American Circus Educators Magazine Spring 2015 (Issue 1, Vol 3) | Page 4

FEATURE 1
THRIFT STORE COSTUMING: CREATING A PROFESSIONAL
CHILDREN'S COSTUME ON A $25 BUDGET
BY JENNY LEIGH DU PUIS
Jenny Leigh Du Puis is a freelance costume designer with a love of rhinestones,
pompoms, and the color sparkly. She has previously worked with Circus Smirkus and
Cirque du Soleil, and currently spends her time creating magical items to sell in her
Etsy shop: jennyleighdupuis.etsy.com.
Costuming on a budget is not traditionally the most satisfying way to attire yourself or your circus
artists for a performance, but with a little out of the box thinking, you can turn thrift store finds into
treasure! This works well for adults or children, but for the purposes of this article, I challenged myself
to create a spectacular child's costume on a $25 budget. I headed to my local thrift store with an open
mind and plenty of time to poke around and emerged with a wealth of possibilities.
04