I create costumes for Ruric-Amari and for the members of the Samovar Dance Theatre. I have been making costumes for a long time. My current focus is on costuming that taps into subconscious interpretations of ethnic line and decoration AND the conscious desire to make the costume "fit right" in the eyes of Western dancers and audiences. Creative Neo-classic costuming, if you will.
Folkloric garments are traditionally made of simple shapes in order to use every scrap of fabric from a rectangular loom. This palette of simple shapes forces me to create incrementally and with understanding. Solving design or fabric challenges with simple shapes can make for emotionally complex costuming. I like this.
The costumes on this web site are, therefore, organized by basic shapes. Most of them are designed to be made by people who are outfitting themselves or friends in a hurry. Other pieces are a little more complex. All of them incorporate the simple but custom adjustments that I have developed to make the garment fit better, stay in place, accommodate a range of sizes or last longer. I have no problem adding details like darts or a different shoulder treatment to make the resulting garment more attractive to Western dancers without destroying the power of the primitive loom-based geometric shapes.
Enjoy the web site. Feel free to link to it. The content is copyrighted. Do not steal it, words or pictures. If you want to contact me: MauraZebra @ gmail.com (Remove the space before and the @ if you copy and paste the address.)
- Circles
- Burnoose
- Pants
- Skirts
- Veils
- Pants
- Rectangles and Trapezoids
- Dresses
- Coverups and Coats
- Drawstring Bags
- Pants and Pantaloons
- Skirts
- Tie Belts
- Tops
- Yarn belts
- Veils
- Two-Sock's Dog Bed
- Drawstring Bags
- Triangles
- Tribal Bra
- Combinations
- Skirts
- Vest
- Pants and Bloomers
- Vest
- Details
- Hems
- Binding
- Dyeing Silk
- Hip Belt Ties
- Log Cabin quilting
- Underlining
- Flounces
- Panels
- Gussets
- Trim
- Zill Elastic
- Binding