Wearing, buying and making costumes

This section gives information on making and buying Rocky Horror costumes as well as general discussion about costumes. (This doesn’t include the actual costumes worn in the movie, nor those used by professional companies at stage productions of the RHS.) I won’t go into detail here about how to actually make the costumes as there are already some excellent sites about this – see Ruth Fink-Winter’s Anal Retentive Rocky Horror Costume List and Amy Wake’s Students’ Guide to RHPS Costumes ...

Wearing a costume

Some people choose to wear a replica costume when they go to see Rocky (either the movie or a live play production).Others wear gothic/punk/leather/alternative/etc clothes, and others just wear their ordinary clothes (which can of course fall into the other two categories!). You decide.

Screen accurate

‘Screen accurate’ means a costume that is a very good copy of the one used in the movie. Opinion differs about whether having a screen accurate costume is necessary or desirable; to some people this is the ‘Holy Grail’ of costumeness but others prefer ‘artistic interpretation’ or perhaps could care less about how accurate it is :) Personally, I try to be quite accurate in the costumes I make – though I won’t fret if the number of eyelets etc I have is not identical to that in the movie :)

Stage accurate?

Some people are not content with making costumes that are ‘screen accurate’, they also make replicas of the costumes used by the professional theatre company when there is a RHS Tour on. Which to wear? ... Well, that is up to you, obviously. The disadvantage with doing this (or advantage, depending on how you look at it!) is that you need to make new costumes quite frequently to keep up with the current tour …

Making a costume

Even if you have set your heart on having a screen/stage accurate costume you can make a good one quite cheaply. The key to this is always being on the lookout for anything suitable, and having some nifty sewing skills. (Alternative strategy: befriend/press-gang a fashion design student.)

Examples of places you might try looking for costume bits are:

Party, fancy-dress, costume, magic shops. These generally have a good selection of ‘novelty’ items, wigs, false eyelashes etc but can be expensive compared to other places that sell these things. The people in these shops are generally helpful and may be able to give you some advice if you are stuck on something with your costume.

Charity, second-hand, thrift shops. Generally quite cheap (though there are exceptions) and they have all sorts of things, not just what is fashionable at the time. On the other hand each item is usually only available in one size so if you see something you want but it is far too big or too small, you might be disappointed (though in some cases it can be adapted anyway).

Ordinary clothes shops (and other shops). No, I am not suggesting you use anything really expensive (unless you want to!) but some of the cheaper shops, in particular, have suitable things that you can adapt. (For example I recently picked up a brand new black dress to adapt for Magenta, for £8.)

eBay (and international versions). Wide selection of things on there, but you are dealing directly with the seller (on the whole people are honest, but there is always the odd dodgy seller! If you decide to buy from someone on eBay, check their ‘feedback’.)

Boot sales, garage sales, flea markets. You never know what you might find here!

Online retailers. Convenient if there is nowhere local to buy things, but mostly you don’t get to inspect things personally before buying them. (As always with online retailers, make sure they are a reputable company and that the server is secure if you want to pay by credit card, etc.)

Sex shops. Ann Summers (UK), Ambiance (USA), etc. Often a good source of stockings, suspender belts etc.

Anywhere you happen to be shopping anyway.

If you are making costume pieces from fabric rather than adapting something that is already made, you are probably best to use a dress pattern and go from there unless you are a) very good at dressmaking and b) patient :)

Buying a costume

If you can’t find anything suitable or don’t fancy making a costume yourself, you could always go for the option of buying a costume or individual costume pieces ready-made (i.e. those specifically sold as Rocky costume bits!) Alternatively you could ‘commission’ a costumer to make something to your specification …

Some people (myself included) tend to think this is ‘cheating’ a bit and that some of the fun of Rocky comes from preparing for it and making the costumes etc … Of course, if you disagree I respect your opinion too :)

Wigs

This is a minefield :) Obviously, what you do here depends on your personal preference and on how much money you have available to spend on getting a good wig. We know some people who have had their ordinary hair made into the style of their chosen character, thus eliminating the need for a wig at all. Naturally this might not be suitable for people in certain types of jobs or bald people wanting to play Magenta, etc. :) Places to look here include party and costume shops and (if you have a bit more money) specialist wig shops.