Karolina – YES, our international friends are not only welcome but eagerly embraced!! (New blood, you know, brings new viewpoints and ideas, and besides, we love your accents, whatever they are…)

As for costs, in general you will have to 1). Buy a membership ($30/year) 2). pay for your lodging (this year’s hotel rates were $124 per room per night, and up to four people can share one room if you don’t mind being squished). 3). Your transportation, of course. 4). Your food – either snacking between classes on apples and nuts or eating at the hotel or across the street at the Mall – many options, but I have found that I eat out very little because you can cram in more classes; I mostly do the snacking option. Also very economical! 5) IF you ask for a “limited” class – and are lucky enough to get it – they are generally “workshop” sessions, where you learn to create something during that class, so you pay a fee for those materials. Costs vary and are assigned by the class instructor, but you might expect anything from $15 to $50 or even more for the all-day Victorian corset class, for example. 6). You also have the option of buying tickets for the formal Saturday night Gala dinner and dance, as well as the Sunday afternoon Tea, or the Monday guided tour of LA’s fabric shopping district. All these are optional – believe me, you will have plenty of fun just hanging out with the rest of us as well!

And, lastly, there might be the “pre-event” cost of making your own costume or two so you will have something to wear to these fun events!! (Don’t worry – there are plenty of those who just love to gawk at everyone else’s costumes and wear their everyday 21st C. “costumes” all weekend!)

Hope this is a little bit helpful. Start feeding your piggy bank now and DO join us next year!! Love to see you there!

The Marketplace is free to the public; you do not need to buy any ticket or membership to shop.

If you want to take ANY classes you need a membership. Registration packets are mailed in April to those who have purchased a membership with a page for limited attendance classes. The limited attendance classes make up about 1/3rd or more of all classes in the schedule. When you buy a membership you are assigned the next priority number in line. That number combined with how fast you send in your choices for limited attendance classes is part of how you get into those limited attendance classes. The class lists are computer generated based on the parameters from above.

To go to the Gala or the Tea you do NOT need to purchase a membership but DO need to purchase separate tickets.

Yay Susan! I can’t wait to meet you in person next year. 🙂

Hehe. Thanks. I would humbly be dwarfed again as your costumes are always amazing and you pull off the entire look of them so well! Cheers from one costumer to another!

also I really like that 1830’s dress you were wearing…it looks like fun!