Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide [Paperback]

Shirley Dearing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

Everything you need to know about making costumes for plays, pageants, musicals...at minimum expense.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shirley Dearing holds degrees in music and art and has sung and designed costumes for several operas. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Meriwether Pub; 1st edition (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916260887
• ISBN-13: 978-0916260880
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Informative, November 30, 2000

By 

yarden "yarden" (portland, or) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide (Paperback)

What I like about this book is that it foregoes any esoterica and costuming theory in favor of good old fashioned practicality. The reader doesn't have to sift through the excruciating snobby details, but instead is given the real lowdown as if visiting with a best friend who happens to be a costume mistress.

This book focuses mainly on costuming for low-budget productions (such as community theatre or a school play), providing useful information and advice on making good-looking costumes from already existing garments and/or thrift store offerings. Information abounds about time period, costume cuts & styles, ways to splurge or skimp on your costumes and still have them look fabulous, as well as details that an inexperienced costumer might overlook (such as using velcro instead of buttons for ease in costume changes).

I would highly recommend this to anyone who is involved in costuming for a production, or anyone who simply loves costumes and loves to recycle old clothes into great new ones. I love this book and have read through it several times just for inspiration.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars cosstuming on small budget, May 17, 2000

By 

C.A. Enyart - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide (Paperback)

An excellent book of ideas and help for someone wanting to learn to costume for community theatre. It contains excellent examples of her own work that is easy to follow. It does not overload your brain with useless information. A good starting out book, that aids a person in organizing the information , and research problems needed to suceeded in this field. Also a good read for veterans of the design buisness to give fresh ideas and back up what they have done . After 35 years finally I have found someone who appreciates the use of thrift stores , goodwill and lace curtains for stage costumes. Thank you Shirley for putting it into words and pictures.

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some good ideas....., June 19, 2002

By 

ReeQueen (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide (Paperback)

I received this book as a gift, and I am grateful for it. It does have some good ideas, some that I hadn't thought about, some different ways of doing things. It helps to think in different ways, do some brain-exercising.