I'm Back! The Past, Present and Future of the Costume Vault

Hello, fellow costume lovers! I've missed you all so very much!

As you all well know, this blog has been on pause for the last year and a half. This has not been exactly a purposeful choice on my part, more like the very definition of life getting in the way.

I started a new job back in early 2018 that took a lot of time and a lot of energy, and I also went through a really rough personal time that didn't help with the stress of the new job and didn't make finding time to write any easier.

I had tons of ideas for the blog and was really excited to be able to share them with you, so taking a break from creating content was not what I had in mind at all.

So, because of that, I was extremely surprised by all you guys who kept coming to the blog, reading, commenting, engaging... you really gave me so much just by knowing I had your support despite the blog not being active. So thank you so much to you all!

It is because of that love and support that I HAVE DECIDED TO COME BACK AND RELAUNCH The Costume Vault!!!!

This blog started as a way for me to share my thoughts on costume design as a narrative tool with a community of people who were also interested in the subject. That is exactly what I found. And I believe it's worth keeping it alive.

So, where does The Costume Vault go from here?

I'll start off with our very own list of Top 10 Best Film Costume Designs of the Decade to celebrate the start of the 2020s (as we've been teasing for the past week), and then I'll pick from where we left. I'll finally finish the 2018's Oscar Retrospective. That means I'll be reviewing Victoria & Abdul, Beauty and the Beast, The Shape of Water and, that year's winner, The Phantom Thread.

I'll also do the 2019's Oscar Retrospective that I skipped this past February. This means I'll be reviewing The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scotts, and, this year's winner, Black Panther.

But I'm also considering starting a brand new series of content that would broaden the blog's scope.

For instance, I'm working on creating a series dedicated to costume design's role in molding musicians' public image and persona. It's going to be called Thank you for coming to My Ted Talk and I'll be tackling some of Pop's music iconic performers.

And many, many more.

On top of that, I've been considering for a long time LAUNCHING A PATREON SITE for the Costume Vault.

Patreon is a crowdfunding platform, like Kickstarter, except that instead of funding an artist for a big project with a one-time donation of a large amount of money, it allows you to sponsor an artist for a longer period with smaller amounts of money. For example, one dollar for each article. It presents different tiers of subscription (one, two or five dollars, for instance) and in exchange, you are given rewards set by the creator as a way to thank you for sharing their vision and helping them reach their goals.

This wouldn't mean that the blog and its content would stop being public. I simply refuse to do that!

The truth of the matter is that I would like to broaden the scope of the blog and reach a wider community of people with a common interest and your support would make it easier to post more high-quality writting more frequently as well as create a wider variety of content: launching a video series on costume design, maybe a podcast, Q&A...

I'm also looking forward to getting to know you better, one on one, and to get to interact even more with you guys.

At this point, it would really help me to get your feedback on the project.

What do you think? How do you feel about this initiative? Would you be interested? What kind of content that we put out do you like the best? What would you like to see that we are not doing?

Let me know!

You are the ones that keep me going every day. I can't explain how uplifting it is to have somebody behind me, nudging me to keep going. And I value your thoughts and ideas a lot.

All in all, it certainly is an exciting time for the blog!

As you can imagine, none of this will be immediate. But we'll keep you informed and, hopefully, it won't take long (at least until some new content comes your way).

So, if you are reading this, consider it as my personal invitation back to this community and our journey to love, hate, snark and bark at costume design!

I'M SO HAPPY TO BE BACK!

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