Avail yourselves of the many opportunities which await you for the design and creation of costumes and other art! The following is a list of organizations and retailers who exist to assist you in assembling all the finery, frippery, and fancy dress you require to attend the parade in full feather.
- • Costuming Information
- • SF Bay Area Costume and Art Supplies
- • Online Sales of Costume and Art Supplies
- • Equipment Rentals
- • SF Bay Area Sewing Instruction
- • Related Events
| Resource | Description |
| The Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild | Contains lists of costumers from whom you may buy, commission, or rent costumes, information on making your own, as well as many other resources for the aspiring costume superstar. Essential! |
| Milieux, The Costume Site | Online Costuming Sources for Historical, Science Fiction & Fantasy Costumers |
| The Costume Gallery | Contains links to 6000 web pages and 25,000 images of fashion and costume, clothing designers, dealers, and general costuming info. |
| The San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum | a large collection of books on costuming and theater design. Be sure to contact a reference librarian for help, they know everything. |
| The Makeup Gallery | This photo-gallery has over 5000 images featuring character and prosthetic makeups by some of the best makeup artists. |
| Ggreg Taylor’s Drag Queen 101 | Make-up tips for everybody, really. |
| La Couturière Parisienne | A wonderful overview of costume from the Middle Ages through the 20th century. |
| Fashion Era | An interesting chronological history of women's fashion. |
SF Bay Area Costume and Art Supplies
| Resource | Location/Phone | Description |
| SCRAP | 801
Toland st. 415-647-1746 |
The Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts sells re-usable materials such as textiles, paper, jewelry findings, wood, buttons and plastics collected from businesses, institutions and individuals. Entrance is on Newcomb ave. between Toland & Selby |
| East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse | 6713
San Pablo ave. Oakland 510-547-6470 |
Reusable materials such used building materials and household items, fabric, arts and craft materials, office and school supplies, household items, books, antiques and refurbished collectibles. |
| Pearl Art & Craft Supplies | 969
Market st. San Francisco 415-357-1400 |
A good general art supply store. |
| Douglas & Sturgess | 730
Bryant st. San Francisco 415-896-6283 |
Good prices on plastics and sculpting supplies, great for use to build props and costumes. |
| Britex Fabrics | 146
Geary San Francisco 415-392-2910 |
The best of everything in fabrics, as well as a huge collection of buttons and hard to find trim, lace, ribbon, and notions. |
| Silk Road Fabric | 272
14th st. Oakland 510-763-1688 |
Specializing in imported silks, lace, bridal fabrics, and trims. |
| Poppy Fabric | 5151
Broadway Oakland 510-655-5151 |
Great collection of beautiful printed cottons, novelty fabrics, fine silks, velvets, and unusual trims. |
| Mendel’s Art Supplies and Far Out Fabrics | 1556
Haight st. San Francisco 415-621-1287 |
Great selection of art supplies, costume accessories, feather trims, fake furs and other novelty fabrics. |
| Discount Fabrics | 1432
Haight st. San Francisco 415-621-5584 |
Cheap novelty fabrics and sewing patterns. |
| Stone Mountain and Daughter | 2518
Shattuck ave. at Dwight Way Berkeley 510-845-6106 |
An excellent assortment of cottons, wools, silks, novelty fabrics, and patterns. |
| Western-Storex | 149
9th st. San Francisco 415-431-1458 |
Terrific old school leather shop, filled with a billion different kinds of leather, tools, findings, hardware, studs, sparklies, etc. |
| S.H. Frank & Co. | 17th
st. San Francisco 415-863-6244 |
Leather and leatherworking supplies, for over 100 years! |
| General Bead | 637
Minna st. San Francisco 415-255-2323 |
Thousands and thousands of beads, findings, rhinestones, glass and metal and plastic thingies, sequins, etc. |
| Kryolan | 132
Ninth st. San Francisco 415-863-9684 |
