Comments on: Naming Your Costumes

By: Jennifer Rosbrugh

Jennifer Rosbrugh — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:14:20 +0000

In reply to Sarah. What a fun name!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:42:22 +0000

I love that you have fallen into food names for the costumes, especially as I have decided that I am in the midst of an 1862 Nanner Puddin’ Ballgown for the Vicksburg Christmas Confederate Ball!

By: donna m lake

donna m lake — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 23:45:27 +0000

“Bubble gum pink cotton skirt. White batiste puffy-sleeve waist with pink pearl trim. Red & white striped linen pinafore: the Candy Box Dress.

By: Cassidy

Cassidy — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 18:08:12 +0000

I decided to finally start naming my costumes and now it’s like a thing-my red and beige civil war dress became my Cranberry Almond Biscotti Dress and my green and brown Edwardian Riding Habit is now the Emerald Espresso Suit -Thanks so much for the idea of naming them

By: Artemisia moltabocca

Artemisia moltabocca — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:51:21 +0000

My costumes – as of late – are a mix of different genres. I name them so people can quickly understand the costumes. Like my Dalek Queen Elizabeth, or my Rococo Dorothy, Wizard of Oz. Most times it avoid the question, “So what is THAT supposed to be?” 🙂

By: Val LaBore

Val LaBore — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:19:47 +0000

Yep, yep, yep. Since I have started making multiple gowns from the same pattern (my assembly line method) I want to be able to know which one at any time I’m working on or wearing, and can tell someone. And when I’ve made a new and better version of an earlier dress, I want to be able to tell them apart too.
Naming: usually the color, maybe the fabric design, and what kind of dress tells me what to name it. But I have used a couple fruit/veggie names like Pumpkin and Persimmon to describe the color.

By: K Winter

K Winter — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:03:47 +0000

Since I started my costume obsession in amateur theatre, I name all my costumes after the character I’m trying to portray with them. Some are pretty literal that way – the Phantom of the Opera costume I made for my cat became known as The Bastard of the Opera, since his nickname was “Bastard” (for good reason!), and last year’s Halloween getup for a Game of Thrones theme party became my “Jane Snow” costume, because what else would you call a costume for a female Night’s Watch member? In historical dresses, the name mostly has to do with the colours and mood. A purple and teal bustle dress with lots of fan pleated decoration became the Purple Peacock, and a mourning gown with a deliberately too-low neckline is the Wicked Widow.

My favourite costume name is also one of my oldest. I turned a hideous red prom dress into something vaguely suited to one of Jack the Ripper’s victims for a show,and the name Whitechapel Fanny stuck to both the dress, and me when I wear it. Whitechapel Fanny has grown into a full persona since then, with a hilarious Cockney accent, no manners whatsoever, and a length of pantyhose-intestine tied around my leg as an accessory, so I can lift my skirts and announce that “I’m wearin’ me guts fer garters!” She may not be historically accurate, but Whitechapel Fanny’s always a hit at the Zombie Walk!