Friday, October 7, 2016

Mom wins with baby triplet Halloween costumes!

I dont have a baby to dress up for Halloween and try as I might my friends have not let me dress their children either! This Mom however really nailed the DIY costumes for her triplets! Thats a lot of work. Watch the cute video!


Thursday, May 12, 2016

Black & Light Ball 2017: Guide to all things glowing

Black and Light Ball is Kostume Kult's annual UV reactive "formal" where we get fancy and glowing all in one fabulous night! All forms of light up, UV reactive and glow in the dark costumes are encouraged and the decor gets positively trip.
Hope fully you already have your tickets. If not ACT FAST and get them now!!


Below you will find my guide to finding the things that GLOW under black light.

Lets start in the garment/trim district in Manhattan (Broadway to 7th Ave on 38th Street).
Don't forget your keychain black light or here's a tutorial on how to turn your phones flashlight into a blacklight!

Joyce Trimming Inc. (38th btw 6th / Broadway)
Lots of ribbon! They have the best prices on wide satin day glow ribbon. This ribbon makes great ruffle trim if you run it through your sewing machine on the edge of a skirt or sleeve. Its only $1.50/yard.

Fringe Colors at B&Q Trim
B&Q Trim (38th btw 6th / Broadway)
This store is a favorite among my costume friends. They have a wide variety of feathers, gems, trims, fringe, studs, etc. The fringe and feathers were particularly good for black light here. I tested the fringe in pink, yellow and green cause they nicely gave me swatches and it glows excellently!  The pricing on fringe is determined by length.
6" Fringe = $6/yard
8" Fringe = $8/yard
and so on... the longest length they have is 18" but it is only in limited colors.
The feathers they had in bunches LOOKED UV reactive but it would be best to bring your portable black light along with you to test for sure. They were $4 a bunch in yellow, lime and orange. This seemed to be the place with the largest variety of neon colors for fringe and acrylic gems.


East Coast Trimming Corp.

Focusing more on the bridal trim, however but they do have tubular cyber lock materials which are these cool synthetic tubes that stretch and you can run LED lights on a wire through. 
Small $1.50/yard
Medium $3.00/yard
Large $4.00/yard
They had interesting reflective trim which was about 1" wide and came in white and a few neon colors. It was like the strips you see on road workers vest. Extremely reflective!

They also had a sale rack of ribbon with lots of neon colors, worth a peek. 

$22/yard neon spike trim with rhinestones.
Lots of gems and appliqués. Vast color assortment of ostrich plumes too however I found there are only a few colors of those that will glow. The coolest things I found at this place was a pricey but very bad ass trim with spikes and rhinestone. It was $22/yard but depending on the project may be the perfect finishing piece for a look. Also I loved the small and large rhinestone neon pieces. I did NOT test them since I had forgotten my black light flashlight at home.

Hardware stores are great for finding unexpected glow materials. For example Zip Ties! They are cool to craft with and glow very well. Home Depot sells a bag of 100 zip ties in various colors for $4.50. The only color that doesn't glow so well is the blue. :(
Also gaff tape. It is a little pricy but glows super well and comes in various widths.

Don't forget the Dollar Store when looking for UV reactive stuff. I know that Dollar Tree carries poster board in neon colors for a dollar a sheet. Its 22x28 and glows very very brightly. Why not make a head piece out of it!
$1 Neon Poster Boar at Dollar Tree
Lastly I am going to talk a little about UV makeup. Ricky's or Romeo's (discount version of Rickys) sells Krylon makeup in UV colors. I just bought the yellow lipstick pictured at Romeo's (5th Ave btw 35th / 36th) for $5.99. As you can see it is tested and APPROVED!
UV testing Yellow Lipstick
Paint Glow UV lipstick


EL Wire:
I myself have not had good luck with EL wire but my friend Jennifer of Costumegasm makes some brilliant corsets and fashion pieces with it. Here's her pro tip that I think is particularly genius. Cut a length of yarn the exact length of your EL wire you are working with. Then you can map out where the wire will go with the yarn first and tape it to the garment and then sew with clear thread the El wire where the yarn was! Love it!

I could write for days about what glows but I will leave you with tips from my friend Brite Lite who as his name suggests is a mastermind of light up costumes and accessories.

1) Shop with a pocket black light. You can get them for $10-$15 and it will help you for many years of great costumes.
2) Wear paper. The best neon paper glows brighter than fabric. Also, you can buy great $10 blacklight posters at blacklight.com and cut out blacklight badges. I've glued both card stock and paper badges on leather & vinyl outfits.
3) Most neon paper sucks. Don't buy at office supply stores. Some dollar stores have terrific neon card stock. Gotta bring a blacklight.
4) Only use Krylon-brand fluorescent spray paint.
5) You can find good stuff at some hardware stores such as neon zip ties and masonry twine. Although quite thin, its really bright. I've never found parachute cord that glows bright enough.


