Feth

the one and only Feth

A long time ago, A dear friend of mine had a familiar on a LARP event called Feth. It was a leprechaun with a big mouth and an annoying voice. He was feared and loved. He had two handdolls to play Feth (and sometimes more then one of the creepy leprechauns... one was usually enough, two made you run like hell). He once told me he wanted to change one into a drow-leprechaun (because we all need an annoying little guy with an even more evil twitch).

Sadly, he lost one of the dolls in the woods. We thought it was lost forever, but after a few years we found his head back. His hair and body (which was cloth) was all gone, but his head (wood) was intact.

Fet and his new Brother

Now the other doll already got a new outfit from me. A bit of a classy wizardly outfit for Feth to show off. How come I got the doll? Long story. I once played a character as backup from the same homeworld and asked if I could take Feth along. It was funny how people that knew him were semi happy to see him (and then held on to their gold-pouch and excused themselves to get away from him). I have the head too and I wanted to make my friends wish come true. I used it to make a Feth-drow.

Now Feth and his new brother are home. I'm glad he was so happy to have Feth back. Things will be a lot less chaotic without the two crazy leprechauns running around the house.

Happy Birthday Sebas.

Pictures made by Sebastiaan.

COSplay: The thin line between copyright abuse and fanart

As the title explains, there is a very thin line between copyright abuse and fan art when it comes down to selling my own handmade cosplay outfits. You can make everything for yourself or your friends and show it to the world, but selling it as a company can be very tricky. There are some licensing companies that have the 'dips' on creating and commercially selling costumes or parts of costumes. No license means your bootlegging and actually you are not helping the fandom. Licensed products means a part of the money you spend on them goes directly to the company that made your hero happen and feeds it so it can go on and on. Giving into bootleg means your money doesn't go to what you want to support.

But I really like to make cosplay!

Now truth be told I do twist and turn it into my own creation and mix it with periodic clothing. But what if I want to use logo's and such? I can't sell that, but I can recreate the outfit without logo's. Or I find the licensed versions to use in the clothing. I want to support the fandom and yes there are big and very rich companies behind them that probably already have enough money, but they also check the popularity by looking at their sales. They can't check bootleg. Next to that, bootleg can be punished severely. If I'd have to calculate a lawsuit into my items, it would become un-affordable.

So what should I do?

I, personally, am not going to stop making costumes for myself. I will go all the way. What I can sell from that costume as made to fit, will be the blank parts. Everything that does not immediately links to something that could be licensed. Next to that, with every character I create, I will sell licensed items.

I am a fan, I support the fans, I want to help the fandom grow.

Licensed Merchandise on Samalla.nl 

Restless

I slept horribly.

Now that is not really something I would write about here, it's more a little tweet or facebook announcement for my friends. But now it's here, because of the reason why I kept twisting and turning in my sleep.

I miss designing. Now I do design a lot of things and that is not really the problem. The problem is that I have so many ideas, drafts and outrages things on paper and in my head that don't see the light of day due to several factors:

1. Commission overload. I'm making to the costumers wishes withing the costumers budget. With a 100 euro more I could really put my signature in the designs, but that's not what the commission demands.
2. Lack of budget. I see so many beautiful materials I'd love to cut but cannot afford.
3. Lack of time. When there is an event I'd love to show one of my designs, I don't really have the time to get it as I wish to make it.
4. My downgrading mindset. There is this marketing voice in my head that I need to make it sell-able.

Due to this I cannot really say what distinguishes me from other corset designers and historical sewing companies, other then my great personality.

So some limitations that doesn't make me cross the line from comfort base to signature base kept me awake at night. I like doing the straight on historical sewing. I even learned a lot from it and I'm still learning, but there is a monster inside of me that wants to get out.

The monster needs a plan.

I'm going to hold off any new big commissions. I'll do the corsets and I'll do the commissions I already said I would do, but the rest of my sewing time goes straight into my monster. I'm letting go of the 'wouldn't prices scare them off' or 'is it sell-able as it is'. From everything I have designed, most want it a bit different anyway.

Now the budget issue. I will have to start on the materials I have now (which is a lot) and since a month or so I retail licensed merchandise. It will have to do.


Back to what I was and felt comfortable with. That girl in fashion academy that never went into the mainstream of the class.

Let's see how well I sleep tonight.

Art for Art: 17th century weddingdress

I personally don't give to charity. Donating money that is. The problem with donating money to charity, is that only a fraction of that money goes where it's supposed to be. Or they have no clue on what to spend it and buy promotional shirts. That bugs me, because I want to give to the people in need, and not to the bosses that run the show. Because it is a show. A charity fund is a company. It has an office and employees. Some volunteers. Promoting your charity costs money, employees cost money and, what has been hot topic around here a lot, the bosses cost a crazy lot of money. I won't pay for his villa, I want the full 100% to go where you promised me it would go.

