Teaching Costuming
by Misty Head
Why is it that when you attend a Costuming Track panel at DragonCon you feel like you’re learning something? What is it about the panelists and staff that help to make you feel comfortable asking any question and knowing that you will get a thought-out and accurate response? It’s because the Costuming Track team has several professional educators on board! It may not be the only thing that makes the track worth attending, but it sure helps since most of our fans come out to learn something new.
One of our panelists, Chris Mueller, is a freelance costume designer. When asked how he thought working in education helps panelists convey information to DragonCon attendees, Chris says that, “Whether you are presenting your costume designs to a build team or you are a director trying to get a certain scene out of an actor, you are basically teaching.”
Sharon McCoy Morgan, a teacher in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) theater department, says: “I think one way we may have an advantage as educators is that we have to communicate for a living. We are used to talking to people in a way that relates ideas, and we often know the best way to relate an idea in a given situation due to past experience in the classroom. Not everybody learns the same way and you often have to use a variety of teaching techniques to get your point across.” Many of the tracks at DragonCon focus on discussion rather than instruction; but the Costuming Track, while you will find discussions, is primarily built around creating costumes that you see surrounding the Con. In essence, our panelists are working with attendees through discussions, visuals, and demonstrations to teach you how to create something you will love.
Another one of our expert panelists is Scott Merrill, a costume crafts artisan who sees track presentations as reflecting what costuming professionals do within their career. Rather or not the panelist works within the field of education they are “…professionals working and teaching, held to certain standards. As educators, teachers have to instruct their students in proper costume construction, technique and safety protocols. And as a professional costume crafts artisan, I am also held to certain standards. I believe that being held to these standards is reflected in our panels.” Scott feels that some of the keys to engaging panels are encouraging questions and participation from the crowd: finding out what finer points of the panel the crowd is mostly interested in, and being able to discuss those in more depth. There is never enough time in an hour to discuss everything about such a broad topic as costuming, so it's important to discuss in detail only the things the audience is most interested and encourage them to ask questions after the panels. We can also refer them to other panels that will go into more depth on the topic of their question.
Freddy Clements, educator and panelist, feels that we shouldn’t have to “spend hours figuring out a problem and even wasting lots of money, when someone who has been there can show you how to accomplish your goal and possibly in an even better and cheaper way. We as educators learn from our students as well as through our own endeavors and we bring those things to the table when we do these panels.” This is the point of attending panels within the Costuming Track, isn’t it? …To learn from others who have been there and done it so that you don’t have to make mistakes in costuming that others have already made before you.
Perhaps you have an idea for a costume you want to try, maybe you saw it in a contest at the Con or walking around in the hotel lobby. You may have seen something in a movie that you are just dying to figure out how to emulate. How can you do it? Where are you going to get your materials? What do you need to know in order to be successful? That’s why we’re! Drop by DragonCon’s Costuming Track during any of our panels and let us teach you how to reach your costuming goals.
Posted 4/7/2010
Panelists & Judges
(In Alphabetical Order By Last Name)
Jeff Allen
bio here
Ana Aesthetic
Ana first got involved in the costuming community as host of the syndicated Radio Sci-Fi program in the early part of 2000. Ana would dress up as her favorite comic and anime characters to gain attention at live events for the radio show, and found a passion that sparked a career.
With dual degrees in Journalism and Fashion design, Ana splits her time working as a freelance news producer and cultivating her love of historical clothing and colorful costumes. She is a self-styled super hero (and villain) costume maker, providing costume-making services to fans looking to get into their own super suit.
In 2010, Ana joined Penny Dreadful Productions, a conceptual design and fabrication company, and the in house art department for White Stone Motion pictures. Ana also runs her own label with best friend and owner of Inhale Corsets. You can see part of their Spring collection at the Steampunk Fashion show in the Alternate History Track at this year’s DragonCon!
Amanda Baskin
Amanda Baskin has been sewing for as long as she can remember. At 17 she met her sewing mentor Pam Cole and learned that she could actually make a living doing what she loved best. From then she has not looked back!
Her business Amanda Sews for 2 specializes competition leotards for artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. She also works with Special Olympics to fit their hard to fit athletes in leotards that make them look and feel there best. She has been an educator for Husvarna Viking, Pfaff and Brother Sewing machines for over 9 years and is a sewing machine and notions junky. Amanda has worked on many costumes for dance and theater company's over the years as well as privet clients. She is also a Licensed Martha Pullen heirloom sewing teacher and teaches french hand and machine sewing.
