I’ve decided to do a little series of blog posts about my experiences with different aspects of costuming.
So I’ll start at the bottom š Shoes!
Shoes can be the most expensive part of a costume, and the trickiest.
1. Where to find shoes
If it’s a basic style I’m looking for, I’ll start by looking at discount shoe stores – places like Target, Walmart, Payless Shoes, etc. My base Jane boots and Belle flats were bought at Target.
Failing that – check thrift stores! You can find GREAT deals on shoes to mod at Goodwill or Salvation Army. People will get rid of boots, dress shoes, everything, sometimes hardly worn – and you can get them super cheap. My Snow White shoes, Sleeping Beauty heels, Poison Ivy boots, Ceremonial Leia heels and Ripley shoes were all from Goodwill.
And then there’s ebay. You can snag used shoes cheap there also, or if you’re dealing with stores selling shoes – shop it! If you find a pair of shoes you like on ebay and they list the brand name, search around ebay some more, and also places like amazon, and see if you can find the same thing cheaper (or at least with cheaper shipping.) My two fav snags on ebay were my Belle heels and my Leia and Slave Leia boots – both vintage and comfortable.
Online stores like Cosworx sell basic costume styles (or, they used to when I wrote this. I don’t think they do anymore.) – things like go-go boots, etc. Electrique Boutique sells a lot of fun styles that are affordable and easy to mod, and often have great clearance sales. Stores like Hot Topic or Delia’s often sell shoes or boots that can be used – I got my Hoth Leia boots at Delia’s and my Zatanna shoes on clearance at Hot Topic. There’s also a lot of stores online that sell basic theater/costume shoes – they’re cheaply made but can often work in a pinch or be modded – my dad’s Qui-Gon boots were cheap costume boots and turned out pretty darn great.
Also check with friends or family to see if they have any shoes they don’t want anymore – the base of my Boushh boots and my Mara Jade boots were hand-me-downs from friends.
2. Wearing the darn things
At a convention or event, you’re on your feet and on the go or standing in line most of the time. Those cheap $10 shoes were a great deal when you bought them but after 4 hours of walking, you suddenly find yourself hating them with a passion.
My tips for this are, firstly, try to break them in before the convention. Wear them around the house for a while. Secondly, get some good insoles you can put inside them, especially if they’re pretty flat on the inside (see below).
Also keep bandaids in your repair kit. If I’m at a big con where I know I’m going to be in uncomfortable shoes for days, I go ahead and put bandaids on my heels and toes – the places I know they’re going to hurt, and if I get a blister I’ve got extras for covering it.
Make use of shoe inserts! They are not too expensive and go a long way. I really, really, really like Toe-kinis – they are little cushions you wear on your feet while wearing heels. The thing I love about them is that you don’t have to cut them down to fit a specific pair of shoes or sticker them in like most inserts – you put them on like socks and you can wear them with pretty much anything. I buy mine at Walgreens!
If your shoes are a little small, here’s a neat tip: Stretching your shoes with ice. If they’re too big – pad them out by wearing extra socks, if you can. (Not possibly with heels – but I always try to wear extra socks with boots just for more padding!)
Personally, if my feet start hurting in a costume… I go change costumes LOL I figure if I just change shoes it’ll hurt somewhere else for a while, then when it gets too much I can go change again š
3. Modding Them
Most of this is, of course, totally depending on what you’re making. But here’s a few tips.
Firstly, I’m totally excited about DJSpider’s tutorial on attaching boots to tights. I plan on trying it in the next few days. This is a great way to turn regular, cheap heels into thigh high boots without breaking the bank.
Of course, one of the most basic things to do to a boot is to make boot covers. The tutorial above kinda goes over that. When I’m making boot covers this is what I do:
I try to find a stretchy material. It’s much easier with stretchy material, but it can be done with non-stretchy. My Poison Ivy boot covers were non-stretchy – I’ll get to that in a minute. Basically I fold my fabric over once (so you have 2 layers of fabric), lay one of the boots on it, and trace it with chalk. I cut that out – so now I’ve got 2 vaguely boot-shaped pieces of fabric. I’ll usually go ahead and stitch the front and back together, and slide it (wrong side out) over the boot. Then I pin it to get it fitted correctly, sew again, then put it on the boot again and do more fittings. As long as you have stretchy fabric you can finish all 3 sides (front, back, and bottom) and just stretch it onto the shoe. I leave a (hemmed) hole for the heel (if needed) and will usually go ahead and sew the cover directly onto the boot at the top. For the heel – I’ll often just leave it as it is, paint it, or cover it in matching fabric (just glued on).
