My Final Reveal: A New Costume in Progress!

I have three costumes in progress at the moment -- two for my December trip and one for my November trip.  All of these numbers will hit the stage many times to earn their keep.  For now I'm concentrating on "If," the number I'm debuting in Arkansas in November.  (A nice chunk of one of the December costumes is finished, the other should be fairly simple.)  I'm getting private dance lessons to prepare for this number, so I have to make sure the costume makes a statement.

As I did last time, I'll share my time spent and my receipt totals.  This project is a little different from the blue gown since it's not a glamour number.  That doesn't mean it will be without its own set of complications.

I had a dancer once tell me, "I spent $80 on my costume.  That's the most I've ever spent!"  I was already spending hundreds per costume, doing the work myself to save money, so I laughed internally.  $80 isn't much to spend on an event costume, but I've tried to get away with spending as little as possible on costumes for theme shows.  (I'd pair something I already had in my closet with something I could get at Goodwill, trying to make no more than one shopping stop.)  But this new costume I'm going to try to do for under $200 because I already spent close to $100 on boots.

Since it's going to be a dancewear-style costume, I'm making it from spandex.  I spent about $50 on spandex over the weekend.  I got shiny fabrics with a pattern since I'm probably not going to add rhinestones, beading or appliques to the fabrics.  The rhinestones will be spent on the pasties and assels.  I think I can get away with spending under $200 because I'm making it from scratch.  Not one off-the-rack piece (except the boots).

I spent an hour cutting, stitching and fitting the monokini on Sunday night.  I still have to add elastic, cup supports, cup snaps to attach to the underbra, and a closure for the halter.  On Monday I spent thirty minutes cutting the underbra band and the undies (and drafting & cutting pasties and assels),  and another 45 minutes stitching the undies and reinforcing the sides of the underbra band.  I still have to add some elastic to the crack area of the undies to make them KABOOM!  I'm waiting for my bra underwires, elastic, and channeling so I can make more progress on the underthings.

Total spent so far: 2:15 and $157.00.