Her personal interests include working on incorporating more machine embroidery and modern sewing techniques into her costumes for fun. She loves pushing the envelope of new sewing technologies and figuring out how to apply them to costumes. However her greatest accomplishments are her marriage to Jeff Baskin and being a mother to her 2 girls Charlotte 9 and Grace 6 who are her favorite live dolls to play dress up with.
JF BibeauAward-winning Master-level costume artist J-F Bibeau (best known for his Emperor Kuzco and Goblin King) is now the author of the new fantasy novel "Felsic Current," a universe as rich and wildly imaginative as he is.
Erin Leigh Bushko
Erin Bushko is the Co-Founder and lead Costume Designer for Penny Dreadful Productions. She has been a professional in her field for over ten years specializing in Historical, Steampunk, and Fantasy costuming. She has worked for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Medieval Times, the MD and GA Ren Faires, Stone Mountain Park, Disney Promotions, Six Flags, Entertainment Design Group, Netherworld Haunted House, as well as over 25 theatrical productions and private commissions. Erin and PDP's work have been featured on websites such as The Escapist (escapistmagazine.com) and in publications like Star Wars Insider (featuring their Steampunk Boba Fett) and featured on a documentary for Georgia Public Broadcasting. She was the main resource for the Steampunk Caterbury Tales and has worked under Ben Armstrong and Billy Messina at Netherworld Haunted House not only as Assistant Costumer (under Jayne Rogers) but also as an actor.
Her acting career has led her to appearances on Real Scary Stories, Vampire Diaries, Drop Dead Diva, Past Life, and many films including Halloween:H2, Ben 10: Alien Swarm, Invasion, Zombieland, The Blind Side, Due Date, Big Momma's House 3, Hall Pass, The Replacements, Life as We Know It, and she has recently been approached about Walking Dead (this information cannot be publicly released until contracts are signed).
Penny Dreadful Productions serves as the Art Department for Whitestone Motion Pictures and Erin has personally served not only as seamstress but also designer, hair stylist, and make up artist. Their films include Heartless: the Story of the Tinman, Bobby Watkins, and That's Magic!. Erin's Degree in Shakespearean Acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and love of fashion got her first job working in a vintage clothing store, which allowed her to use her love of historical clothing. She loves taking the historical elements and creating new pieces, which is why she is currently showcasing her work in the Steampunk Genre.
Erin and Penny Dreadful Productions were guests on many panels last year at Dragon*Con's Alternate History track, and have been invited back this year. They were also pulled into panels on historical and LARP costuming at last year's D*C. They have led panels, done demonstrations, been judges for costume contests, been vendors, hosts, models, presenters of awards, as well as produced their own online videos for their fans (Steampunk'd and Penny For Your Thoughts). Their new product, Dirigible Dolls, have been a huge success at conventions since their release at the beginning of 2010, and sold out at every event. They also vend costume and accessories to the LARP community at events, especially Xadune.
Carlye Carroll
bio here
Freddy Clements is currently a Professor of Drama/Faculty Costume Designer at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville Alabama. He holds a BA in English/Theatre from Emory & Henry College, VA 84 and an MFA in Costume design from Virginia Commonwealth University, VA 88. He has designed costumes for various theaters including Wayside Theatre in Middletown VA, CPCC in Charlotte NC, Converse college department of music Spartenburg SC, Barter Theatre in Abington Va and Theatre In The Square in Marietta, GA. On the University level he has taught courses in costume design, costume construction, stage make-up and advanced stage make-up.
You can contact Mr. Clements at jsudesigner@aol.com.
Pamela Cole
bio here
Michael Cook
bio here
Rogue & Jessica of the Cruxshadows
One of the most notable Dark-wave bands internationally, The Cruxshadows started in the early 1990s in a little town in North Florida. Over the last 17 years, their success among fans of gothic, ebm, new wave, and dark electronic music has contributed to their near-legendary status in the underground/counterculture scene. The band's dark electronic rock and introspective lyrics quickly earned them a fan base beyond the United States, particularly in Europe. With a constant and ambitious release schedule and a dizzying live performance itinerary, they have turned conventional music industry wisdom upside down, while still remaining at the top.
The Cruxshadows have played well over a thousand shows worldwide, including concerts in Norway, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, England, Belgium, The Netherlands, Poland, France, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Canada, Spain, The United States, The People's Republic of China, and many, many more. They were one of the first Western acts to play in Romania and Serbia following the cold war. During 2006 and 2007, they undertook a year-long tour that covered North America, Europe, and even parts of Asia. The Cruxshadows were the first band from the Gothic genre to receive permission to play in China, and in 2007 they became one of only a handful of western alternative bands to perform at the Greenpeace Midi Open-air Festival in Beijing. In recent years, they have had several alternative chart toppers in Western Europe, and their festival shows have drawn audiences in excess of 20,000 people. In fact, in 2005, The Cruxshadows headlined the free 4-day Bochem Total festival in Germany, which drew a total attendance of just under one million people.
