Welcome!

...to my on-line portfolio. Below you will find a sampling of the various costumes and apparel I've designed and/or constructed. 

I do freelance costume & clothing design and construction, and will be selling my clothing & hats in local shops (and plan to offer items with on-line marketplaces in the near future). My contact information is located in my profile. Thanks for looking!

All content copyright © 2004-2013 Valerie Ford (and/or by individuals listed)

Tie Hats

I've turned these once formal attire neckties into cute and warm fall/winter hats. I used my head block to drape and sculpt three vintage ties into these 1920's style cloches. Then I carefully hand stitched the pieces together both inside and out to create these intricately crafted hats. No two hats are alike!

Aviatrix!

These high-flying bomber beauties take to the air! The jumpers, made from various stretch material, are reminiscent of the adventurous female airplane pilots of the 1920's. Bombs away!

Summer Sustainable Fashions

These dazzling cuties are wearing my new sustainable fashions for summer! The skirts are made from bed sheets, vintage fabric, vintage dresses, and pockets from the bodice of a little girl’s dress. The tops are vintage with embellished accents and adorned with handmade flower pins. The top hat is made from recycled hats and lace, accented with a ribbon trim. Handmade furry kitty purses top off these ensembles.

Atop a cloud she sits in her everyday dress-up frock. The dress is recycled, with added frilly ruffles and crocheted circles. Her purse is made of recycled fabrics and her felted flower hairpiece is handcrafted. Her dolly’s dress is made from recycled circus performer fabrics and has crocheted horn-rimmed glasses and booties.

Dress-up clothes for women! These dames are getting all dolled up for a summer shindig. Each dress is made from vintage recycled fabrics and accented with vintage trim and hand-crocheted lace. Their hair pieces are handmade crocheted wool and cotton.

This dress is great for summer play! It’s made from fabric remnants and ribbon trim, accessorized by crocheted flower pins and a candy-colored beaded necklace. Her dolly has a matching outfit and matching crocheted flower hair clips.

Photography by Rosemary Wagner

Aerial Pirates

This high flying pirate duo are wearing cotton velvet coats embelished with gold and cotton trims and topped with frilly ascots. Their shorts are made of a stretch cotton adorned with golden buttons.

Vintage Style Custom Dresses

These dresses are based on vintage styles from the 1940's-1950's. Each dress has either vintage buttons, buckles, or trim and is custom made to the individual's style and size. The fabrics I choose are either new or recycled vintage.

The pink dress has red binding on the neckline and a custom-made belt with a vintage buckle. The black & white skull dress has red vintage buttons and rick rack trim. The Día de los Muertos dress is covered in a black lace netting and trimmed in orange binding, accented with a blue neckline and pockets.

Popcap Bejeweled Twist Space Hostesses

Futuristic fräuleins fly high in an aerial act that is out of this world! These space hostess costumes are made of "liquid metal" stretch spandex trimmed with individual colors. The hoop skirt is removable for aerial performance, revealing a jumper underneath. The collars are padded and sculpted for both structure and maneuverability. (Made for EnJoy Productions.)

Aerialistas

These cupcake cuties are made from a variety of velvets, stretch, and silk fabrics. The bodice is constructed from individual panels of blue and green silk, pin-tucked to represent a cupcake wrapper - topped off with hand-sewn pink satin frosting. The corsets are made of pink speckled velvet and yell0w stretch lycra, edged with a red/pink ribbon frosting. Each cupcake wrapper skirt is constructed in the same manner as the bodice, with an underskirt of ruffled yellow polka dot embroidered organza. Yummie! (Made for The Aerialistas.)

Circus Contraption

This costume was created for Darty Kangoo of Circus Contraption. She is a high flying fortune telling aerialist!

The corset is constructed of 7 panels of non-stretch velvet stitched to a heavy cotton. Velvet piping edge the top and bottom and it has decorative lacing of silk satin in the front. The skirt consists of 3 layers of non-stretch velvet ruffled and sewn to a stretch velvet underskirt then tacked to an undergarment. Her sleeves are a sequined powernet sewn to a velvet vest that is adorned with coins.

CarnEvil - Jet City Roller Girls

These uniforms were created for the head-busting Jet City Roller Girls team CarnEvil! The shirts are made of stretch bamboo with grommeted cotton straps. The style of skirt shown is made of panels of black and purple/red cotton with a purple metallic ruffle peaking out at the bottom. The second style has a purple/red gathered skirt into a black cotton yoke, with grommets and lacing up the back.

Circus Contraption

Darty Kangoo is back again! This circus-style jumper is made of a light-blue stretch velvet, detailed with peach ruffled trim and matching bows. The trim is hand-ruffled in a manner that allows it to stretch with the costume.

Sailor Girl

Hiya, sailor! This high-flying pin-up girl's bodice and shorts are made from a dark blue stretch lycra with white edging detail. Four buttons on the shorts and two stars on the bib represent the classic sailor uniform. (Made for Lara Paxton.)

Teatro Zinzanni

Voronin, the mute cassanova magician, from Teatro ZinZanni. His cape is made of a black fabric swirled with silver tinsel and edged with black silk velvet. The detail on the cape edges and collar, made from a single-strand gold braid and appliqués, then carefully mapped out and stitched on to create a larger embroidered design. (Copyright © 2007 Teatro ZinZanni)

The Queen of Hearts

The corset is made out of a velvet upholstery fabric. It has 6 panels, all seams are boned and there are 22 gromets at center front laced with a shear grey ribbon that's weighted with 4 glass beads. The headpiece is inspired by Alphonse Mucha paintings and is adorned with 126 glass beads and 2 white silk roses. The red velvet over dress is hand embossed with images of roses and spirals. The under dress is a silver gray velvet.

Swirled Corset

The outer fabric is of a heavy upholstery and the lining is a satin rayon. The two front waist darts have metal boning as do the two side back seams. The corset is laced with a heavy cord through 12 gomets. The neckline has wired piping to help hold it's shape.

Tara of Helium

From the book The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs:

Her harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a moonless night.

I designed and constructed this costume for the Out of This World exhibit, formerly on display at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, WA - and now on tour in other cities.

Scotty the Vaudevillian

Scotty Walsh, cabaret artist, acrobat, magician, and vaudevillian. This standard black jumper is augmented with carefully mapped out grey stretch velvet diamonds. The undershirt is made of a light-weight cotton, specially designed to allow full movement. The belt is made from a cotton red velvet. (Made for Scotty Walsh.)