On Choosing a Costume
I love costuming, and I love events where people go in costume as much for the fact that they give me an excuse to wear my costumes as for the events themselves. It’s like make-believe for grown-ups (or at least, people who look like grown-ups).
There’s always that moment of anxiety before an event, though, where you’re sitting there with the most fundimental question of all. “What will I wear?”
Well, some events are easy, because they have a distinct setting. A LARP, for example, might be set in a particular type of world, and you may already have an idea of what race or class you might want to play in that LARP. A Renaissance Faire also lends a certain framework around which to decide your costume, because it has to be contemporary with the time period in which the Faire is set. An event like a science fiction convention (DragonCon, for instance) can be more difficult, because it’s rather an “anything goes” sort of event. For deciding for that, I tend to go with my favorite fandom which is most highly represented among the guests each year, or with some style I feel most comfortable with.
You also have to take into consideration whether or not you can sew (or have a handy seamstress-on-demand willing to do your bidding). If you can sew, and sew well, your costume is really only limited by your fabric budget and how much time you’ve got to actually make your wondrous creation. If you can’t sew and don’t have someone to sew for you, well, you’re probably going to have to buy your costume, and finding the resources for buying a costume that doesn’t, you know, look costumey (non-flammable nylon, anyone?) can be difficult.
The Aether Emporium Wiki has an excellent list of resource links for the less needle-and-thread-inclined among us, as well as some great places to get patterns. Though it’s primarily geared toward steampunk related costumes, many of the resources can also be used for a western look, historically accurate Victorian costumes, gothic, or even some Renaissance wear.
For women, some items of costumery are generally best custom made if you can afford them or make them yourself, particularly lingerie type elements and corsetry. A well made and well fitted corset is extremely comfortable, but get one that doesn’t fit your measurements and you’ll be spending your time in that costume extremely uncomfortably. A badly fitted corset, drawn up too tight, can also cause internal injuries if you’re not careful, so this is one of those things that is really worth the money, as expensive as they can be.
As usual, costuming can be a lot easier for men than for women. Pants are pretty much pants, all the way through the ages, and you’d be amazed at what you can do with a nicely tailored pair of black pants and a frilly white shirt – both of which are easily found in department stores. All you’d really have trouble finding is a coat, if you wanted to wear one, or some props. And when in doubt, no man can go wrong with a t-shirt, a pair of boots, and a kilt for comfort and to attract the eye of the ladies. (In doubt as to whether kilts on men are manly and/or sexy? Oh, baby, you have no idea…I am firmly of the belief that every man should own a kilt.)
Recent Comments