The best makeup shop ever, with high quality professional-grade cosmetics (everything from the basics, to beautiful body paints, wigs, fake teeth, airbrush supplies, false eyelashes, etc.) at surprisingly cheap prices. |
| Glamarama | 417
South Van Ness San Francisco 415-861-GLAM |
The BEST hair salon in San Francisco. They also do wigs! |
| Dark Garden | 321
Linden San Francisco 415-431-7684 |
Fine corsetry and custom clothing. Visit them in their Hayes Valley location! |
| Lundberg Haberdashery | 396
Colusa ave. Kensington 510-524-3003 |
Specializing in men’s vintage fashions, including an excellent array of hats. Call ahead for hours and directions. |
| Departures from the Past | 2028
Fillmore San Francisco 415-885-3377 |
Vintage clothing, and costumes and costume accessories sales and rentals. |
Online Sales of Costume and Art Sales
| Resource | Description |
| The Vintage Pattern Lending Library | Vintage clothing patterns, 1850-1950. |
| Ebay | A lot of everything. |
| Alamo Flag | Parade supplies. |
| Lavolta Press | Books on historical costuming. |
| Fifi Mahoney’s | Awesome selection of wigs, and they also do beautiful custom work. |
| Amazon Dry Goods | Victorian-style clothing, sewing patterns, shoes and accessories. |
| Life-Casting.com | Offers a good directory of art and sculpting supplies |
| American Science & Surplus | All kinds of supplies, from medical instruments, to art supplies, to electronics and machines, you name it. |
| Husqvarna Viking | Really, really good sewing machines. Good tools are actually cheaper in the long run. In this case you really do get what you pay for. |
| Artbeads.com | Beads, jewelry tools and findings. |
| River Junction catalog | 19th century, Old West, etc. garments and accessories. |
| Clearwater Hats | A huge selection of high quality reproductions of civilian and military Civil War, Victorian, and old west hats. |
| Judith M Millinery Supplies | Hats and supplies to make them. |
| Denise Dreher’s Millinery Directory | A huge list of hat and millinery supply stores. |
| Champion Attitude Boots | Incredible costume and custom boots and shoes. |
| R L Shep Publications | Offering books on historical costuming for various periods. |
| Resource | Location/Phone | Description |
| Action Rentals | 565
South Van Ness San Francisco 415-826-1830 |
Party supplies, tools, generators, etc. |
| Abbey Rents | 411
Allan st. Daly City 415-715-6900 |
Party supplies. |
| Stitch Lounge | 182
Gough st. San Francisco 415-431-3SEW/font> |
Sewing studio offering sewing classes, studio time with a full range of equipment, and fabric and supplies for sale. |
SF Bay Area Sewing Instruction
| Resource | Location/Phone | Description |
| The Sewing Workshop | 2010
Balboa San Francisco 415-221-7397 |
Weekend and evening classes and workshops for beginning through advanced sewers. Many of the teachers from Apparel Arts also teach shorter classes here. |
| Apparel Arts | 2325
3rd st. #225 San Francisco 415-436-9738 |
A serious curriculum of courses in clothing design, construction, and patternmaking. |
| Stone Mountain and Daughter | 2518
Shattuck ave. at Dwight Way Berkeley 510-845-6106 |
Weekend and evening classes and workshops for beginning through advanced sewers. |
| Canada College Fashion Design | 4200
Farm Hill blvd. Redwood City 650-306-3370 |
Their Fashion department offers courses in clothing design, construction, and patternmaking. |
| Related Events | Location |
| Halloween | In the Castro |
| Carnival | Everywhere |
| Carnaval | San Francisco |
| Carnival | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Carnival | Venice, Italy |
| Mummer’s Parade | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Burning Man | Black Rock City, Nevada |
| Winter Carnival | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Mardi Gras links | New Orleans |
| MardiGras.com | New Orleans |
| Mardi Gras Krewes and Parades | New Orleans |
| Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade | Coney Island, New York |
| Village Halloween Parade | New York City |
| Day of the Dead | San Francisco |
Photos: Scott Beale (Laughing Squid)
Web
Design : Rick Avila