Amethyst Angel's
Guide for People Ordering Costumes
And not just from me, but from ANY online costumer or commission service...

In America, you are ideally encouraged to try and make your own costume, although in Japan, buying off the rack outfits is deemed perfectly okay. (Okay to the point where they actually HAVE stores that offer off-the-rack outfits.) Here in America, however, we are not quite so blessed. If you don't have the time or skill to put into a costume, your only alternative is to get someone to make one for you. Ideally, this will be someone who has some sort of experience in this sort of thing, (and not your best friend Darci whose only sewing experience to date consists of her cutting holes in scraps of random fabric to create ponchos for her Barbie dolls.) When looking to commission a costume, do some research on the costumer you're interested in; --ask your friends about them, check what the forums at Cosplay.com have to say about them, try to find someone who's received work which has been done by them before and ask them how well the transaction went. Once you settle on a costumer who has the ability to make what you want in the time frame you need to have it made in, there are several things you can do to make the transaction run more smoothly.

AA's list of things you can do to make your costume-maker's life easier...

1.) Give them plenty of reference pictures of your character from a variety of angles. (Front back, close-up, full, worm's eye-view, view from inside the esophagus, etc...) If you send them crappy pictures, you're going to get a crappy costume, that's all there is to it. And don't count on them to do all the costume research for you. They probably have little enough time on their hands as it is. (Or they might charge you a fee for such research.)

2.) Most costume-makers will give you instructions on how to measure yourself. Follow them closely. Be as accurate as you can. And BE HONEST. If you have a 42 inch chest, a 37-inch waist and 46 inch hips, you ARE NOT a size 8. I'm sorry. (I know... you're probably sorry, too...)

3.) Maintain steady e-mail contact with your costumer. Reply to any e-mail they send you as soon as possible. And if they haven't written to you in awhile, write to them. (Something might have come up, your last reply may have gotten lost in their in-box, or eaten by the Data-Eating Electron Vampires from Dimension Q.) It's up to YOU to make sure the transaction is progressing as it should be. Try to keep the same e-mail address AND username for the duration of the transaction. I would also suggest that you cut and paste the body of the last e-mail the costumer sent to you into the e-mail you're currently sending to them to help you both keep track of things.)

4.) Give them a definite date that you'll need the costume finished by. "I need it by next Bish-o-Con." is NOT nearly as helpful as "I need it by January 24th, 2004." Have the costume delivered to you a couple weeks (or more) before the date of the con so that, if there's anything wrong with the costume, there'll be time to fix it or have it replaced. Keep in mind also, that if you want an item finished on short notice, the costumer may charge you an extra fee for rush work and/or insist that you have the item expressed-shipped.

5.) DON'T treat your costumer like crap. Don't order a costume and then fail to send in your down payment. Don't ignore your costumer's attempts to contact you by e-mail if you don't feel like talking to them. Treat a costume commission the way you would any other financial transaction, --a contract binding by law. Don't assume that everyone who does this is a well-off high school or college student doing it for a lark. Some people actually depend on the income they earn from these commissions. Respect these people. In most cases, they'll work very hard for whatever money you'll give them. (Those that don't won't find themselves in business very long.)

5.a) Do NOT whine, complain, or make snarky comments if the quotes your costumer sends you sound too high. Your costumer may be willing to negotiate on the quality of the item if you're on a budget, making a simpler version of the item with cheaper materials for a lower price, but if you're not willing to make any concessions, don't go begging them to reduce the price for you. They're NOT a charity. They're a business, and YOU are always welcome to take YOUR business elsewhere. (Also, remember many of them are SKILLED WORKERS who need to be able to afford rent and other living expenses. And props and costumes often take a lot more time and effort to put together than you think they will, even if they seem simple by design.)

6.) If something comes up and you have to cancel your commission, let your costumer know ASAP. Costumers are human too. They understand if some disaster comes up and you're unable to afford --or no longer have any desire-- to go through with your order. Most of them will cut you a break, although it's good form to let them know as soon as possible so they can schedule the time they would have spent working on your costume for some other project. (One exception to this rule: If you order a costume, assuming your boyfriend is going to pay for it, and you break up with said boyfriend before the costume is completed, you're not off the hook. Not by any means. You still owe your costumer the money you had promised to pay them. Especially if that costumer happens to be ME -_- .)

7.) Try your costume on BEFORE you actually have to wear it. Don't assume everything will fit honky-dory right out of the box. Trying to make a decent-fitting costume for someone who lives halfway across the country is a real challenge, even if one has the right measurements. (This is especially true for form-fitting garments like tights.) Make sure you receive your costume long before you need it and make sure you've tried it on to see if it fits. (That way, if anything needs adjusting, there will be time to have it sent back and altered or fixed by a local tailor.)

8.) If you have any problems with the costume, let your costumer know right away. Most honest costumers will bend over backwards to assist you. If the problem is something that happens to be YOUR fault (ie: you thought you ordered shoes but they didn't arrive,) make sure you did indeed order shoes before you tear your costumer's head off in an angry e-mail. Act with civility at all times, and if you get screwed over by a costumer and they make no effort to correct their mistakes, then report them to the authorities (if you can) and inform others about their activites. You can bet if they get enough bad press they probably won't be staying in business very long.

9.) Don't compete in your costume. Unless your costumer is okay with it (and that's usually ONLY if you agree to give THEM the recognition for your costume, should it earn any.) If you try to pass off something that someone else has made as your own creation, well then.... you're worse than Hitler....

Want more advice? Good advice? Read Eriol's Guide to Buying and Selling Costumes