This not only takes a lot of skill, but a lot of time. Even for something basic, the the pants, a good seamstress would first make a muslin copy of the uniform to make sure it would fit you properly and then work on the acutal outfit. She would also have to research the different uniforms, the different cuts, and colors to make sure you recieved a quality product. All this research also takes a while."
Most costumers sew in their spare time, and often have full time jobs, not to mention family and other responsibilities - so their time is worth something to them - and it comes at a price, if it is even available at all.
So, please consider these things before you email a costumer expecting a lot for a little money! Custom costumes are not the same thing that you get in a bag at a Halloween store.
If you're here you probably recently suffered from custom seamstress sticker shock. Perhaps you are looking to commission a costume or dress for a special event. Maybe you want a corset or outfit made to your special size and body shape. Whatever the reason you wanted it to be perfect. However, when you emailed around you were quoted prices that seemed outrageous! Where do sewers get off in charging that much?
Honestly, sticker shock is common among first-time commissioning clients. In most cases, however, the price really is justified. This is to help you understand how legitimate stitchers price their creations so that you can understand why they cost so much as well as make you better able to spot a rip off if you encounter one.
First you need to understand that clothing in much of the developed world nowadays is grossly underpriced. Most clothing is sewn in China, where workers are paid an average of $1 a day for their work. Even the lucky few who work in the most elite shops are paid around $5 a day, which is a high standard of living (farm workers make less than .80 a day). Even clothes that are made in the United States are done much cheaper than minimum wage. Workers are not paid by the hour, they are instead 'contract workers' who are paid per piece they complete, often .10-.40 per garment. Even with three or four people working on a garment the labor costs are still minimal. Is this legal? No, not in the United States. These low wages, combined with grueling work hours, make up the infamous stitching sweatshops. Yet they still exist, and even prosper, in the garment industry, even in the United States. In fact, the US Department of Labor estimates that over 50% of garment shops in the US are illegal sweatshops. However there are not enough inspectors and regulators to shut them down, and companies keep hiring for lower and lower prices, encouraging the lawbreakers.
So when you commission a garment what are you paying for? Usually the breakdown is materials and time. You have to pay for all the fabric and tools the stitcher uses to create your outfit, and you have to pay for the time they take to do it. But that's a very generic answer, so we'll breakdown each part.
First, materials. Materials breaks down into two major categories: disposable and permanent. First, the permanent materials. These are everything the stitcher uses to create your garment that they keep after they're done. Things like sewing machines, scissors, pins, needles, and irons are not included in the garment you are given, but they are all necessary for making that garment. Also included in this price is the cost of the building where they are kept, electricity to run them, and materials and repair to maintain them. It's just like when you go to the dentist: your visit cost includes not only the salary paid to the dentist, but the salary paid to his assistant, receptionist, and janitor as well as the cost of the building, the chair you sat on, the magazine you read, and the elevator music you listened to.
How long does it take to create the look of Elizabeth's character? It took three hours every day to complete the hair, make up and wardrobe for the character of Elizabeth; with the wigs already prepped and ready to go on the head.
Do you work closely with wardrobe on the make-up look? Alex Byrne is an inspirational costume designer and artist and I went to all the costume fittings to work out the wig styles in tandem with her. Everything has to work together, and Alex would give me the jewels to dress into the wigs to match the costumes. The balance of the size of the wigs and the shade of red hair was important for each different costume.
How do you keep the make-up looking consistent while filming? All the different looks and scenes are photographed with a digital camera, and documented. Sometimes we will shoot the beginning of a scene on one day, and finish the same scene 6 weeks later!
What tips and tricks can you share for film set makeup? Film make-up has to last a 16-hour day in front of the cameras. Good skin is the basis of a good make-up. I used SKII products, on the Elizabeth character, and MAC's Prep and Prime as a base for the foundation. This means an easier, smoother foundation application, and longer-lasting make-up. Occasional mists of Evian hydrate the make-up and the skin throughout the day and plenty of lip balm and 'Refresh' eye drops keep the features fresh.
What products did you use to create the different looks in the film? To create Elizabeth's white make-up, I prepped the character's skin with MAC Prep and Prime. I then applied Full Coverage Foundation in NW15, and stippled over it with Studio Fix powder foundation. I powdered initially with Shu Uemura loose powder in colorless matte and added MAC loose powder in Porcelaine for a lighter effect, or La Prairie translucent No.1 to soften the tone and the skin texture. I used a mixture of Pinch O' Peach and Fleur Power powder blushes on the cheeks and over the sockets of the eyes. The eyebrows and lashes I bleached almost white, so I defined gently under the eyes with 'Strada' powder colour. For the lips I used a mixture of Lorac's lip tint in Red-Brown, and MAC's stick liner in Red Enriched and Portside gently rubbed onto the lips after lipbalm.
No comments:
Post a Comment