My Marvel Girl boots are a good example of some basic boot covers.
For non-stretchy it’s basically the same thing – I’ll usually get the front and bottom finished on the machine, and then handsew the back seam.
If you’ve got a zipper to worry about – well, first try to find boots without a zipper LOL – but if you’ve got a zipper to worry about, I usually go ahead and make the boot cover as I said above, then cut a slit where the zipper is, hem it, and either glue or hand stitch to the shoe along the edge of the zipper.
For the Poison Ivy boots above, I made extensions out of vinyl. The boots were ankle high boots that I trimmed, and then added the rounded upper portion in the back. I sewed it directly onto the top of the boot, then covered the entire shoe in my fabric.
Sometimes making a full boot cover doesn’t really work – sometimes you want the sole of the shoe left alone (having spandex covering 90% of the bottom of your foot makes things slippery, too). In that case, I’ll usually do pretty much the same thing as above, but I’ll either stitch or glue the fabric along the shoe above the sole (depending on what the shoe is made of). This is basically what I did with both Starfire and Rogue (exact same boot base, too – cheap clearance boots from Electrique Boutique!). In both cases I painted the sole a different colour.
4. The Basics
I can’t speak for guys, but as a female costumer, I have several shoes that are basics that I’ve been able to use with a LOT of costumes. Being able to reuse shoes is a HUGE money saver, and it’s often something I’ll consider when deciding on which costume to make next (can I use some boots I already have?)
1. White Knee-High boots
Just your basic white, knee-high boots. Usually can find some affordable “costume” style boots if you search for “white go-go boots.” I have used these with so many costumes! I first got them for Eternal Sailor Jupiter, and I’ve used them with a lot of others, they’ve especially been handy for various Leia costumes, like Bespin Escape and Gentle Giant Style.
2. Black Knee-High Boots
Again, these can be used for SO many costumes. I picked up a pair on ebay ages ago for my Imperial Officer, and have used them with other Star Wars costumes, and some superhero costumes, too.
3. A pair of platforms
Sometimes you just need to look taller, right? I initially bought these for white uniform Utena, but Chun-Li shows them off better. I’ve hidden them under boot covers and dresses in several other costumes, including Ocha, my white Arwen, and Ame-Comi Poison Ivy.
4. Black Mary Janes
Good for all those “school girl” uniforms – and also, if they’re comfy, great for wearing underneath long skirts or ballgowns where no one will see your shoes. (but if they do, it looks better than flip flops!) I’ve gone through 2 different pairs – I’ve worn them with Ruby Moon, Hermione (both versions), Amalthea, Padme’s Loyalist Committee gown, Honda Tohru, Sakura, Arwen’s blood red dress, and Corde.
In closing…
Shoes are one of those parts of a costume that’s so varied… and for guys, I’m so so sorry that it’s difficult to find shoes. I’ve discovered this in my hunts for shoes for my cousin and husband. There’s not nearly as many options out there.
You can spend a small amount of money on your shoes, or a huge amount. It’s really up to you – what you want to spend, whether or not you want to mess with making boot covers or whatever. I’d say if you’re going to be making one or two great costumes that you really plan to wear quite a bit – go for a more expensive option. There are custom shoe makers out there. Or you could spend a little more and just make sure you get something that’s comfortable.
Don’t wear your feet out the first day of a convention forcing yourself to wear uncomfortable shoes. Sit when you can, practice wearing those shoes at home so you can break them in (and make sure you can walk in them) – you don’t want to be the girl being carried back to the hotel with shoes in hand because they hurt her feet too much to walk! (been there, done that.)
(Do you have a costume or convention question youād like to ask me? Ask on my facebook page, twitter, or my contact page here, and Iāll see about answering it for FAQ Friday!)