Howdy-do and Merry Christmas Season!
Time for another of my favorite things: Costumes!
Who doesn't love costumes? Dressing up gives me so much pleasure I do it for no particular reason on any non-particular day! I mean, knowing you look like Lucy Pevensie from "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" sure makes doing house chores more enjoyable! (I even chose to be in costume for half of my graduation photos!) And I'm not alone in my love for a good dress-up day! All of my siblings, most of the time, enjoy it too! We schedule a 'Character Day' about twice a year; a day where everyone dresses up as a specific character for the whole day. We call each other our character's names, instead of our real ones, and take pictures and have fun mixing a multitude of storylines into one modern day of regular homeschool.
But there's just one little problem with costumes. The cheap ones look, well, cheap, and the nice ones cost a fortune. And since we're not millionaires, we've had to get a little creative.
Here's an example:
Trysten wanted to be Paul Revere and Nathan Captain Hook (from Peter Pan) one Character Day back in 2019. So Trysten got a blue button down shirt, and we tucked some white fabric around his neck and out his shirt for a 18th century ruffle! And then we pulled some sister's socks up over his pants to look like stockings and make his pants like the ones in 1775 America!
Nathan pulled out some black pants and boots and red dress shirt, and topped that with our sister's winter dress coat. A gold chain, hat and sword were next, finished by a towel wrapped bread hook for the infamous 'hook', and I drew on some facial hair!
With the exception of the hat, (and maybe the sword), all these items are just normal, everyday 'stuff in the house'!
Making bigger sized clothes work for little people is a technique we use a lot. Tate and Cecily are "Miracle Max and Valerie" from "The Princess Bride." They are both wearing one of the big girl's skirts as tunic-type-things. Trysten is "John" from Peter Pan, wearing one of our Daddy's dress shirts buttoned on the inside to make a nightshirt, something we don't really have handy. I was attempting to make Alec look like "Bert" from Mary Poppins, and used an older boy's dress shirt (shortened with pins) in place of a jacket.
I wanted to be a hobbit earlier this year. Now a key for hobbit fashion is wearing clothes that are earthy colored and a little big. So I found and donned my Grandpa's shirt, vest and colonial pants. The nice thing about hobbits is you don't have to worry about the shoes. And if you have wide feet -- never mind. I actually ending up helping plant our garden in this outfit, and it felt just right! Later I made a pot of tea for myself and Mama in hobbity teapots and cups. Other than that, I didn't do anything 'special'. See, that's the thing about costumes; you don't have to wear them for anything. They just gave me extra pleasure as I went about an ordinary, 21st century day. Oh, and of course you can't forget to draw hair on the tops of one's feet. And perhaps don a pair of pointy ears and accentuate the freckles one might (possibly) already posses.
And if you know anything about sewing - then let me say that it can be really easy and cost-effective to make simple costume assets, such as cloaks and tunics! My favorite place to buy fabric from is Goodwill. Sheets, tablecloths, sheets, curtains, comforters and more sheets make wonderful amounts of fabric for $4!
For a cloak, here's a link that takes you to an article that shows how to make a circle cloak. https://www.gothfashion.info/circle-cloak
(Note: I do not necessarily promote/recommend anything else on this site -- I haven't looked any further than the cloak!)
Tunics are even simpler. Take a long rectangular piece of fabric and fold it 'hamburger' (lengthways). Make sure the fold is wide enough for your shoulders and the length is past your hips. Then cut out a neck hole in the middle of the fold and hem it. Simply hem the rest of the way around the fabric and slip it over your head. get a belt or tie a sash around your middle and wah-lah! You are wearing a tunic that can fit you for hundreds of historical or fantasy looks!
Sooo... choose a character and pick a day! I bet you can come up with a costume strictly from your own closet! Do you like to dress up? Got any pictures? I'd love to see them in the comments!!
(FYI: Creating a profile is super easy and fast! Just sign up with your email and enter your name! That way I'll be able to see who is writing! Right now, anyone who comments without signing up [or signing their name at the end of the comment] is "Guest #eo47" or something.)
Signing off with a request that you check out the gallery for favorite costume replications by the Thomas Tribe! {Points if you can name any of these characters!}
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