Todd's Costumes InformationPoliciesHow to orderPaying online Domestic ShippingInternational ShippingBackordered ItemsBackorder Policy Changing an order100% Satisfaction GuaranteeAbout UsFrequently Asked QuestionsIf you are truly from this earth, how do you account for your amazing talent? How long will it take to get my order? Can you make minor changes to your custom costume items? What's the cheapest way to make a Xena dress? Do you have costumes for kids? Do you know any stores where I can buy a Xena costume? Do you know where I can buy boots? Where do you get your materials? |
How to OrderIf You Want to Pay Online: Just use the shopping cart buttons to add things to your cart and when you are finished click "check out". You do NOT need a Paypal account to send your payment online. You only need a credit card. If You Want to Pay Another Way: I will accept the following types of payment (USA customers): personal check, money order, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Paypal. Just call 661-242-2089. International Customers: You may use the shopping cart if you have a credit card. Paypal will handle the currency conversion. The only other payments I will accept are Western Union or American Express money orders in US DOLLARS ONLY. We cannot accept postal or bank money orders or personal checks. Also, there may be import duty due when it arrives, which you are responsible to pay. Contact your customs department to learn your country's import duty rates. If You Need to Send Measurements: I will e-mail you with details when you place your order. See the FAQ "how do I send measurements?" below for more details. Domestic ShippingWe usually ship UPS ground, and transit time can be one to five days depending on distance. Faster shipping options are available at checkout. Sorry, we cannot ship overnight. International ShippingWe usually ship United States International Priority Mail, since their rates are a fraction of UPS or FedEx's rates. Packages usually arrive in one to two weeks. Expedited shipping is available but very expensive. A package sent 3 day to Europe can easily cost several hundred dollars to ship. Overnight international shipping is not possible. In addition, all packages, no matter who the carrier is, are subject to inspection by your country's customs agency. They can delay the release of a package indefinitely, at their discretion. Neither we nor the carrier has any control over your government's Customs agency. Please be aware of your country's customs policies. We do not know the import regulations of every country. It is your responsibility to know your country's laws concerning the legality of the items you wish to import. This is especially relevant in regard to replica weapons and certain animal products (leather). We assume no responsibility if items you order are confiscated by your country's customs authorities. We ship international packages every day, and so far we have had very, very few problems with customs or lost packages. |
Backordered ItemsWe try to fill backorders as soon as possible. However, we have no control over our suppliers or the Department of Customs and Border Patrol. It is impossible for us to predict an accurate delivery date. Please do not backorder items if you are in a hurry. Furthermore, please do not e-mail us asking when your backorder will ship. It takes a great deal of our time to answer daily e-mails and phone calls inquiring about backorders. Any news about projected delivery dates will be posted on that product's page. Please check there for updates on delivery status. When you place an order consisting of multiple items that include one or more backorders, we will hold your order until all items are in stock and the complete order can be shipped. Your shipping rate is based on shipping your complete order in one package. If you don't want your complete order to be delayed, please order backordered items separately. Changing an OrderIf you have made a mistake while ordering, please e-mail us the correct information using our contact page and we will correct it. Please do not ask later to delete or add items to your order. Please place a separate order for the additional items. Revising or adding to an order that has already been placed is a tremendous amount of work for us and often leads to confusion and mistakes. We can combine orders to save on shipping. Simply place the new order through the website and we will refund part of the shipping (adding to your order may increase the shipping). 100% Satisfaction GuaranteeI guarantee you'll like whatever you order. If you don't, send it back (in its original condition). As soon as we receive it, we'll refund your money using whatever method you used to pay. We don't refund shipping. For custom fitted garments, the best I can do is to alter them if they don't fit. With most of the costumes on this website, there's just no way they will fit anyone else. I'll allow one alteration. If it still doesn't fit, then there's something wrong with the measurements you're giving me. |
