MY FAVORITE COSTUME

Judi Cain Center Stage Costumes and Magic Shop Gainsville, Florida

When The Costumer asked Judi Cain, the now-retired former owner of Center Stage Costumes and Magic in Gainsville, Florida (which closed in 2010), to share some favorite memories from her decades of membership in the National Costumers Association, her experiences with the NCA’s Showcase events took center stage.

Among her favorite memories was the “Colorous Schfizz” — a Fantasy Creature Costume that her daughter Jennifer created for the 2001 Showcase when she was just 21 years old.

“Jennifer loved to play with fabric and trims, and growing up with a mother and father who were both artists, was encouraged to express her creativity,” Judi explains. “The Schfizz was made with scraps of fabric, pieces of foam rubber, skeins of multi-color yarn with metallic threads running through it, and various other recycled materials.”

Jennifer vividly recalls making the costume.

“The ‘Colorous Schfizz’ came about when I was latch hooking. I was working on a gillie suit idea and decided to create the body of the ‘Schfizz’ using a mesh material with larger holes like you’d find with an old-style basketball shirt. I latch-hooked the entire thing from head to toe with colorful yarn, trim and tinsel.”

Because she had created wings for the family’s costume shop, Jennifer says she had a good idea about how she would make the wings for the fantasy costume. “They had good bounce, but as you can see from the picture, keeping them in place for still shots could have used some more work!” she says.

For the head and feet, Jennifer relied on foam, while a latex mask and taxidermy eyes “brought the costume to life,” she explains.

“The process from start to completion took about three weeks, with about four to six hours devoted to the project each day,” she recalls, before giving this shout-out to her parents:

“Thanks so much for giving me, at a young age, the opportunity to let my creativity run wild!”

That creativity remains on the move: According to Judi, Jennifer is still creating costume items and has a thriving Etsy shop featuring elaborate gentlemen’s top hats, fanciful headpieces, fancy eye patches, and ruffled collars.

What is your favorite costume? To be considered for an upcoming My Favorite Costume profile, email Editor Kathleen Furore at kfurore@yahoo.com.