Estimate a price to make Aurons costume

[Giant Alucard]

I was just wondering what kind of price i would be charged if I asked someone to make a Aurons costume for me. The only real part I can do is the sword, since I have no real skill with a sewing machine anymore.

[Koumori]

I've seen versions from experienced seamstresses priced at around $300-$400. Given the complexity and the number of different materials, techniques and skills involved, that sounds entirely reasonable to me.

[Giant Alucard]

whoa...........
thats kinda high, but I can see where your coming from. I know all the different fabrics will take alot out of someone. I can afford all the fabric, I think, and I guess I'll ask some off my friends to help to make the costume. The armour itself seems very simple, and so does the sword. The pants and the big vest (or what ever it is he wears) will be the only complication. I have to see if i can find a pattern for somthing that resembles the costume........
It's going to be a long day.

[Koumori]

There's a lot of leather work involved, which is a pain (I'm in the process of trying to put one together myself). As with any commission, it all depends on who you ask, what their skill sets are, what their experience is, etc. - often you'll find you get what you pay for.

[Giant Alucard]

I didn't know there was alot of leather work involved..... could better explain the price.

[Koumori]

Originally posted by Giant Alucard
I didn't know there was alot of leather work involved..... could better explain the price.

Yes - if you sit down and take a good hard look at the costume, you'll see that the vest and belts are made of leather, in addition to the belts, straps and trim on the coat itself. The belt also appears to be heavily tooled; the vest less so, but there's been some dimension added to it as well.

[schalke]

i dont know but i think it'll cost you less if you could find substitutes or alternatives to the materials that costs too much like the leather... :bouncer:

[Michi]

Yeah, I was gonna say... If he doesn't want to be completely accurate, a less expensive fabric could be easily used instead.

Giant Alucard, you should look around at different costume commissioners and ask them how much it would be. Tell them you'd like them to use the cheapest yet still nice looking fabrics they can, and it will help the price. ^_^; If there's any part of the outfit you can make/acquire on your own, that would help make it cheaper, too.

[Reiko]

me and monoyasha put our heads together and put a pretty good Sephroith costume for under 60. here's a hint try to figure out what you have that can use forthe costume...for example..im making a Yuna wedding dress....it only cost me $3.50...use people that can give you things or stuff at home. like that little bottle he has, use the base as a gallon of milk...use plaster to make it the shape plaster is like 3 bucks here... or go to goodwill and salvage anything you can. PM me for anything else..I dont want to make this too long so...I can give you ideas...later..when I think of them.
and you dont need leather....use vinyl ...its cheap and looks just as good.

[smellme37]

i agree with reiko. im almost done with my auron costume, and i've only spent about $40 so far. i found a lot of stuff at good will and stuff around my house. so far it looks great. I saw a coustume of auron that was made by a professional seamstess somewhere online and she wanted $350 for it, and i really think mine looks better. oh and definitely use vinyl.

[Rosiel]

> use vinyl ...its cheap and looks just as good.

Then tell me where you buy it! I've never seen good quality vinyl under $9-10 a yard.

In defense of commissioners everywhere...

> it only cost me $3.50...

It cost YOU $3.50. But how much did it cost total?

> i found a lot of stuff at good will and stuff around my house.

We're talking about commissions here. People who make costumes for money do no rummage around their house, they have to buy all the materials.

Moreover you are paying for the person's skills and time. I commonly spend over 40 hours on a costume. How much would my time be worth once you remove the cost of the materials? Less than minimum wage, I bet.

In conclusion, I do not think $300-400 for an Auron costume is high at all. Did you see that intricate sword? All the designs on his coat?

[Reiko]

LOL I needed 3 bags of feathers so three dollars for making home made wings and using extra wire from something in my basement. and plaster from the art room I have..its hard to explain but I'll have pics soon.
The dress was free...I have connetions.
The gloves..(just baught them) cost 4 dollars.
Flowers....from my moms old pot of fake flowers.]
Boots...I said I want boots for my B day :)
MY Jane (from tarzan) only cost me ... 1.99 for the skirt..I already had the top.
MY rinoa ballroom...cost me 50..the shoes I wore to my prom.
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=24132&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500
MY Jill Valentine was nothing! used black skirt black boots (knee highs.that I had and a blue top I had. Had a white sweater too.
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=22025&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500
My yuna 2 costs me....somewhere around 5 dollars. for the hood and the tail material.
most of these are in my gallery, some arnt up yet. ether
way...cheap is good!

I got Vinyl for like 6.99 a yard at joanne fabrics.

[Koumori]

Just as an FYI - vinyl frequently does not work the same way as leather. Leather can withstand a lot more tension than vinyl, which can tear easily at the seams if you're not careful, and it comes in many more weights and thicknesses. Leather can be tooled in ways that vinyl cannot, and can have a much more sculptural quality. They are not always interchangeable (and cheaper is not always better).

[Reiko]

Vinyl holds up more then you might think....its easy to sew and if you get a good type (6.99) it wont tear. Trust me I put so many holes in that damn costume to make it fit...it still held up. so he couldnt move with the armor on very much. LOL anyway back to Vinyl. It looks just as good and holds up. you need coat thread to keep it together. If you making the costume yourself....then its the way to go. Leather is also hotter...and if water or snow gets on it....its done for. theres no if ands or buts....the leather is useless. not to metion the smell of wet leather.

[Rosiel]

> Leather is also hotter...

Actually, no, because leather breathes while vinyl/pvc/pleather is plastic and keeps the heat in making a little portable sauna. (Sadly, I am well acquainted with this phenomenon.)

As for vinyl, which I love, I need to admit that you can't work it like leather. You can achieve many effects with leather, such as stretching it to shape then having it keep said shape, and engraving/burning/etching into it, which is impossible with vinyl as vinyl has no real thickness, it's just a thin layer of plastic on top of fabric.

While they are often interchangeable, there are a lot of things that are a lot harder or even impossible to do with one or the other.

And too bad I don't have a JoAnne's nearby for I need about 10 yards of vinyl for a costume. It's going to hurt my wallet. ><

[Reiko]

what about buying it online?

[Giant Alucard]

checked so far. Nothing on ebay that i can find. The commissioners that i found all charged prices that were pretty high (to me at least), even with the lower quality material. Maybe I just have to have my friend me out with the costume and hot for the best.