About UsTodd's Costumes has been on the web since 1997. We started up during the height of the Xena: Warrior Princess craze doing costumes and props for fans. Later, we began doing Gladiator costumes and Indiana Jones costumes. We are located in southern California about 45 miles north of Los Angeles. Our shop is located in a remote village deep in the mountains at the base of the Sierra Madres. Since we are at high altitude, we enjoy four seasons and snow. We do not have a public store front. Our shop is divided between office, workshop, and stock/shipping. We keep most items in stock, but due to heavy seasonal demands, we often run short on items. E-mail is the best way to communicate with us. Our staff consists of myself and usually two to six part-time helpers, including my two teen-age sons. We try our best to offer the highest quality products, the best customer service, and the best value possible. Our address is at the bottom of every page. Our phone number is at the right side of every page. We don't put our e-mail address on the website, but you can e-mail us by using the "contact us" form. |
Frequently Asked Questions |
If you are truly from this earth, how do you account for your amazing talent? |
I get asked this a lot (kidding!). Perhaps a little bit about me would be in order. I am not a god, I am just an ordinary man. I have a little house, a wife, and three boys ages fifteen, fourteen, and ten months. My occupation before starting Todd's Costumes was puppeteering. I've done a lot of television work with the Muppets and others, and live shows with Disney. I've worked with a lot of famous puppeteers like Jim Henson and Frank Oz. I've done small parts on shows like "Allegra's Window", "Bear in the Big Blue House", "The Book of Pooh", and "The New Captain Kangaroo". I was part of a local television show for seven years called "David D TV" which was produced and aired on WFTS Television, which is the ABC affiliate in Tampa, Florida where I lived at the time. I performed "Smedley" who was "David D's" puppet sidekick. I eventually began to write and direct as well. I've made puppets since I was a teenager, and I've always had an interest in puppets, prop making and make-up. For one particular television episode, I thought it would be funny for David and Smedley to dress like Xena and Gabrielle. Perhaps a Halloween costume mix-up. So, being the low-budget show that it was, I made the costumes. They were intentionally cheesy. People around the station were so impressed with this cheesy costume that they began to ask to borrow it. That got the wheels turning. Around there, there were some big costume contests with some big prize money. Why not make a really nice costume, ask a few attractive female friends to dress up, and then split the prize money? Two friends were interested in the plan, so I set about to research the costumes better. My original plan was to make the armor out of hot glue (which actually works!). After the project got really out of control and I devoted a lot of time making sculptures and molds, a friend from Hollywood was out visiting me and he suggested I sell them. I hadn't even considered that. After all, who'd want to buy a Xena costume? And how would I even advertise that? But then again, it would be nice to even just recover the cost of making the first one. Then I remembered that with my internet service, I got a free web page. So I embarked on my next career as webmaster. I put up a page just to see if anyone would be interested. And the rest is history. Since then, the television show has been cancelled, the demand for puppeteers has all but vanished, and Todd's Costumes is my only focus. I occasionally puppeteer on small projects and make props for customers in Hollywood. Despite what you might think by looking at this wonderful website (snicker- I do this website myself) we aren't getting rich. In fact, we haven't actually turned a profit yet. But, hey, it's better than digging ditches. |
Do you have a store? |
Sorry, but no. back to top |
How long will it take to get my order? |
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If the item is in stock we usually ship within 24 hours. We do not ship on the weekends. If the item is a backorder please check the item's page for estimated ship dates. If the item is a custom fitted order - usually four to six weeks. |
Do you have a package price? |
Not generally. Few people order everything, and I couldn't give a discount anyway. |
Why are they so expensive? |
I'm sure every person who visits my site leaves with a bit of "sticker shock". Few people are familiar with how much custom tailored clothing is. I know I wasn't. In our age of Wal-Mart huge volume prices, it's hard to comprehend why a top or a belt should cost so much. Let me explain why it costs so much. When you buy a piece of costuming from me, not only are you paying the cost of the actual physical construction of the item (materials + time) you also have to figure in the other expenses that are incurred in making that item: development, research, prototypes, rent, utilities, tools, supplies, clay, fiberglass, silicone, resin, patterns, models, answering e-mail (hours and hours corresponding with people who don't actually buy anything, which is just part of doing business!) sourcing