KT Cunningham
bio here
Kathleen O'Shea David
Kathleen O’Shea David started working with puppets when she was 2 and over 40 years later she is still "wiggling dolls" for fun and profit. Along the way she picked up a few more skills and careers. She has done just about everything from cancer research to rock and roll. Some of her favorite jobs have been in puppetry, theater, and publishing. With her husband Peter David, she adapted the first four issues of the Japanese Manga "Negima". She is a published writer with a Doctor Who story in the Big Finish anthology Short Trips: Qualities of Leadership among others. She worked on Star Wars: The New Jedi Order with Shelly Shapiro. Her costumes have won awards at various science fiction conventions both for performance and workmanship. Her puppets are in collections all over the world. Currently she is working on a couple of projects with her husband along with a number of other puppetry groups in New York.
Thomas De Sadier
bio here
Yaya Han
Yaya Han is a Cosplay idol, model and costume designer of 10+ years experience. For the past 10 years, Yaya has been creating full costumes and fashion pieces in the United States, and her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim nationwide. She has graced the pages of countless media publications and is a house hold name in the fandom world. Yaya has also modeled for renowned fantasy illustrators such as Nene Thomas and Echo Chernik, been featured in the popular Hot Pirate Babes calendar by Tiger Lee, and and is the lead costume designer on the TV Show "Desert Foxes".
Ever a lover of movies, Yaya has been involved in numerous independent films, either as actress or designer, including the award winning "Jedi Hunter", "Ninjas vs. Pirates" and "Desert Foxes".
Yaya has been invited to appear as a Guest to over 50 conventions and other events all over the world and has taught a multitude of workshops on costume craftsmanship, presentation, makeup more; judged countless costume contests; and performed on stage in front of peers and fans from over 10 countries.
Brian Holloway
Brian began his theatre career at the ripe old age of 7 when he appeared in a regional theatrical production of “Fiddler on the Roof” with his father. Since then the acting bug has hit hard and became a full-time commitment. Although he dabbled in the medical field for a short time, he could not be kept long from the bright lights and appeal of the stage. After receiving his BFA in Performance Arts, he toured nationally with several theatre organizations for about 7 years and could be seen headlining in Productions ranging from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Henry IV pts I & II” to musicals like “Big River”, “Man of La Mancha”, “Kiss Me, Kate” and “Jekyll & Hyde”, to name a few.
He got into the sci-fi realm when he was still in high school in Utah and has been and avid and regular convention attendee since he was 15. He has also received theatre degrees in costume and makeup design and has won National and regional awards for his design work. He even had costume designs for an original theatrical piece “HOTLINE!” displayed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. While in Utah, he was fortunate to befriend an actress, Paula Crist, who served as an actress and stuntwoman for productions like “Star Trek: The Motion Picture," “Battlestar Galactica,” and the TV series “Planet of the Apes.” Paula got him connected to the film industry and he has been fortunate enough to land limited work in such productions as “The Patriot,” “Last of the Mohicans,” “Domestic Disturbance,” “Doctor Who: The Movie,” HIGHLANDER: The Series,” “Shallow Hal,” and Star Trek. He is currently the Special Make-Up F/X Supervisor for Star Trek:Phase II, a position he has held f or the past 2 1/2 years as well as having been the Director of Costuming for Dragon*Con from 2003 - 2009.
Eva Hopkins
bio here
Kristina Leigh Howard
Kristina Leigh Howard is a costume designer and costume technician from Birmingham, Alabama. She has her B.A. in Theatre in costume design from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She specializes in costume history and period costume construction. She has worked for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and the Virginia Shakespeare Festival. Last year, she studied abroad in Bulgaria and Greece for her design for UAB Theatre’s production of Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. She also designed Theatre UAB’s production of The Rivals, which she placed as a finalist at KCACTF Southeastern region. This will be her third year as a panelist for the Costume Track.
Catherine L. Jones
Catherine Jones is an award winning seamstress and has been the proud owner of God Save the Queen Fashions, LLC, an Atlanta based costuming company, since 2004. Growing up as the daughter of a seamstress, she has always had a deep desire to create magic with fabric.
She studied costume design at Emory University and has done work for Theater Emory as well as Georgia Shakespeare. Upon exiting college, Catherine began doing work with nationally known Atlanta-based female impersonators, most notably the infamous Charlie Brown! She attended her first anime convention in in 2007, and has been hooked on cosplay costuming ever since! She now spends her work week creating custom costumes and wigs for anime fans, comic connoisseurs, and convention attendees alike!
