Costume Care 101

Buying a good costume can cost you a pretty penny.  This means you should try to make them last as long as possible.  Caring for your costume will help keep it looking like new for many years.  I have a roman soldier costume and will refer to this item in the following paragraphs to teach you how to properly care for you own costume.

 The first area you should look into after wearing your costume is cleaning your costume.  Making sure you take off all sweat and dirt within 24 hours of use will help make the cleaning process easier and will prevent stains from moving in.  Cleaning practices will vary based off what kind of costume you have, but here are some basic tips. 

Cloth cleaning should only be done after you read the tag and determine the best way to do this.  When a tag says “dry clean only”, you should take its advice and bring it to a dry cleaner.  Some costumes should not be cleaned at home and others can, you just have to read the tag to find out.

 Washing down a metallic costume will be more intense than placing a cloth costume in the washing machine.  My roman soldier armor has many pieces of metal and must be cleaned with care.  This metal is not stainless steel and will rust if it is not dried properly.  I try to use a moist cloth to wipe down the metal pieces and only use polish when the shine is starting to get very dull.  The reason I take these steps is to make sure that all metallic pieces stay in optimal condition.

 You will find that your costume will eventually need to be repaired.  Cloth can be repaired using a good seamstress or a needle and thread for the skilled costume owner.  I try to buy thread that exactly matches my costume before taking it to my local seamstress to use.  I’ve found that she does not always use the exact same color thread when I do not do this.

 Fixing areas of a costume that are made from metal or plastic can be harder than repairing areas made from cloth.  Retailers and manufacturers can be contacted for exact replacements of damaged parts.  I once put a dent in my roman armor and found out the hard way that it could not be fixed by banging the dent out with a hammer.The last area you should look into is costume storage.  

 You will want to make sure that you store it with cedar so that moths will not destroy the fabric. Remember that moisture can be just as bad as moths so be sure to keep your costume dry as well.

Pick Up Girls (or Guys) With Magic

So your single, shy and want to meet someone of the opposite sex. What do you do?

Typically singles go to bars and use cheesy pickup lines that rarely work. Instead use magic, it is the best ice breaker I know of.

Back in my single days I had a great magic trick that worked very well. Back then most people smoked cigarettes and Marlboro was a very popular brand. When I went to a bar I made sure I took a gimmicked Marlboro cigarette.

I took the tobacco out of the cigarette and filled it with a rolled up five dollar bill. When I saw a beautiful girl I wanted to meet I would watch and see when she took a cigarette out. I would palm my gimmicked cigarette and approach her and ask if I could bum a smoke. They almost always hand you one.

I then do a switch for the gimmicked one and try to light it. I would then complain something like “Yuck, what’s in this cigarrette you gave me?” She would look at me and wonder what the hell I was talking about. I would then, right in front of her eyes, tear the cigarrette open and reveal the five dollar bill. I would then remark, “Here, I don’t need this, buy yourself a drink.” I would hand her the bill and then I would just walk away.

Girls love a man of mystery and now she’s wondering, who the hell was that, she was also amazed, and finally she got free money and all women love that. So now I had her interest peaked.

Some time later I would walk by her again and most of the time they will stop me and want to start talking to me. If she doesn’t notice me I may walk back over to her later and ask her how the drink was and that’s all it takes for her to start asking how I did it and if I can stay and do another.

That’s the invitation you are waiting for to spend more time with her.

If your single and shy, give magic a try the next time you see someone you want to meet.