Hello!
Welcome to Renaissance Flaire, the fulfillment of a dream!
Welcome, good gentles, to my humble establishment. You have stumbled upon the realization of my longtime dream to own my very own clothing and costuming business. Although I have been costuming and selling my creations for several years, I have only just now embarked upon a full scale business.
Background
I am actually a computer scientist by trade, although I started out with a major in History! I have always loved medieval and Renaissance art, history, and clothing, and began early to craft my own designs from pictures in books. My first competition for costuming was in 1983, when I won a first place trophy in the Floridacon '83 costume contest with a reproduction of the King Arthur outfit in "Camelot 3000". This is the costume that my husband wore at our wedding that same year!
For many years I made costumes for family and friends. My daughter was always the talk of the neighborhood for the elaborate creations that I turned out for her each Halloween. When we moved to Maryland, I went back to Renaissance because the Maryland Renaissance Festival offered such a great opportunity to wear things! I started out with simple chemises and overdresses, and then progressed to Tudor.
This is my first full fledged Tudor, and I'm still very proud of it, since it was made without a pattern! And what is more, it is made of found and recycled fabrics (the blue is an old velvet bedspread, the gold fabric is a recycled "Belle" costume that I had made for my daughter).
In 1998 my husand and I became involved with community theatre in the Laurel, MD area. I enjoyed acting, but I naturally gravitated toward the costumes! For "Oklahoma" in 1998, I made the can-can dresses and many, many petticoats. The theatre troupe, Laurel Community Theatre, was pleased with my work, and I was asked to handle costumes for "Damn Yankees" in 1999. That was a modern production, of course, but I had to make 19 (!!!) baseball uniforms! In 2000, we became involved with another troupe, The Rude Mechanicals, who concentrate on Shakespeare. Just my speed! For "Macbeth" I made kilts, MANY shirts, and my own cloak and dress in the role of First Witch (no comments about typecasting, please! :) I costumed "Much Ado About Nothing" this past summer, which involved the manufacture of many, many doublets, more shirts, many chemises, and FOUR wedding dresses, all in Renaissance style! Pictures from that production will be coming soon, I just haven't had time to scan them in! Our current production is "Hamlet", which is in modern dress, but I am coordinating the costumes for that as well.
The Business
This past summer, while I was making the costumes for Much Ado, my husband decided that if I were spending so much time and money on costuming, that I ought to incorporate into a real business, and so I did. And this is it! I offer quality custom work to everyone, and my main goal is that my customers be pleased with what they get. I used only the highest quality fabrics, and I finish each seam. Trims are applied to stay! So please look around my site, and email me if you have any questions!
Thank you for looking and peace be with you --
Leanne Mitchell