an event of Costumer's Guild West, Inc.

Costume College is a three-day educational conference on all subjects relating to costuming and clothing. The Costumer's Guild West, Inc. (a.k.a. the CGW) is the organization that yearly produces Costume College. In 2009, Costume Collegewill be held at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys, California, from Friday, July 31, 2009 through Sunday, August 2, 2009.

Each year we will offer a special bonus track. This is a series of classes that focus on a particular subject. The bonus track insures that there is always something new and fresh each year. However, this bonus track is only a small fraction of our total classes. The bonus track for 2009 is "The Eighteenth Century."

The Costumer's Guild West Inc. is a community of costumers dedicated to promoting the art of costuming and needlework in all forms. Through Costume College, we present an educational forum where members can learn about the history of clothing, expressing their imagination in costuming, and creating links to the past, present, and future in the fashion arts.

"Hands on" is our primary method of teaching at Costume College. We offer an extensive selection of lectures, workshops, and demonstrations targeting every level of costumer (i.e., beginner, amateur, semiprofessional, professional, and just people who like to dress-up). We offer over 100 classes presented by more than 65 teachers and cover every imaginable topic!

Here's an overview of our subject range:

• Basic sewing classes
• Corsetry
• Ethnic clothing topics
• Fitting and tailoring methods
• Lectures on a wide variety of subjects regarding historical clothing
• Mask making
• Millinery
• Museum techniques and topics
• Pattern drafting and draping techniques
• Needlework and embellishment skills
• Theatrical and historical make-up and hair styling courses
• Theatrical costuming subjects (for stage, film, museum, and re–enactor)
• Science fiction and fantasy costuming for presentation and enjoyment
• And much, MUCH more

We have something for everyone. To give you a taste of what's coming, click on "Classes" to find out what we offered last year.

When you consider everything we offer at Costume College, the price of a membership is one of the best bargains around. There is nothing like Costume College anywhere in the world, and if you compare the price of other conferences you'll find they can run as much as 10 times the cost of one of our memberships. Click on "Applications to Costume College 2009" to get more information about our prices.

In addition to a fabulous and extensive selection of costuming courses, the CGW, Inc. provides a series of fun events during the three-day run of Costume College. Friday we have an orientation for our attendees. Saturday night, we host the Time Traveler's Gala, a fancy dress dinner dance showcasing attendees' costumes and fashions of all types. Music at the Gala features something for everyone, from waltzes to rock and roll. Sunday afternoon we host the Fantasy Tea, another costume-encouraged event, as well as our Sunday evening "School's Out" party in the Hospitality Suite. Want to know more? Click on Events.

Additionally, our teachers are from a wide cross-section within the costuming, museum, and theatrical community. Many are professionals, many highly respected self-educated costume enthusiasts, and even a few are curators at world-class museums. Several have won awards for costuming within the masquerade world and other areas of competition. Some have written books and published articles, or do consultation/construction for films and historical reenactment. Our teachers come from all over the U.S. Most have been costuming for a minimum of 15 years, and all are very knowledgeable in their particular field. Click on Teachers to learn more.