Turning Fiction into Reality

Imagination and creativity, two admirable qualities that go hand in hand. From a young age, I have always been drawn to the world of fantasy. Through the fantastical books of JRR Tolkien, or the everchanging world of George RR Martin, the idea of knights, epic quests, and fantastical creatures entertained me. My mother was no different, and is the main reason as to why I grew up enamored by such detailed writers and the worlds they created. She was a master seamstress, and growing up made my Halloween costumes annually. Except, as I grew older, I followed an unusual path most teenagers go the opposite from. For as the older I got, the more involved with costuming I became.

What started out as a love for Halloween costumes was then morphed into my mother’s love for Comic Con in San Diego, CA. Thus, when tickets weren’t an arm and a leg, she and I would go together each summer- her crafting a costume for the entire weekend for me to showcase. In my youth costumes reflected my age: as a child I was a jawa from Star Wars, then Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon. Yet as I matured, so did the characters I admired. As a result, the costuming became more and more complex with each passing year.

Simple fabric turned into linen, linen to leather, and leather to chainmail. Characters such as assassins and rangers took over my inspirations, and were taken to the drawing board. While growing up, my mother did 99% of the work for the costumes I wore. She would sketch the designs, choose colours, fabrics, cut, sew, and detail all of the pieces. As a child, I mostly helped with tasks I could literally not mess up- nail here, tie this, cut this. Small things that inadvertently lit the fire for my passion in the realm of costuming.

Fast forward to where I am now, 23 years old and out of college, that passion for costuming has only intensified.

You see, bringing to life the vision of an entire costume isn’t simply a task, but a vision coming to life. To have something that was only a sketch turn into a tangible, wearable, and beautiful work of art is unlike any other feeling in the world.

I belong to a prominent costume group in South Carolina called FellandFair, where innovation and creativity drive the production of costumes, photoshoots, and video productions at the studio. Being a member of a collective team where art is being created daily, and beautiful shoots that showcases these creations, is a bit of a spiritual journey in itself. Being involved with such a community has allowed for inspiration and innovation to flourish.

To detail my passion for costuming, I begin with a thought. Inspiration has a tendency to appear in the most random of moments, and as a result I don’t begin planning something until that pivotal moment occurs. It may come from a television show, a book character, or perhaps just a random thought. Once the thought has been captured though, the sketch work begins.

I’m no Leonardo Davinci, so often my sketches are quite rough- drawings and shapes that simply captures the single thing I am trying to create and formulate in my head. Once the concept has been vaguely captured, colours, details, and props come in to play. Do I want this costume to have jewelry? Perhaps a weapon? Pouches to carry things?

Then search for the perfect materials begins. Being a native from Southern California, I was a bit spoiled in that I was able to go into downtown LA and the fabric district to find what I was looking for. Blocks of fabric, leather, buttons, thread. Literally anything you could imagine, you can find it there.

Once the sketches are drawn and measurements recorded, the fabric purchased, now comes the fun part- the actual hands on portion of bringing a costume to life. Typically I will create a mockup entirely out of muslin, an inexpensive fabric to get all of my dimensions right. I’ll utilize washable markers or pen to draw out the designs, and then cut them out with my fabric scissors. Unlike most people that utilize fancy new fabric scissors, I have a vintage pair of Wiss fabrics shears that I will use to cut everything out.

Once it’s cut, the sewing begins, and utilizing different coloured threads, sticking patterns together, and practicing any detail work begins. This process tends to take the longest simply because it’s the Frankestein moment- truly bringing the vision to life, even if only in a piece-meal way. Then I go over everything one more time, making any necessary adjustments or additions before breaking into the real deal.

Normally at this time I will create whatever props or armour pieces in unison with the creation of a costume. Not only do I get to see how the pieces look together, but it allows me to take a break from one project to the next. Often times every creator hits a roadblock where things simply aren’t fitting together, taking too long, or perhaps the vision is there but the means to get there seem impossible. Thus a creative break is often good to step away from the project at hand, work on something else, and come back to the conflict with a fresh perspective.

Creating costumes has opened up so many doors for me. What started out as a hobby for my mother and I to do together has brought lifelong friendships, a wonderful hobby, and an outlet to maintain creativity and inspiration. From meeting my favourite hobbits in person due to my mother teaching costume classes at conventions, to joining a large group in South Carolina that has influenced many of my life choices.

I would have never thought that running around in a cloak my mother made when I was 4 would be so influential. Never stop tapping into your creative outlets or stop dreaming. You never know how it will change your life.