So, I'm not a greedy little bastard that doesn't want to give. I just look around to see where I can actually help and see the result. Now I'm not the type that jumps on a plane and help protesters, nurse babies or builds new homes. But what I can do is help something close to my heart and home what is in dire need.

There was this call for help I saw via via on FaceBook: Wanted: A dress somewhat like this for a theater performance. Looking at the dress, I wanted to make it. And I could make it. So I contacted them. I'll make the dress and just want it back after the performances are over. This is my charity this year. Art and theater are very much down on funds and we need to help each other. They have the dress they need, I got a bit of promo.

Now I don't have a lot of money to go around myself, so the dress wouldn't be in historical correct fabrics. That would cost a fortune. But for a stage dress I could use modern fabrics. I went for aqua satin and black taft silk. Looking for the gold details is hard outside of Christmas season for a reasonable price. I found something similar in shape, just not as grotesque. The lace/embroided collar and cuffs were a challenge too, but I got some embroided finish and voile.

Report on Grachtenfestival Amsterdam 2013

This dress could be viewed on the Theater over het Ij festival and Grachtenfestival
The play is called 'Lege Dagen' and is directed by Kasper Kapteijn.
Performing actress is Nadia van Vuuren

The dress was sold after the performances.

Trending: New set of players, old set of rules

Those of you that have visited my Dutch shop on www.samalla.nl know that next to my own brand Samalla, I sell items from wholesellers. I try to mix and match with what I like to make and somehow present to you a package off wedding, costume and fanfic items. It's sometimes pretty hard to mix and match everything and make it a complete story for my costumers. Because a weddingdress stands a bit far from a jumpsuit for Marvel's Phoenix.

There is something I need to get off my chest. It has to do with the Wholesale companies. Yes you, wholesellers, pay attention!

The market has changed. Brick and mortar shops fade. The big ones fall hard and the small ones silently disappear. It is sad that strolling through your favorite shops is ending. What I noticed in Hoorn (small city in the Netherlands) is that the shops make way for restaurants and specialty shops. And tattoo parlors, but it's a harbor-city, that's not surprising. People buy online. Why go out in the rain for your most wanted goods if you can buy it all online? You scroll in the shop, no one there to bother you. If you want to think it over, you bookmark it and it's all a click away. You save gas and parking money, or a public transport ticket and maybe just pay shipping costs. Even for weddingdresses this is the case.

The new players of the game in retail. They have been there for a while and more are coming.

What I noticed is that terms of the wholesale companies are still those of the brick and mortar shops. I'm not going to mention specific wholesale companies, but some might recognize something. I'm going to sum op a few reasons why some wholesellers don't do business with companies like mine.

You must spend a minimum amount of xxxx euro
I get that. But asking an amount I don't see back within a month is just ridiculous. I know there is just as much work on filling half a box when you fill a whole box, but you're asking me to fill 3 boxes! I like your product and want to see if my costumer likes the product. If they do, then get me 5 boxes! I'm not going to spend all the money I have for the next 3 months on a guess. Help me out a bit here. Charge shipping, really not a problem.

You must have a brick and mortar shop
Well, if you're only selling to those shops, your numbers will go flatline at a point. I have a brick and mortar workshop, in which I receive costumers that made an appointment? Ohw, it doesn't count. But that bridal shop that only opens her doors for costumers with an appointment does count.

If you buy from us, you can only sell bridal
I can understand you don't want your brand to be seen with something that is not in your taste, but I think in this economy you have to be able to open up a bit more to the opportunities given. Your competition won't hesitate. But, all up to you!

We will need the official papers of that you are a company
That's very oldfashioned. It used to be that you had to ask for official paperwork to proof to a wholesale company you were allowed to buy tax free. These days there is the internet. You should try it. If you go to the company registry site (www.kvk.nl for the Netherlands) crosscheck my number and name, you have all my details in screen. But instead you want me to pay extra money for papers, because you seem to like paperwork. This is what stops a lot of 'new players' to deal with you and move on to the next one. I once asked why they didn't want to check online. It was to 'keep my details safer'. Yes, details that are public on the internet do get safer when printed on paper. I'm lost on this one.

We don't do business with shops that are in an xx-km radius of another dealer
Ok. That dealer seems to be an online shop. So am I. Ehm. I don't even know what to say. Internet is the same street now?

The last one I got, I'm not going to mention. It was a special kind of something. I'm not allowed to talk about it even. Still trying to process that one in my brain.

Now I have to mention that the most oldfashioned way of dealing comes from Dutch Wholesale, so Dutch shops are forced to look abroad (yay for Dutch economy dropping...).

And before any wholesale accountmanager reading this thinking 'she doesn't know how things go around here', I used to have your job. I learned that catching a big fish is one good meal. Once the fish decides to leave, you'll be starving. Little fish tend to stay around longer if you treat them well.