Five years ago I set foot in the wonderful world of LARP.

Over the years I've become frustrated with the costume choices open to people, especially since I'm a 5ft tall women who doesn't seem to fit in most of the products available 'off the rack.'

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 degree to researching costume, and have enjoyed the challenge of creating costumes that are historically inspired in their construction methods but also work for fantasy settings. I've made countless trips to 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 costume 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 means often that the inside of the garments are as well finished as the outside. And if something requires hand sewing then it gets hand sewn!

The second rule was that I wanted to always 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.

I'm hoping that this Etsy shop and various costume commissions will help me finance a PhD in History of Art from September 2018. So if you purchase from me you not only get a beautiful item of costume to wear, but you also get a warm fuzzy feeling that you're supporting a maker to achieve their dreams.