Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear after a deep dive into my archives, where many hacks and reverse-engineered projects made appearances in my portfolio. The techniques have been re-used and evolved, but the fullest documentation was back then. Cameras instead of cell phones! When it was possible to tour Europe on Five Dollars a Day!
The agenda for these was to make pickpockets’ lives hell. While we can’t stop a determined thief, we can off-foot them to easier targets.
Su worked the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August of 2008, much of it outside under canvas. There was attentive security but it was focused on the computers and other electronics set up on long tables, not keeping track of personal belongings.
Did I mention it was hot? Not desirable to wear a backpack.
We chose a heavy, breathable canvas and gave her big patch pockets. They had an opening (like a window for a welt) to the inside, where they were backed by a slightly smaller pocket. The opening between was high enough that a hotel room key and credit cards could tuck safely in the flap, yet be accessible by reaching through the front.
Jan had doubled pockets like Su’s but they were only accessible from the inside. He was an engineer whose company liaised him all over Europe. They gave him a lavish per diem, but he preferred to spend the intervals between conferences hitchhiking well away from the tourist areas while staying in hostels. He needed a jacket for his presentations and to get into upscale restaurants/concert halls, and it had to be presentable after being rolled up and toted around in his duffle.
The solution was hard-finish denim-look polyester double-knit! It was the wonder fabric of its day.
I leaned on him for a light-weight shoulder pad but his principles did not extend that far. He was right. He got in everywhere, even though he reported getting the stink eye from an occasional maître d’hôtel.
The Denver Art Museum had commissioned me to build wearable costumes and props that were taken from paintings and statuary (“See the show! Wear the hat!”). It included an Elizabethan corset, stomacher and bum roll that caught Carly’s eye. She asked if I could make her an outfit to wear to Venice (city of pickpockets as well as gondolas) for several days of Carnivale.
I encourage clients to come and help, guaranteeing the quality of their work as well as my own. It saves me slogging through the easy bits, and them considerable money. It’s also great fun.
The upper garment was one piece, with a heavy plastic separating zipper concealed behind the left diagonal frill.
The ruffled petticoat, bum roll and hidden pocket were also one piece. While working, Carly was wearing a ziplock to try out the weight and position of the pocket’s contents.
It was accessed through a faced slit in the overskirt. An advantage of suspending it from her bum roll was that the weight of the skirt pressed its contents under the curve, making even her camera invisible. A strong but light cable let her pull it out for shots while remaining securely connected.
She had originally wanted silk velvet, but I persuaded her to back down to heavy cotton velveteen. She and her party would get back to their hotel in the wee hours deliriously happy, exhausted, and filthy. The concierge would have her outfit cleaned and ready to go in plenty of time for the next evening’s revels.
In summation: I love clients bringing non-standard projects to work through together. My job is to listen to them, provide options, kick around problem-solving, and then do what they tell me (not difficult as they’ve been steered to options I’m willing to do).
Considerations include anticipating unforeseen results, building in comfort/range of motion, cleaning (!) and safety while keeping their project achievable in their time frame and within their budget.
And with pockets!