B&Q Trim (38th btw 6th / Broadway)


Hai's Trimming Inc. 38th btw 7th / 8th Ave

Hai's Trimming Inc. 38th btw 7th / 8th Ave

Ricky's NYC 
Hai's Trimming Inc. 38th btw 7th / 8th Ave

6) Spandex House, of course. If you don't have sewing skills, stick with the suggestions above. One of the easiest projects with a sewing machine is cutting a perfect pattern from old jeans, and using that to make tight spandex pants. Flare the bottoms and sew on a tight "tube" as belt.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Horned Ball 2016 at Webster Hall 20,000 Horns Under the Sea

Would you believe its almost time for Horned Ball again!?
Kostume Kult welcomes Spring with its annual emergence of horned beasts and creatures to party all night long.

This year we are going deep, deep sea diving that is. Come with us 20,000 Horns Under the Sea to a Steampunk themed adventure!



Kostume Kult Presents
-- Horned Ball 2016 --
20,000 Horns Under The Sea

Saturday 4.9.16 - 9pm to 5am
Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th St., NYC

TIX: Buy Now at http://bit.ly/HornedBallNYC
Tickets Tiers: $40/ 50 (Early tier $30 sold out)
$60 at the door (if available)
Drink Specials all night
21+

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/485930291595872/

This April, please join Kostume Kult for our largest ever horned spring bacchanal ever! Channeling Jules Verne, on April 9th we plunge into the sea with a steampunk adventure to the Lost City of Aquatis and its wild variety of sexy and strange HORNED creatures… And our Philly friends Space Pirates!

THEME:
While HORNS of any type will suffice, to play along with this year's theme, come as steampunk explorer, horny pirate, mermaid, aquatic retro-futuristic, bizarro deep-sea, mesozoic oceania, tentacles, leviathans, krakens or anything with horns, spikes or tusks. Jules Verne wrote both '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' and 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'… We mash them together with artistic license and many questionable choices… WITH YOUR HELP!

DJs (TBA) in 3 rooms spinning Nauti-House, Fishy-Funk and Deepsea Bass downstairs icluding

** Marlin Room (Nauti-House) **
TBA

** Sunken Ship Room (Fishy-Funk) **
David Kiss
https://soundcloud.comdavidkiss/
Luka Tacon
https://soundcloud.com/lukatacon
NSR
https://soundcloud.com/iamnsr
Salinger
https://soundcloud.com/salinger
(all affiliated with DEEP NYC)

** Space Pirates Room (Deepsea Bass) **
Sequoia (Mischief/Meso Creso - DC)
Captain Shaggy2K (Space Pirates/Disorient - Philly)
Elixir (Space Pirates/Disorient - Philly)
STLTZ (Space Pirates/Disorient - Philly)
KDubz (Space Pirates - Philly)

PERFORMANCES (before midnight)
Dark Cabaret Musician Aurelio Voltaire (http://www.voltaire.net/)
Wild Women Of Planet Wongo (http://www.planetwongo.com/)
Liah Alonso (http://www.liahalonso.com/)
The Mating Game Returns
Aqua-Fashion Show (around 1am)

ART/ ACTIVITIES:
Neptune's SeaTrap
Jonah's Esophageal Lounge
El Pulpo Fantastico
Coral Boob Reef
Bath-O!-Sphere
Seahorse Stampede
Clocks & Cog
Coelacanth Ranch
Hydrothermal Venting
Narwhale Jousting
Pin the Tail on the Leviathan
(the return of) Let Loose the BuKKraken!
Live Painting with Tico Chango
*Propose Something*

PROPOSE ART/ ACTIVITY:
http://bit.ly/HB16Artists

TO VOLUNTEER:
http://bit.ly/HB16Volunteers

QUESTIONS?
Producers: Marianna Grace & Ema Takeda
Decor: Gabrielle Myst & Joanne H.
Volunteers: Eliza Spear & Stacey Wrangler
Music Curation: DJs Milk & David Kiss
Performances: Ema Takeda
Mating Game/ Fashion Show: Christopher Hardwick
Photography: Tom Egan
Flyer: Matty Weiss
Ticketing problems?: Tickets@kostumekult.com

ABOUT:
Horned Ball is the longest running event of the Kostume Kult arts collective (Costume Cultural Society), a non-profit arts org supporting costume art, street theater and mad fun while bringing wonderful people together. Horned Ball is Kostume Kult's first of three official Burning Man camp fundraisers also including Black & Light Ball (5.19.16) and Freakkshow (late July). With the three events vibed Geek, Chic and Freak, respectively, HB is the most fantastical where all themes are set in fantasy realms as spring bacchanalias with the animals shaking off winter slumber with itchy horns and the urge to dance! Horned Ball is a safe space where all are welcome while warning everyone to *respect boundaries* and *ask first* whenever photographing or flirting... And quickly report creeps! (We have a zero-tolerance policy).

For more on Kostume Kult, our year-round events and Burning Man camp, please visit www.kostumekult.com, join of FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/Kostumekult/ and like our Community Page at https://www.facebook.com/KostumeKultPage