Festive Attyre
home costumes research art featured attyre about
 
 

15 Random Facts

about Jen Thompson and the Festive Attyre website

  1. This website was started in 2001 after I made my first few Renfaire costumes in graduate school. My original goal was to create a site dedicated to 16th c. costuming, but after 4 years of obsessing about Renaissance stuff, I eventually branched out and started obsessing out other eras as well. In 2006, I gave the website a makeover in the hopes that it would work better for all genres of historical costuming.
  2. I have a masters degree in studio art, specializing in drawing, printmaking, and painting. Although I still love art and always will, I never felt the same passion for 2-D art as I do for creating historical clothing. Today, my MFA degree pays the bills as I teach Art I, II, Studio AP, and Photography to a bunch of crazy high schoolers, and my weekends and summers are spent joyfully obsessing about the art of fashion.
  3. No, I don't make costumes for sale. This is strictly a hobby for me, and I don't want to screw up the fun by turning it into a job.
  4. I currently live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas with my wonderful husband Mike. I am a bit of an anomaly in the costuming world because I do not have a cat, and I don't plan to get one any time soon (even though I do love the little beasts).
  5. I have one son who is the absolute joy of my life. If you notice that I've posted a lot less in the past few years, that's the reason why. Playing with that boy eats up most of my spare time these days. I also spend a lot of time making wee little costumes for him, but I have found that my "overprotective mom" instincts are pretty fierce, so I have decided not to post any public pictures of him. I don't want them to ever come back to haunt him someday.
  6. No, I am not a member of the SCA or a participant at a Renaissance faire, but I am an officer in the The Dallas/Ft. Worth Costuming Guild which is a really fun group for local costume junkies. I also volunteer at the living history days at Chestnut Square in McKinney.
  7. After spending my youth as a rabid Mac-hater, I was forced to actually use a Mac computer in college, and I instantly saw the light! Now I am an even bigger Mac-addict, and in this picture, you can see my old, beloved, blue dalmatian iMac. I've graduated to a macbook now, and I continue to lust after every shiny new toy that Apple puts out. And yes, I do have a strange habit of wearing costume pieces around the house from time to time. It just makes me happy.
  8. I am entirely self-taught as a seamstress and costume historian (and web designer, for that matter). My mom showed me the basics of operating a sewing machine and how to follow a pattern, but everything else I learned though books, the internet, and good ol' trial and error. It's amazing what you can learn when you put your mind to it.
  9. Speaking of patterns... I rarely use them (unless the are vintage!). There are some great commercial costume patterns available these days, but I'm a tightwad and prefer to do it myself to save money. Almost every costume that you see on this site was was created by drafting my own custom patterns based on diagrams from books and websites, or through pure draping. I know most of you won't believe me when I say this, but after you learn a few basic techniques, drafting and draping really isn't that hard.

  10. Halloween--1980 Halloween--1995 Halloween--2003
    My Halloween costumes at ages 5, 20, and 28.
    As you can see, I'm still going strong!
    My favorite holiday is Halloween (duh!), and I have worn quite an assortment of costumes for this holiday throughout my life. As a child, I can remember being a butterfly, a crayon, a Raggedy Ann doll, a princess, and an old man. In college, I was a phantom, a wood nymph, Dot from the Animaniacs, a lumberjack, and a circus ring-leader. These days, I don't have as many excuses to dress up for Halloween anymore, but when push comes to shove, I'm likely to throw on a pirate costume and go to the grocery store if there is nothing better to do.
  11. The vast majority of pictures on this site were taken all by myself using a digital camera with a timer and tripod. It's not that hard, people! You can pick up a tripod for under $20, and almost every camera that I have seen has a timer. Oh, and don't forget to turn off the flash - bad lighting is the root of all evil in photography.
  12. I really suck at replying to email. I feel horrible about it, but I can't seem to get any better. I like getting email, but I'm a hopeless procrastinator about replying to it all. It might take me anywhere from a week to 3 months to get back to you... and my junk mail filter has been known to get over-zealous at times, so sometimes I don't get the messages at all. If you want a speedy reply, my best advice is to send me a few emails in a row and keep bugging me until I remember to write you back! I promise - I don't mind!
  13. Mike and I were married at the Texas Renaissance Festival in the year 2000. I am such a lucky girl to have found a nerd as big as I am!
  14. I am absolutely addicted to antique fashion magazines like my Peterson's collection and vintage patterns. So if you ever feel like buying me a present...
  15. I am also addicted to learning new things, which is why I tend to jump around between eras so much these days. Nothing beats the rush of exploring a new period of fashion history. It's absolutely intoxicating!