What Is a Costume?

When people think about costumes these days, a few different things can come to mind. Halloween is an obvious one. So are movies, TV, and theater. Historical clothing is often referred to as costume. So are pieces of ethnic clothing.

But what about our everyday wear? When corporate America gets dressed, isn't it wearing a kind of costume? Construction workers have their own costume, as do soldiers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, medical workers, bankers, retail employees...everyone wears some kind of costume, if you think about it that way.

While it's true that most people don't go to work dressed like a pirate or a Roman emperor, we all wear some kind of costume every day, even if that costume is just torn jeans and a T-shirt.

Over the course of this blog, I'm going to be discussing what costume means to me, and discuss various techniques of making costumes and accessories similar to the ones I sell at my Etsy shop, Goodly Raiment. I have a great interest in many of the different definitions of costume, though my personal preferences run to historical, theatrical and ethnic. (Please note that theatrical can also encompass fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk.) I hope you'll join me in a conversation about all kinds of costume and accessories, from every era, time, place, or imagination!