Costume/shopping assistance needed

[icprncs]

Costumer/fashionista friends, I need to get some things for an upcoming cosplay and I need some help finding & sorting through resources for them. Can you assist? I'd be most grateful

Comments

[icprncs]

I'm likely going to be painting them black, so rental might not be the way to go. However, that general idea is a resource that hadn't occurred to me, and it gives me another area to look that's local. Thank you!

I found info on the pre-assembled EL kits when I was first researching this idea; the biggest issue is that electronics are totally outside my experience, so I think I'm mostly looking for someone to hold my hand and help me so that the final result doesn't look like crap and I feel terrible for wasting the time and money. :)

[icprncs]

Hm...that might be an option. Can I keep this in my back pocket in case I need to come back to it?

(Husband said last night that he's going to make some for his outfit so he can make mine as well, but I am still going to gather resources as insurance.)

[icprncs]

That would be lovely! My ideal is to give my money to small artisan/crafter, and if it's a friend of a friend, even better. Thank you. :)

[oldhalloween]

The thing with the EL wire is it shows up better with a black background and the darker the room the better. Some colors look brighter than others. You might need multiple wires for the best light quality.

LED light strips are brighter and can be seen easily in a hotel hallway. :0 ) Easy to tack on to fabric and looks cool under sheer fabrics.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/158173515/battery-powered-regular-aa-5050-led

[icprncs]

The outfit is all black and solid fabric. The strips don't look like they offer much in the way of flexibility for what I have in mind; there needs to be a very specific style for it to meet my idea. So it just might not be workable at all. Info is good in helping me decide, so thank you. :)

[oldhalloween]

Keeping the EL wire in loops works better than hard angles.

http://www.seattlelumin.com/category_s/91.htm

If you look at a close up of the hat you can see they have sewn it on to the netting first. Much easier and then attach the netting panels. Oh…and the inverter makes a high pitch noise. Something to keep in mind if you run multiples. For the mummy bustle I ran the battery packs down my leg and had them in fabric pouch. The orange EL wire only showed up in the dark so I had to supplement with other lights.

[sistawendy]

--Full-length black stretch velvet skirt with a slight train.

I have something like this that you could borrow. If you like, we can arrange to meet up. I live in Phinney, work downtown, and commute by bus.

As for EL wire, I have some experience with that. Basically, you just buy the wire, which is often sold with battery-plus-inverter packs that you'll need, and you attach it to whatever you need to. One thing I've learned the hard way about EL wire is that bending it into tight curves damages it and reduces its brightness. I'd offer to lend you my EL wire, but I'll be using it. :D

[icprncs]

I'm going to be modifying the skirt, as noted, so borrowing isn't really an option. Thank you, though!