Ten years ago, I set foot in the wonderful world of LARP.
Quickly I became frustrated with the costume choices available, especially since I’m a 5ft tall woman who doesn’t seem to fit in most of the products available in online shops.
I had to learn to make my own costume if I wanted anything that fitted and was within my budget. I applied the skills I learned from my History of Art degrees to researching costumes, and I have enjoyed the challenge of creating costumes that are historically inspired in their construction methods but that also work for fantasy settings.
I’ve travelled to countless museums and galleries to study what people wore. Examining paintings, sculptures, and extant garments where they’re available. The Victoria and Albert Museum is a favourite haunt for me, and I love spending the day there and coming home with all kinds of new inspiration.
In 2017, I’d had enough requests from friends to make them costumes that I pondered opening an Etsy shop. I made two rules for myself:
The first was that everything I designed and made had to be high quality and of a standard that I would wear myself. That often means that the inside of the garment is as well finished as the outside. And if something requires hand sewing, then it gets hand sewn!
The second rule was that I always wanted to pay myself a reasonable wage because I see so many in the LARP community not doing that. I had long talks with several other artists and traders working in the LARP community, and I believe I’ve come up with a pricing method that is fair to both myself and you, my customer.