Everybody’s got to have their pedigree, so here’s. . . mine.
I made my first historical costume for a Junior High Shakespeare Festival in 1977 (Junior High, aka “Middle School” for those born after 1990), and based on what I now know four-plus decades later, to say it was bad would be kind. (I used a printed polyester crepe for my faux “underskirt,” partlet, and sleeves. I was 14 and had a budget of $25 because that’s all the school would reimburse, and my dad was a victim of yet another aerospace downsizing, and I did the best I could.) Little did I realize that the burgundy-colored brushed denim I chose to work with would become a staple many years later. The one I made the following year for a high school trip to the Renaissance Faire was much better but still had some issues because it was more “hippie chick” rather than a proper 16th-century peasant. You live, you learn.
Truly, though, it’s thanks to my mother, who started me sewing at the tender age of 9 and shared her love of history and the BBC’s historical productions, that I started down this path to madness in the first place.
The idea for the business was hatched in 1983 in response to a glowing compliment and referral from the Guild Master of St. Helena. (Yes, I am a refugee of the grand dame herself, the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire formerly in Agoura, California.) In 2005-2006, personal events rocked my world and derailed my mojo, and after two frustrating clients, I “retired”. . . so I thought I had until quite recently.
Yes, I have a degree behind me as well — an Associate of Arts Degree in Fashion Design from the renowned Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. (Class of 1982, Fall, if you absolutely must know.) Furthermore, I have spent hundreds of hours studying historical costumes during school and since then. I’m always willing to research what I don’t know and have the bookshelves to prove it. Over the years, I’ve made cyber friends with fellow costumers (semi-professional and otherwise) who have indirectly compelled me to further my research into period clothing instruction, observe the “5-foot rule,” and help make the business more than just another place online to get “faire costumes.”
I am an active member of Costumers’ Guild West and have served on the committee for their annual “Costume College,” where I have taught a handful of classes over the past few years.
My past clients span the globe and can be found in locations as far-flung as my hometown of North Hollywood, California, Singapore, and merry old England herself. All things considered, that ain’t too shabby for a girl whose storefront is solely on the good old WWW.
However, this could not have been done without the help of a few super people who helped my occasionally overworked a** out with the sewing, my ever-loving (and sometimes way too distracting) spouse, and now two four-legged sons and two furry daughters that most people call “cats.”
TGBTG