going out of costume

I know most of you are not costumed characters to begin with and you usually just wear something professional and clean... but for the other clowns and such on here, do you have something that you wear when you are asked NOT to be in character? My regular people clothes are garbage... our money either goes to the kids or the debt right now and my wardrobe has not been updated in about 7 years. It is so rare that I am asked to work "plain clothes" that I don't have anything to wear but costumes.... they are the only things that fit and are in relatively good repair. Yesterday, I did a gig that was "plain clothes" and decided to just wear my non-clown character costume... I"m doing another on Saturday but since it's at a halloween pumpkin patch thing, I think I can get away with wearing my halloween costume for the day.

It's so rare, I guess I'm just not sure if it's worth spending some money on one or two golf shirts with my business info on it or something? What do you guys do?

If you can't afford the golf shirt, hit the Salvation army and just look for a new, clean bright shirt. Something that stands out and looks new. If you have a good printer and you say you don't go out in non-costume often, get a cheap Tshirt and some iron on transfers from office depot (staples, WalMart, whatevs) print and iron. they don't stand up to too many washes, but you won't need them to. Hopefully if this requests comes often, save $1 from every gig and then invest that back in!

I did what Kim suggested, I have a couple of different shirts with my logo on. One is a white shirt I bought cheap at Walmart - total cost including the iron-on transfers was about $15. The other one I got free from Vistaprint with my banner order, it included a small chest logo and I used some of the leftover transfers to put my logo and info on the back. I'm going to hit the secondhand stores soon to get another couple shirts to iron onto because the iron-ons have begun cracking and peeling (after 5 months of weekly use). I got the black slacks I usually wear at a secondhand store, I didn't want to spend much. Also I sewed myself the apron I posted a pic of somewhere, but you could get a plain apron at the dollar store and put your info on it.

BTW, I like having my logo and website on the back because people are often taking pictures of the painting "in progress" and maybe my info will be in the pic. You never know.

I absolutely love lively colors so when I can't wear my costume, I wear an apron with many mult-colored dots on it that I sewed. I Designed a large $1 make-your-own button craft with my name and info. I pin this on my hat (I love hats) or on the apron. If funds are really low, with imagination and creativity you can design an cute apron from a dress that is too small or you no longer have use for. For ideas on this google old dress to apron.

I didn't think of the logo on the back for that reason...that's good thinking Isabelle.

D.

I like to wear nice black slacks with a button down black shirt and a colorful tank top underneath. That way I look professional, but still have some color to my outfit. Sometimes I wear Metina's Professional Face Painter shirt from the forum shop. Then I just accessorize with fun earrings, colorful hair doodad, funny pin, etc. I like to look professional, but still have a fun flair. You can find lots of nice dress shirts at thrift stores (that's where I got mine).

If the budget is even a bit tight for the thrift stores you might want to hit up your local Women's resources or churches. I don't know what they are where you are but in the US I would say contact they YWCA or St Vincent's. They often have clothing programs for working women and can help you get an outfit for your non costume days.

I've gotten so many requests for non-clown gigs that I have branched out. I made a new website and no clowns are mentioned or shown in the photos. For those gigs I wear all black, a black apron and a name tag that has the company name and my name on it. I check with the client if they want me to wear a silly hat or my pink shoes to jazz it up a little. The black apron is pretty standard for a lot of face painters in my area. Next year I may budget for custom aprons or shirts.

I cut up one of my first clown dresses that I outgrew, turned it into a skirt that I wear with a bright plain T-shirt, I got a couple for $5 each at an end of season sale. At the moment I need to do more 'out-of-charactor' work (I'm now 4 months pregnant and outgrown my clowny costumes!) so i'm making an apron in the same fabric of my costume, which i will wear with black.

oooh.. dress to apron...- MeeMee, why did you tell me that? now I'm gonna have to go crazy with the sewing again!

I just did my fall shopping at Goodwill - a very large bag of clothes for $35 - it does take more time to find your size and what you like but right now I have more time than money ( sad when I have three jobs )

The goodwill in my town has a special sale on Sundays- where every week they pick a differnt color tag to be on sale for 99 cents. Also, if you sign up for their emails, they will send you the dates of their special sales- when you can pick 10 for 10 reguardless of color. I seriously LOVE Thrift stores and rummage sales. I've even camped out over night to be the first in! Lol. Competative shopping, that's my kind of sport!

I normally wear black pants and a nice-ish top to gigs. No one has ever asked why i don't have a uniform or shirt with a company logo on it. I guess that is the next thing to get...but for now, you can't go wrong with wearing black. Hides the paint stains....except white of course!

Perry, I know Vista Print is a no-no to some people here, but they often offer a free shirt, and you pay shipping. You can get your business printed on the shirt too. It isn't what I would design if I had the money, but hey, free shirt with free advertising! Pair it with khackis, black pants or jeans, and you have an official looking wardrobe! Hope that helps! Tracy

I do get a lot of things from vistaprint... their Canadian factory is in Windsor so I get stuff within a day or two of it shipping.

I was going to get one of their embroidered golf shirts, but they are never free and it is actually quite a bit of money. I have done the tshirt thing and it just doesn't look professional enough to work in for me... it's ok to promote while I'm just out and about, but not while I'm working.

I've seen your designs and think your a wonderful painter. I think you should buy a colllared golf shirt from Old Navy $12.00 or a tee shirt from AC Moore $2.50 and fabric paint. You can promote yourself and show your skills.