a specific person, and all the little-details take time. Most people do not realize how much time and effort it takes to create a specific costume that is tailor made to your specific measurements. As a result of this time-consuming effort, most custom-made costumes normally sell for several hundred to several thousand dollars!