Catherine's work has recently been seen on CollegeHumor.com, Cosmode Magazine, Kotaku.com, and Gizmodo.com. Her full portfolio can be viewed at http://www.godsavethequeenfashions.com
Jarod Kearney
bio here
Andrea Mast Kessel
With over 20 years experience , Professional Media & Special Effects Makeup Artist and
Educator Andrea Mast Kessel, has taught students all over the country how to transform
faces into any look imaginable from basic beauty, high fashion, , fantasy makeup,
character design, special effects, period makeup, body painting and more.. Andrea has
worked in all genres of makeup and special effects application including theatre & stage,
television , fashion, editorial, commercial and runway. Some of her credits include NBC
TV, Fox TV and BET in addition to her work with numerous agencies and editorial
photographers.
Cheralyn Lambeth
Cheralyn Lambeth likes to refer to herself as a "fan who went pro," crediting her work in the film/TV/entertainment industry to her early love of Star Wars. After a brief stint in the Air Force Reserve, she went on to study drama and Radio/Television/Motion Pictures at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Shortly after graduation, Cheralyn relocated to New York to study at The Juilliard School and earned her first 15 minutes of fame performing Off-Broadway with John Leguizamo in Mambo Mouth. She then moved to Minneapolis to create Muppet costumes for Sesame Street Live (as well as a large purple bunny for the film The Net) and returned to New York a year later to work with Jim Henson Productions on the TV series Dinosaurs! and the film The Muppet Christmas Carol.
After her time at Henson, Cheralyn worked with Paramount Production Services, creating costumes and props for Paramount properties such as the Star Trek Earth Tour, Titanic: The Movie on Tour, and Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Some of her other credits include work (both behind and in front of the camera) on The Patriot, The New World, Evan Almighty, and Leatherheads, as well as costuming work on the National Park Service film "Manassas: End of Innocence" directed by Star Wars sound specialist Ben Burtt. She was also a principal character in the History Channel docudrama Isaac's Storm, which premiered in the fall of 2004 and can still occasionally be seen on THC. Her most recent work is on the film Blood Done Sign My Name with Rick Schroeder.
On the fan side of things, Cheralyn is proud to be an active and long-time member of the Fighting 501st Legion of Stormtroopers. She also serves as the voice of the Federation starship Montana in the acclaimed Star Trek fan audio series Star Trek: The Continuing Mission.
Most recently Cheralyn has been expanding her interest in paranormal research, combining that with her theatrical background to produce her first book, Haunted Theaters of the Carolinas, with Schiffer Publishing, due out in 2009. She is currently working on Ghosts of Greater Charlotte (NC) as well as completing a book on puppetry, The Well Dressed Puppet, both to be published by Schiffer next year.
Kelly Lockhart
For the past two decades, Kelly has been the host and organizer of Robot Battles, the world's second-oldest robotics competition. In that time, Robot Battles has expanded from humble beginnings here at Dragon*Con to hosting an average of four major events a year all across the Southeast. A professional journalist and screenwriter, Kelly is also an accomplished musician, abstract impressionist painter, and an award-winning costumer. He also was awarded with the 2008 Rebel Award at DeepSouthCon honoring his more than two decades of work in Southern fandom, especially the long-running Southern Fandom Resource Guide convention calendar website.
Travis Scott Merrill has been working as an artisan in profession theater for well over a decade, but does not remember a time in his life where he didn't have a need to create something from something else. Evan as a child he would take apart his toys and turn them into something new. Thankfully, he had a very understanding mother and a father who ran a boyscout camp that started him with wood and leather crafts at a very early age. All this combined with a grandfather who taught him all he needed to have his very own rocket ship in his backyard were two steel drums, a dryer door and his imagination, led him to believe he could build anything with hard work, an active imagination, and an understanding of his tools and materials.
He started Jacksonville State University as an art major and found theater by way of make-up effects. Once in the theatre his art talent flourished, painting murals in the scene shop, sculpting in the prop shop, and various mask making projects. He found his ability to see various shapes and how the could go together clicked with draping and pattern making. It is difficult to tear him away from the costume and props shops. There are so many tools and so many things he can not wait to build. As a costume crafts artisan all his training in art, costumes and props all came together. For his resume, visit: www.crafts4stage.com
Chris Mueller
Chris Mueller is a freelance costume designer and member of United Scenic Artists USA Local 829. He is a professional designer, technician, and educator. Chris is returning for his fourth year as a costume track panelist to share his wealth of knowledge with the Dragon Con community.
