Webinars and Workshops
The Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild presents webinars and workshops by speakers on a variety of topics about costumes and costuming. Webinars are free to members and may also be available to the greater costuming community on space-available basis. Send feedback or suggestions for future speakers or topics to board@siwcostumers.org with the subject line “webinar series.”
Speakers can choose to make recordings, slides and other documents available to everyone, or limit access to members only. For member-only access, use the same password that you received for the current issue of The Virtual Costumer magazine. Not a member? Join us now to access all member-only content today!
Select a year to view the webinars, or use your browser's search function
to locate an entry (CTRL-F for PC / CMD-F for Mac). Select the webinar
link to view the webinar, or a supporting document link to view the
document. (may require a PDF viewer 
).
2023 2022
2023
Webinar: Making and Styling Wigs for Costumers
March 12, 2023Speaker: Kendra Van Cleave
View this webinar [1h 20m]
(License: standard YouTube license)
Kendra Van Cleave discusses how costumers can make and style wigs for many types of costumes. She also talks about her book, 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling, which includes a section with step-by-step guides for creating and working with wigs of all kinds. Kendra is a fashion historian, academic librarian, and award-winning costumer. She served on the board of the Costume Society of America Western Region, and is a past president of the Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild.
This webinar is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the International Costumers' Guild Marty Gear Costuming Arts and Sciences Fund.
Webinar: Cosplay: A History
January 29, 2023Speaker: Andrew Liptak
View this webinar [1h 36m]
(License: standard YouTube license)
Andrew Liptak's book Cosplay: A History is a deep dive into the origins and culture of cosplay. In his talk, Andrew covers a wide swath of its history to reveal where it came from, how it has evolved, and why it has become such a mainstream phenomenon.
Andrew is a writer and historian, and a member of the 501st Legion, an international fan-based organization dedicated to the dark side of Star Wars.
This webinar is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the International Costumers' Guild Marty Gear Costuming Arts and Sciences Fund.
2022
Webinar: Tech Couture
December 18, 2022Speaker: Sahrye Cohen and Hal Rodriguez
View this webinar [1h 28m]
(License: standard YouTube license)
Sahrye Cohen and Hal Rodriguez are the authors of the DIY Electronics book Make It, Wear It: Wearable Electronics for Makers, Crafters and Cosplayers, and founders of the tech couture designer group Ampted Atelier. Tech couture blends traditional sewing techniques with computer assisted fabrication and wearable electronics.
Sahrye and Hal present about the design, materials, and construction techniques that they use for their fashion pieces and wearable electronic costumes. They also share DIY electronic projects and tips for making costumes that light-up, make sound, and move.
This webinar is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the International Costumers' Guild Marty Gear Costuming Arts and Sciences Fund.
Webinar: Ukrainian Wedding Towels
September 18, 2022Speaker: Vera Sukhorukova with Oleksii Kryvenko
View this webinar [members only 2h 7m]
(License: standard YouTube license)
Ukrainian folk artist Vera Sukhorukova joins virtually from her home village outside the capital of Kyiv. Her presentation is about traditional and modern embroidered Ukrainian wedding towels (rushnyk). These towels play important roles in a traditional Ukrainian wedding ceremony.
Vera talks about and shows pictures of these elaborately embroidered towels, from ancient times and those being made now. She also shows various stitch techniques and discuss the meaning of symbols used in the embroidery patterns.
This webinar is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the International Costumers' Guild Marty Gear Costuming Arts and Sciences Fund.
- Webinar preview [3m]
(License: standard YouTube license) - Presentation slides [members only 11.5 MB ]
(License: personal use only, no redistribution, no derivative works)
Please report any corrections to webmaster@siwcostumers.org.