Customising

We love the fact that a lot of our customers nowadays have done far more research than in the past. We remember the days when desert boots were 'de rigeur' for portraying the ECW! It's a lot different now and many people go to great lengths to get the look correct. As we supply all sorts of costume from Museum and 'Walking portrait' to LRP and Renfair, we are frequently asked if we can supply an item from our standard range, "But I need it to have such & such as I'm playing a ........." The answer is nearly always "Yes, of course!"
The question of customising also arises when we are providing items for export. Our main area of expertise has always been historical clothing worn in the UK, with the additions of other European and Oriental fashions that influenced what was worn here. Now we are as likely to be asked to provide an 18th C Swedish wedding suit or a 17th C Italian Soldiers coat as anything else. This also means the research library here at Chimera costumes, grows at an ever increasing rate! I wondered whether it was just the weakness in sterling that caused this influx in export orders, then we had an e-mail from a customer in the U.S stating that his suit was of 'Exceptional quality'
I think that may be the reason.....