I have been in awe of Jess West since I was first introduced to her at the Nicole Moudaber show at The Patron Saint, where she arrived in a beautiful handmade piece from her collection, so I was thrilled to get the chance to sit down with her and talk about the evolution of her career. Jess’s tagline is “I can make anything” and it’s true. From prom dresses, wedding dresses, costumes, and monsters, she does it all.
Jess was just in 6th grade when she discovered that being a designer and creator was her calling. That was the year she saw Uma Thurman’s character Poison Ivy in the 1997 Batman & Robin film and decided she wanted to be her for Halloween. The problem was that Jess was much taller than other 12-year-olds and that particular costume wasn’t one sold for her age group, so she decided to make it herself. When she wore the costume to school for a contest she wasn’t expecting a call to the principal’s office, but once she explained that she had made the outfit herself all was well and she ended up winning first prize. From then on she was hooked. She continued to craft costumes for herself and her friends throughout middle and high school and also began making her own clothing.
After high school, Jess decided the next logical step would be to get a formal education in fashion merchandising and decided to go to school to earn that degree. Looking back she says there was some value in learning the business side of things from traditional schooling, but she was not able to live her vision within the constraints of that setting. For Jess, all her creative freedom and growth have been from hands-on learning and surrounding herself with like-minded people: those who live to create.
When Jess meets with new clients she is focused on unraveling the depths of what they want. She has in-person meetings that typically last about an hour where she and the client brainstorm their thoughts and ideas. She tries to delve deeply into her clients’ inner thoughts and personalities so she can make their wishes a reality. The only consideration is budget and fitting comfortably within that for each client and their request.
The time for each creation varies by the detail of the completed piece. Some of her projects have taken her up to 200 hours to complete but the typical time for a basic piece is around 4 to 5 hours. This time includes sourcing all the items she will need from fabrics and materials like sound and lighting as well as casts and molds for masks. She says that her eye for the strange and unusual has made finding those supplies a specialty of hers. Anywhere she goes she is taking mental notes of unique things that can be transformed into something else, and she has a particular love for up-sourcing things from places like Goodwill.
Jess typically has several projects going on at one time. Like many creators, she works best under pressure and wants to help every client that walks in the door get what they need by their deadline. She has taken to using interns, students, and friends she has taught to assist her when she needs extra hands.
Jess has completed a myriad of technically challenging costumes. One of Jess’ favorite clients is a pediatrician that hires her every year to create a new costume for the haunted house he creates at his home for all the children in his area. The first concept he wanted Jess to create was the superstition of bad luck from broken mirrors. Jess decided to dig into the history of the superstition of broken mirrors. Before mirrors, people were only able to see their reflection in the water, so when mirrors were created they were seen as witchcraft, and the thought was that when you broke a mirror your soul was trapped inside it. The costume she created from this concept was called Seven Years Bad Luck: a half-man/half-woman with thousands of shattered mirrors that had faces underneath them to give the holographic effect of the trapped souls. That costume took about 130 hours to complete. Last year’s creation for that client took over 150 hours to complete. It was a giant 3-headed Pumpkin Man that stood 12 feet tall. The costume was so large it could not be shipped, so Jess delivered it to Chicago herself.
Jess is also known for transition costumes, costumes that start as one character and then change to another. Her first transition costume came to be when she learned of a costume contest that was offering $1000 for first place. With student loans to be paid off Jess was all-in on winning the prize. She started off the evening as a mummy and by the end of the night had transformed into an Egyptian Goddess. She won first place. Other transition costumes of hers have been Gizmo to Gremlin, Devil to Angel, Pirates to Mermaids, the Wolf into Red Riding Hood, and of course a three-piece transition costume that transforms from the Sandworm to Beetlejuice to Lydia.
Most recently you can see Jess’ work gracing the stages of Indy’s drag shows. Right after the pandemic, Jess joined a friend for a Drag Brunch and it dawned on her as she was watching that this was the community she wanted to be a part of. After the performance, Jess introduced herself to one of the performers, Lady Dumpster, and asked if she would like to come to her studio. Lady Dumpster’s mind was blown when she saw what Jess was capable of making. Jess was eager to create for her and made a handful of free costumes right away. For Jess, being able to watch her creations on stage, worn by other wildly creative people such as Lady Dumpster, was all she needed. From there, her involvement within the community has exploded.
There have been features on Jess in USA Today, Fox59, Wish TV, Pattern, Towne Post, Indy Star, Indy Maven and she has done projects for NY Yankees, MTV, Maxim for the Indy 500, Pro Fly Boards, Gen Con, and Burning Man. With such amazing coverage for a young business and young woman, I wondered what could she possibly have her sights set on next? Jess said sometimes she struggles with the desire to live in a bigger city that is known for large-scale productions like movies or films, but now that she is into the Drag scene where she feels like she has found her people. Not only does the community perform in what you expect to see at a typical drag show, but they also have beauty pageants. Another dream of hers is to have her own performance venue for Drag and Burlesque shows and to teach sewing and makeup techniques.
If you are interested in connecting with Jess the best way to contact her is through her website where you can submit a form with all your ideas and pictures.