Introduction

My original Princess Mononoke costume
from Anime Oasis 2011.

Hello, my name is Krista and I am a costumer from Boise, Idaho. I have been actively costuming for about three years, though I have always had a love of costumes. I have been attending conventions almost as long. My first convention was Anime Oasis 2011, here in Boise. At the time, I was living in Wyoming, so it was quite a trip to get there. Nevertheless, I loved it. After the convention was over, and I was back home, I already wanted to make more costumes and go to another one. I would, too, in October of that same year. Anime Banzai, in Salt Lake City, was my second convention, and the one that would cement my love for them. I was also inspired by the wonderful costumes that I had seen, and pushed myself to both improve my older costumes and to make more challenging costumes in the future.

My Mononoke costume, much improved from
its original form.

The following year, 2012, would be a pivotal year for me. It was at that year's Anime Oasis that I would meet my current circle of friends. These friends would be the reason that I would take two additional trips out to Boise that year (for Fandemonium and Tomodachi Fest), and the reason that I would eventually move out here.

Once here, I settled into the costuming community quite nicely, even joining the still-forming local chapter of the International Costumer's Guild, the Gem State Costumers. Currently, I am the GSC's representative to the ICG forum, meaning that I keep track of what's currently being discussed on the forum for the rest of my chapter, and am the voice of the GSC on that forum.

My Rebecca Chambers costume. The vest was my
finals project for my Costume Construction class.

In the future, I want to open up my own costume shop. My love of costuming runs so deep that I would be perfectly content dedicating the rest of my life to it. For now, though, I want to grow my presence in the costuming community. I plan on doing this by continuing to make costumes to the best of my ability, learning and growing as a costumer as I do. I also need to get my name out there, and show people what I can do. That's where this blog comes in. My plans for this blog are to use it to document my projects, convention experiences, and other related things, in the hopes of gathering a reader base that enjoys my work and will support my business as it gets off of the ground.

Join me next time as I discuss the making of my first commission: Fishbones.