Commissioning a costume can be overwhelming. I’m here to tell you what to expect when buying bespoke clothing.
Uncommon Costuming is a commission-based business, meaning people come to me saying, “I’d like to have this costume/article of clothing/giant dice bag/etc. made. Could you make it for me?” and then, often, I do, and they pay me for it. Like most commissioners (possibly all), managing the client’s expectations is a big part of the job. No commissioner worth their pins wants to create shoddy work, waste their time, or not get paid, just like no client wants to wear shoddy work, waste their time, or overpay. In order for everyone to come out of the deal happy, it’s important to understand going into it what all is involved with a commissioned item. [Note: for the purposes of this post, let’s say we’re commissioning a costume, but it could be anything – a table, a song, a sculpture, etc.]
Commissions aren’t cheap. If your goal is to find a way to get a costume more cheaply, commissions are not what you’re looking for. Businesses that mass produce items can order materials in bulk at lower cost, while your local sewist will likely have to purchase by the yard at retail prices. Larger businesses have the buying power to get their own fabric designs produced, or even get frequent-buyer discounts. Small businesses usually can’t afford to place orders that size, nor keep a large supply in stock, so they have to work with what they can find on-demand. All of this adds up, meaning the materials to make a unique piece will cost significantly more than they do per mass produced item.
If a commissioner doesn’t have a price range listed in their information – and they likely won’t because commissions are unique and prices vary widely – it’s okay to contact them and ask for a price range, even if you’re not ready to book a commission yet. For example, my commissions typically run $200-$1500, depending on the complexity and number of pieces. Remember that with a commission, you’re paying for every part of the process – concept design, pattern drafting, fabric cutting, stitching, fittings, all of it – while with mass produced items, you’re effectively paying for only a portion of both material and labor costs.
Commissions take longer. It’s important to remember that ALL clothing is handmade. Whatever assembly line clothes may come off of, there are people working that line. Large fashion studios can bulk cut basic pattern pieces with automated machines, and even then, human hands place all those pieces together and run them through a sewing machine. So imagine what it’s like when each line stitched, every edge cut, every pattern drafted is being done by a single person! Some bespoke clothing studios have a staff, but even then, each person has a role and each item is made one at a time.
As a solo owner/operator, it usually takes me a minimum of 15 hours to make a piece (upwards of 60 hours is not unusual), and, like many of us, I have to schedule those hours around my day job. Depending on what scheduling constraints a studio is working under, it can take weeks, or even months to get your finished piece, so make sure you contact the commissioner as soon as possible and agree on a schedule. Plan ahead and please be patient!
You’re paying for expertise. When someone has a piece commissioned, they’re paying someone else to do what they can’t. It’s why we buy all the things we don’t make ourselves: I don’t farm, so I buy food. I don’t paint, so I buy art (even if I did, I’d still buy art other than my own, but that’s beside the point!). Part of the labor cost for a commission is the time and energy a commissioner has put into honing their craft as well as the skill they’re employing to make your item. Think about the difference in average pay for someone who has a high school diploma vs a Bachelor’s degree vs a Master’s. And please don’t ask a commissioner to create design sketches or track down fabric for you until you’ve contracted them (and, ideally, paid a deposit) – everyone should be paid for their work. If someone is a respected commissioner, they’ve probably been working at it a long enough to develop high level skills. Speaking of things taking time …
Commissions are time consuming. And not just for the commissioner! Custom clothing requires a lot of measurements, a thorough discussion of the design details, and multiple fittings, so those details should be agreed on before any work is started. I stipulate in my contracts that I require the client to be available for a 1-2 hour meeting to take measurements and discuss the design, approval of final design sketches that document the features to be included, a preliminary fitting (usually of a mockup), and at least one additional fitting (sometimes I can go from the mockup to the final fitting, but something more complicated, like a three-piece suit, could easily require four or more fittings throughout the process). It can be a lot, but it’s all to ensure you get what you want!
Commissions aren’t generally one-time use items. Because of the time and money involved, custom isn’t usually a great option for a costume you’ll only wear once (the exception to this tends to be wedding dresses). Custom designs are also built to last, using higher quality materials and sturdier construction techniques than mass produced clothing, so you can enjoy them for years (or several really rough conventions in one year!) to come. If you cosplay at a lot of conventions, commissioning something to wear to all of them makes sense. If there’s a costume you’ve been dying to have, it may be worth finally having it even if you only wear it once or twice. But if you’re looking for something for a single event, bespoke may not be what you want. On that note …
You need to know what you want. The thrill of commissions is that you take an idea and make it a real, tangible thing – it’s what drew me to costume design in the first place. But there are a lot of steps to making our dreams real, and sometimes they don’t – can’t – look exactly like the image in our minds. Video game costumes are notoriously physics-defying. Creating the look for an original character means you won’t have reference images available to work from. Design sketches don’t drape or move with your body like the real thing will. And characters have different body types than the client, so adjustments are often necessary to make things fit the way the individual prefers, even that varies from the source material. It’s best to book a commission with a clear idea in mind and realistic expectations of how the final product will look on you personally. After all, a one-of-a-kind piece is what commissions are about!
Commissions can be challenging for both the costumer and the client. But the end result is a beautifully fitting, unique, and stylish piece you and I both take pride in!