materials and supplies (it might take weeks to track down a piece of fabric or a particular buckle), and not only that, there is the cost of this website. It takes a lot of time. When you think about it, it costs a lot to make you that pair of boots! Here's something to really put things in perspective: I'm making you a costume that is the same quality as the ones made by the studio wardrobe departments for a fraction of what they would charge. Do you have any idea what a studio pays for a costume like the ones you see on television or the movies? Anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 depending on the complexity. I know puppet makers who get $10,000 for a simple hand puppet like Kermit the Frog. Here's a bit of trivia. Remember Star Wars Episode 1? Jar Jar Binks? Ahmed Best, the actor who voiced Jar Jar, also acted as a "stand in" for the digital character. He wore a suit to look like Jar Jar, with a head he wore like a hat. Did you know that rubber suit cost $100,000? It didn't even show up in the final film. Standard shop labor rates for costume makers in Hollywood (there are a lot of them!) is $100 per hour. Figure out how many hours it takes to make a leather dress with 150 hand cut leather pieces and 130 rivets, (it takes a whole day just to cut the leather) and you can see that I'm charging a fraction of what I should. When you look at it that way, you are getting a studio quality outfit for a fraction of the price. The only way I can do that is to keep my overhead is low (I'm not paying Hollywood rent or paying Hollywood labor rates,) I don't usually accept short deadlines, and I economize by offering "standard" items so I can simplify my supplies. I hope this helps you understand what you are getting for your money. A unique, custom made professional quality costume for a fraction of what it cost to make the original! |
Do you give discounts? |
No. See "Why are they so expensive?" |
Do you make custom costumes? |
Yes, but usually only if it is for professional use. Please don't contact me with pictures of your favorite anime or video game character and ask for a quote. One-off costumes like that would run in the $5,000 - $25,000 range. Few people realize the intricacy of the costumes they see on their favorite TV characters. These costumers are the best, most talented, and cleverest in the business. And sometimes duplicating their work is even harder than constructing the original. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A CHEAP COSTUME. I DON'T MAKE CHEAP COSTUMES. |
Can you make minor changes to your custom costume items? |
Yes! Please ask about color changes or other custom alterations you'd like to make. Many changes can be made for no charge. This applies only to custom made items. |
What's the cheapest way to make a Xena dress? |
The cheapest way is to simplify the pattern. Use the one from Simplicity (I think Butterick has an officially licensed pattern, too.) Make the dress yourself. Then buy the armor kits from me. There just isn't an easy way to make that armor. As far as boots, my leggings can't be beat. As far as a scabbard, you can use the picture on my site to make your own from cardboard and vinyl. Knee guards are the tough one. They are quite difficult to make. You could make due with some vinyl wrapped around some cardboard and paint on the design. For further ideas, check out the Home-made Gallery. |
Do you have costumes for kids? |
No. But you might try http:gabbytwin.freeservers.com. I do have some Indiana Jones items that are suitable for older kids. Belts, small jackets, small shirts, and child-size hats are just a few. |
Do you know any stores where I can buy a Xena costume? |
No. Check your local costume rental shop. |
Do you know where I can buy boots? |
No. That's why I make them. |
Where do you get your materials? |
I don't mind giving out a few sources. If you're qualified to try something like this you probably already know most of them anyway. LeatherTandy Leather 1-800-555-3130 Call for a catalog or visit their web site www.tandyleather.com . The website doesn't contain their garment leathers the last time I checked. Lots of tools and some hardware. The Leather Factory 1-877-LEATHER Call for a catalog or visit their website www.leatherfactory.com . Lots of tools. They don't have more leather than Tandy, but they have different leather. Liquid plastic resinsBurman Industries 1-818-782-9833 Call for a catalog. They have lots of plastics and every mold making material you would ever need. Geared towards sculpture/prop/makeup/special effects professionals. Synair Corporation 1-800-251-7642 Call for a catalog or visit their website www.synair.com . They have lower cost plastics and mold making supplies geared towards the hobbyist and professional. They also offer mold making workshops at their HQ in Chattanooga, Tennessee for $350 per lesson. Smooth-on Corporation. Check them out at www.smooth-on.com. Lots of stuff and good prices. Lots of local stocking distributors. |
Will you do personal fittings? |
Yes! In fact, I love to meet my customers. If you can make it to the Los Angeles, California area, please stop in! |
Will you marry me |
| No. |