Today we’d like to introduce you to Debra Redfern.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Debra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was always one of those kids who loved Halloween, would start thinking about what I would next year on November 1st. I have also always been a very creative person and was lucky to grow up surrounded by creative people who sewed, quilted, crocheted, etc and was sent to after-school art programs. I even ended up getting a degree in art with a minor in art history despite my now paying the bills by working in I.T.
I started going to Star Trek conventions with my parents when I was a teenager, but I don’t recall ever dressing for them even though I saw others there who did – and doing Klingon forehead prosthetics wasn’t something that really interested me. It wasn’t until around 2007 when I moved to Phoenix, and made friends with some photographers and started going to things like Renaissance faires when the convention scene started to really take off. I had been trying to think of a good costume I could do for the next convention when around that same time I got pulled into watching Doctor Who and was immediately hooked. So, my first cosplay was in 2009 of River Song in her outfit from “The Pandorica Opens” episode. I had found most of the outfit at thrift stores and did a little sewing to add the stripes to the pants and make my belt pouches and gun holster. I painted a toy gun and even made this little beaded green silk item she carries around with her. I ended up having a blast and making a ton of new friends by cosplaying as River, posing for a ton of pictures with everyone in front of the TARDIS they had there.
About a year later, I moved to Dallas for work, and once the dust settled in my new job, I got started making a couple new Doctor Who costumes and found new friends through connecting up with a local Doctor Who cosplays group, DFW Cosplay Gallifrey. Through the friends I made there and at all the various conventions, there’s almost one every weekend it seems, I am always busy making something new for myself or my friends.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest obstacle is finding the time to make all the things I get ideas about. Balancing a full-time I.T. job with getting all the work done on the costumes in time for the next convention, as well as planning out months ahead for the next ones in line, has proven to be a fun exercise in project management skills. For example, this week I am making the undergarments for a Queen Victoria costume for myself, waiting on a shipment of interfacing so I can continue work on a replica of a famous David Bowie coat for a friend, shopping on line for the next few costumes in line, and coordinating schedules with my friends and photographers for large groups of themed costumes for the next several conventions. I tend to be a bit of a ring-leader and pull others into my cosplay plans so we can coordinate all wearing costumes from a particular fandom. But getting to wear these costumes and cosplay with friends is the best part of it all for me. It makes all the stress of the deadlines, the expense of the costumes, and the physical pain from making, and sometimes wearing the costumes, worth it.
Please tell us about Red Stone Dreamery.
I’m most known for my extravagant and highly detailed costumes. The first big sewing project cosplay I did was making a replica of the gold gown worn in an episode of Doctor Who by Queen Elizabeth I. It’s covered in beading and although it looks like it took me forever to make, is now looking back in hindsight one of my simpler costumes. I spent several months hand sewing beads, lace, and sequins onto a replica of Jareth’s coat from the movie “Labyrinth,” as well as making myself Sarah’s ball gown from that same movie. But that project was also a life-long fantasy come true getting to dance with the Goblin King!
Lately, I’ve gotten into cosplaying a lot of Queens, but mostly Elizabeth II. I’m even getting asked to make public appearances as ‘Her Majesty’ in my full regalia. I have made myself a replica Imperial crown, along with the coronation orb and scepter, and it turned out amazingly well. I’m always surprised how many people here in Dallas want pictures with the Queen of England!
I mentioned earlier about the current costume I’m making – it’s the iconic Queen Victoria outfit in black brocade and white lace cuffs and veil. I’ll be doing a lot of hand pleating for the trim on that one but I’m really excited about that at the same time. I love getting lost in the details and being challenged by a new technique. The last big project I did was making replicas of three couture gowns that were worn in the film “Ocean’s 8” that my friends and I wore to Cosplay Prom. For those, I spent a month hand sewing down applique pieces.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Haha, I’d probably go back to when I was in college and picked a major that would have led me to do theatrical or movie costumes. Although you know what they say about hobbies no longer being fun when they become work, so who knows if I’d enjoy it any more than the way things are now. So I probably wouldn’t change anything actually, it’s a nice balance right now.
Contact Info:
- Email: RedStoneDreamery@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedStoneDreamery
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/redstonedreamery
Image Credit:
Firebird Images
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