Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!

It’ll be Christmas 2011 before you know it! 

Your plan is to pack away your Santa outfit for another year, if you haven’t already done it.  The Santa wig and beard is a little tired or a little shabby, and one of Santa’s gloves is missing, but not to worry.  You’ll order a new set of each before Christmas next season (2011). 

But you’ll open your Santa suit four days before Christmas in 2011, and find that you still have a shabby wig and beard and are still missing a glove; but not enough time to order replacements. 

Why not do it now? 

Not only is it fresh in your mind, a few costumers might be having sales on your needed items.  So is it better to buy now when the prices might be a little better, than to find out next year it’s to late to order and have Santa still wearing that same old tired wig and beard? 

Where to look?  Your local phone book will list all of the all-year-round costume shops in your area.  They will be listed under “Costumes” in your yellow pages.

If you don’t have a shop near you, there are numerous online shops that can accommodate your needs to include Santasuits.com.

Welcome to The New Year…2011

 Santasuits.com. whose ad appears in the right column.

(And keep tuned for a little information on the care, cleaning and storage of your Santa suit , probably next week)

Open the door to a new world….costumes! 

As you enter the door to your local costume shop, it might seem like you are entering the ‘Twilight Zone’, but much less scary.  You will be exposed to another world, maybe another dimension. 

There are costumes, props, hats, wigs, makeup, clown noses, ugly teeth, elf ears, and undoubtedly chopped off hands, eyeballs, and yes….even blood!!!!! 

Costumes of shimmery and glittery sequins, lames and satins.    

Funny costumes, historical costumes, sexy costumes coming in all sizes, colors and shapes.  

Wigs galore, many in styles of famous personalities, like Elvis,  Cher, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Vampira and Rod Stewart are also available.  Long hair, short hair, curls, in blacks, browns, blondes and redheads.  Bald wigs for those Michael Jordan wannabe’s. 

And where do you find a costume shop?  Try your Yellow Pages assuming you have a landline phone.  Or Google ‘Costumes’ and you might be provided a list of your local stores.  Or click this link to take you to the National Costumers Association site where you can do a search for members of their organization.  Perhaps there will be one in your area.  Good Halloween Hunting.

Famous Couples Costumes 

What exactly is a famous couple?  Oh! You mean like Henry XIII and whatever wife he was married to in any given year?  Or Sonny and Cher?  Adam and Eve, of course,  is the original first famous couple.  A couple (or a few) fig leaves for the couple is all you need. A new and refreshing idea, yet millions of years old, inexpensive and likely not to be on your costumer’s shelf for sale.  Find a tree, find a few leaves and have a pot of paste handy. And talk about sexy!!! 

Costumes shown above are available at Annie’s Costumes.  Annie’s ad appears as ‘Halloween Costumes’ in column to the right of this article.

Famous couple are not always famous couples in the boy-girl sense.  Paired costumes could also be like Laurel and Hardy, King Kong and Fay Wray, or a Keystone Cop and Convict from the silent movies. A Beer Bottle and a Beer Bottle Opener. 

Pairs, but not necessarily couples.   

Plus Sizes.  Accentuate the Positive! 

“Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and don’t mess with Mister In-between”.  Lyrics from a 1940’s song, but the best advice for a Halloween costume choice for a plus size.  

 As in selecting any clothing, horizontal stripes are out, and vertical stripes are in (that does eliminate the jailbird costumes, though). Also, black or dark shades are preferable to lighter colors.

Costumes shown above are available at Annie’s Costumes.  Annie’s ad appears as ‘Halloween Costumes’ in column to the right of this article. 

If one is full figured with a balance, then it’s simply a matter of selecting the right size.  If not, then ‘accentuate the positive’.  Ala, the sexy costume advice, ‘a little cleavage and a nicely turned ankle oft times is much more alluring’. 

 If it’s comfort over style, then a loose fitting garment that hides and slims is the better choice. 

