So how is the queue going to work once it opens?

At 12:00pm on Thursday I will post a "Costume Commission" form. It will require the following information,

• Costume Desired (with at least two attached photos, I may ask you for more later)
• Price I quoted you in response to your query (I will be answering all of these by midnight Wednesday - send one in if you haven't already!)
• Costume desired by: (May be no earlier than July 1st, and only some costumes will be finished by this point. First come, first served.)
• Alternative form of contact: (in case I can't get ahold of you by the e-mail connected to your submission). This can be another e-mail, your facebook page, or a phone # I can text you at. 

I will respond to you promptly with one of three replies:

• Commission Accepted (will include costume agreement form and downpayment information.) 10% downpayment due by Midnight, Thursday, or you will lose your spot in the queue. If you have paypal issues, keep me updated and we'll figure them out on Friday, but if I don't hear from you or receive a reply by Thursday Midnight, I will offer your space to another person.
• Commission Question (I would like to complete the commission, but have some important questions that need to be answered before I can complete a costume agreement form and downpayment information.). This question MUST be answered ASAP so that the 10% downpayment can be met no later than Friday, Midnight.
• Commission Denied (Either I could not meet the deadline, would be unable to source the materials, or your form was submitted after the queue had already refilled. I reserve the right to refuse any commission I feel unable to complete satisfactorily.) If the denial was because the queue refilled, you will be in line to be notified if a spot opens over the weekend (first come first served, but if you do not respond in a half day, your spot will again be given to the next person on the waiting list.)

I will remove the form from the website as soon as the queue is filled. I am hoping to line up work through the end of July (and possibly August), and therefore there are a very limited number of spots available - between 5 and 10, depending on the size and complexity of the costumes desired. After the queue closes I will send out another e-mail blast announcing this fact, as well as mentioning how many people are on the waiting list.

I cannot guarantee ANY costume before June 1st, and will give priority to deadlines as they come in. However, if commission #1 doesn't need to be finished until September, and commission #2 is needed by June 15th, I would complete commission #2 first.

This is the first time I'm running the queue this way, so please bear with me if there are a few glitches - we will iron them out shortly!

Live Like the 50's

It's not very often that I post the same entry to both of my blogs, but this article on the American Rockabilly community is fascinating from both a historical fashion and modern culture perspective, therefore I wanted to share it both here and on my personal blog.

Photo by Jennifer Greenburg

I had no idea that this culture existed, much less in such complete form. Looking at these photos, it's hard to believe the photographer didn't hop in a TARDIS and travel back in time.

While a lot could be written about the health of such a way of living (good or bad), I personally want to applaud the mindset of caring for our personal goods and making them last as long and well as they can. That's the way all of our ancestors lived for thousands of years, and we would do well to return to some of those practices.

Costume Queue will open THIS THURSDAY

I will be opening the queue THIS THURSDAY, January 30th, 2014, at 12:00pm (Noon) Central Time (US.)

I will be posting more details, sending out a full e-mail to the mailing list, and posting a countdown on the blog very soon.

I will also answer ALL the queries by Midnight on Wednesday, the 29th. If you are on the mailing list but have NOT submitted a query, now is the time to do so.

Queries are coming through! Bride is just out of time...

I have been getting LOTS of costume query form submissions - unfortunately I've been so busy with wedding stuff I haven't had time to answer them. I WILL reply to them before the queue opens, and I WILL post here when I've replied to them all, so you will have a chance to contact me if yours wasn't responded to.

Thank you all again for your patience! I'm so excited to get started on the next batch of costumes... but not so excited that I want my honeymoon to be spent sewing... ;)

Soon and Very Soon!

I am dying to show you all what I've been working on for wedding stuff... the alterations we're doing to the dresses, the extra things I'm making for part of the wedding party, the centerpieces...

...but alas, that's all top secret for now. Soon and very soon... January 27th will mark my return to full presence on the internet, and hopefully friends and family will take enough photos for me to share with you by then! (Our official photos won't arrive for another six weeks after the wedding... but don't worry, I'll share plenty of those too!)

In the meantime... what could this be? Full blog post coming when I get back!