Chris is proud to be back for his fourth year as a costuming track panelist at Dragon Con. Chris is a freelance Costume Designer and member of United Scenic Artists USA Local 829. His designs have received awards and critical acclaim in theatres around the Southeast and he recently had the honor of assisting his mentor on the latest revival of Finian’s Rainbow; Time Magazine’s #7 choice for the top ten Broadway shows of 2009. As a costume technician Chris has worked in regional theatres across the country as a Cutter/Draper specializing in men’s tailoring, a Patternmaker and as a Costume Craftsperson. Chris has also spent time as an educator, teaching three years of beginning costume construction at VCU, classes in costume crafts, seminars in kilt-making, and panels on various aspects of costuming here at Dragon Con. He has studied under Tony Nominated Broadway Costume Designer Toni-Leslie James, costume historian Liz Hopper, as well as Freddy Clements, one of his colleagues in the Dragon Con Costume Track. He holds an MFA in Costume Design from Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently pursuing work in educational theatre.
Lillie Rainey
Lillie Rainey is a freelance costume designer/creator. Her professional career launched in 1990 while making costumes for the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. Over the next 11 years she honed her skills creating costumes for the Great Lakes Medieval Faire, Michigan Renaissance Festival and Drachenburg Renaissance Festival. Lillie now specializes in custom corsets, historical costuming, leatherwork, custom pattern drafting and Goth Wear. She also has experience in metalwork, plastic forming, foam and other non-fabric mediums. Her clients include members of the Burlesque, re-enactor, literary, convention, alternative-lifestyle and Goth communities. Lillie also teaches classes on corset making. This will be her third year as a guest for the Costuming Track at Dragoncon.
Pinky Shear
bio here
Matt Silva
bio here
Thomas Spanos
bio here
Carolann Voltarel
bio here
John Wieger
bio here
Thomas Willeford
bio here
Roy Wooley
bio here
Staff
(In Alphabetical Order By Last Name)
Aurora Celeste
AKA Jackie BowinAurora Celeste is a costume dabbler with more than 10 years' experience. Her costuming interests are all over, but her passion is reproducing costumes, mostly sci-fi and fantasy movies and tv shows, anime and manga, and Joseph Michael Linsner's Dawn. She gives panels and enters masquerades all over the country, has won Best in Show at Costume Con 24, and is currently serving as Recording Secretary of the International Costumers' Guild Board of Directors. Outside of costuming Aurora can often be seen running conventions. She has served as staff on many conventions, and a con head at Naka-Kon Anime Convention in Kansas City and Anime Syracuse in New York. Visit her journal at www.auroraceleste.livejournal.com.
Lee Cox
Lee is our track director. He became interested in costuming while in high school. At the time, he was beginning to gain some notoriety as a magician and naturally became interested in expanding his repertoire in clowning. It did not take him very long to realize that clown costumes of good quality and individuality were hand made? So he took to sewing on his mother?s hand-me-down machine. Soon, he was sewing clown costumes for other professional clown performers.
Today, Lee stills sews "special" attire for his full length evening magic show. He also sews character costumes just for the fun of being someone else.
Lee is most known in the magic community for his comedic legerdemain throughout the southeast as well as Las Vegas NV, and Santa Fe NM. He has also written articles for the Linking Ring (the largest international magic magazine in circulation today,) taught lectures on creating original illusions and comedy, and has won numerous awards for his illusionary work.
email Lee
Misty Head
Misty is a Georgia native and has been attending Costuming Track panels at DragonCon for the past five years and on staff for the last three. She enjoys finding new ways to be creative with whatever materials are handy at the moment. Although her career is in the field of elementary education she also finds time to create and sell jewelry as well as work with digital photography. Recently she has spent some time assisting the special effects team associated with Highland Rogue Films on the current project Plague of the Damned, directed by Jesse Bowden.
Renee Huff
Renee learned to sew in self-defense. She loved doing reenactments, but the cost of the clothing was hard on a college student budget. Besides, it's all rectangular construction- how hard can it be? Well, after almost twenty years she's still fascinated by the different construction techniques for each period. She has dressed peasant to noble from Early Norse to Regency French, with a few Civil and Spanish-American War outfits thrown in. She plans her vacations around costuming displays, and has left drool marks on glass cases across four countries.
She's a jeweler by trade and her hobbies include fabric hoarding, writing, and playing with hot metal.
She is a regular fan of the Costuming Track and has been a contestant in the Costuming Contest since it's first year. We are very thrilled to have her as a staff member for her third year.
Vanessa "Nessa" Kreyling
Ottilie Murray
Jeff Turner