 If it’s style over comfort, then drawing attention to your umm…..attributes is preferable. 

Halloween Famous Couples Costumes 

 While you are contemplating your selection for a Halloween costume, why not visit the possibility of a famous couple, unless of course you are going to your Halloween party as a solo.

 Costumes shown above are available at Buycostumes.com.  See ad in right column.

What exactly is a famous couple?  Oh! You mean like Henry XIII and whatever wife he was married to in any given  year?  Or Marc Antony and Cleopatra? Or Sonny and Cher?  Yes, but famous couples costumes could also be like Laurel and Hardy,  or a Keystone Cop and Convict from the silent movies. Pairs, but not necessarily couples.  

Costumes shown above are available at Buycostumes.com.  See ad in right column.

Hansel and Gretel or Jack and Jill from storybook fame. Or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from movie fame.  Or Bonnie and Clyde or George and Martha Washington from history.  We abound in famous couples. 

Historical Costumes 

 Wow!  History takes in a looooooog, loooooong period of time.  Eons of time.  From the Cro-Magnon or Neanderthal days up to today.  History probably goes back to Adam and Eve (a nice couples costumes, BTW), but I don’t know if they were pre or post Cro-Magnon.

Hmmmm…..let me see.  What periods of history can I recall?  Roman, Greek, Biblical, Medieval, Renaissance, the French Revolution period , Early America, the Civil War, the Turn of the Century (NO!, not this past one, the one before it),  the Roaring Twenties, the Thirties, the Forties, the Fabulous Fifties and the list can go on and on..  Also consider your own history, which might take in the Sixties and the following decades. Throw in the Tool Age, Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Computer Age. 

In an earlier post, we mentioned that assigning names to costumes and playing that role was a major part of having a great time dressing up.  The ‘putting a name of a character on the costume’ theme will resonate in many of the subjects to follow. 

 From the Roman period, maybe a Marc Antony and Cleopatra; from the French Revolution perhaps Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine.  How about an Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln from the Civil War era, or Bonnie and Clyde from the 1930’s?  Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made a nice 60’s couple, and you even tie them back to a movie (‘Cleopatra’) they co-starred in. 

Civil War Period Dress available through Annie’s Costumes.  See Halloween Costumes ad in the right column.

Interchangeability is also a keyword in these posts.  People from one category might also be associated with another category.

 So dig out those old History books, and while you’re at it, can you also find the book from Freshman Geography 101?

Celastic!  

Celastic, you say!  What is Celastic?

For me, Celastic (a trademarked name) and it’s variations (Form Fast for one) have been godsends to my business.  When I was a mere lad in my first few months in the costuming business, I learned some of the old paper mache techniquess to build cartoon character heads for our shop.  You know…a much less sophisticated version of the type of cartoon characters you see might  see at a Disneyland or Kings Dominion.

In layman’s terms, Celastic is a sort of plasticized lightweight canvas or heavyweight fabric, which when softened in Acetone or MEK can be shaped into any  number of objects (using a mold).    It comes in various thicknesses and sizes. 

Cut into strips and/or sections, it is laid over a form or mold and assumes the exact shape and dimensions of the form.  After it dries and is cut off, it has become a clone of the form, except minimally larger.

In the masqueade, theatrical, performing arts arenas, it’s used for puppets, scenery, props, armor,  as well as mascot and cartoon costumes; but it may even have practical applications as in taxidermy and setting of broken bones.  

What I especially like about Celastic is that is impervious to the elements (waterproof), is lightweight enough to be able to be supported on the head/shoulders, and when dented, can easily be snapped back into place.  Paper mache, although lightweight, could easily become misshapen during a rainstorm; and dents required repairs.

TODAY, I start walking you through the video process of building a cartoon character head.  Just click on Costumes! Costumes! Costumes! (in pink) above if you don’t see the videos on this page.

NOTE:  For more information about Celastic, please contact us at russkampmann@gmail.com or costumes3@gmail.com

Christmas is only 1 day away!