The entire thing is made from pre-loved or vintage fabrics
The blue is a set of cafe tablecloth I picked up from the local charity shop before it closed down for £10 enough ro make the 2 dresses
The white layered skirts were a double sheet - I cut carefully skimming an inch or 3 from the lower layers to make it fit without sacrificing too much swirl (eg bottom tier was 190 inches rather than 196)
I picked up 120 purple feathers from eBay for £25 for the carnival costume (which has been a bugger but is starting to come together) and uses a pan lid stand and pipe insulation plus some bungies for its base backpack
My god mum gave me a 1948 (I think) suit her seamstress aunty gave her in the early 80s so we have used that (struggling with a suitable top) - when I sent her pictures she told her sister, and all of a sudden we had a parcel of 1960s/70s dresses from Barbados - which have been invaluable for research reasons alone
Another friend turned up post lockdown 1.0 with all the spare costumes, props, silks and backdrop cloths from her photo studio that shut down (retirement rather than covis thankfully)
It has been eye-opening to receive such kindness - everyone really cares about reusing/slow fashion
So far I have bought thread new, and some poppers! I just picked up some glue sticks and some extra elastic on eBay but they were both 'used so I guess surplus to requirements
I'll get the cost of everything i spent plus something towards making them. The Arts Council is keen on people being paid their worth but also contributing to their art
And tbh having something to concentrate on during lockdowns has been fab without any markets and fairs there is only so much I can make and store until I can start selling again - online hasn't worked well for me 😁 (plus I am being semi paid to make mistakes and start again, so learning all the time - this cuba dress for example - 6 hrs of unpicking all of which happened while watching pride and prejudice, a series of unfortunate events and 'the dig' as a family!)