Customer review - Rick Crouse

Back in October I had an email from a lady who wanted a coat made for her husband for his Christmas present.

As well as being an unusual request – especially since it was being kept a total secret from the recipient - it proved to be the largest coat I had ever made . . .

I got the best Christmas gift this year – a Doctor Who coat! Not just any coat but one made with such attention to detail that it could/should have been worn by David Tennant himself!

My wonderful wife, Kirsten, commissioned a coat by Steve Ricks in the UK. We live in the cultural crossroads of Conroe, Willis and Cut-n-Shoot, Texas in the US. Yes, you read that correctly, and yes it is as culturally barren as the names imply. Anyway, she was a little apprehensive of ordering something from someone we had never met and who had no storefront – you know the usual concerns with sending wads of cash to some unknown email addy 5,000 miles away.

After Steve’s referrals (thanks Ian!) and several emails back and forth, the coat was commissioned. Steve’s communication was so frequent that I wasn’t allowed to use her computer until after Christmas. Kirsten typically would leave several tabs in Firefox open for me to see after I got home. Now I get email with links – like that’s something to look forward to. ;-)

She had to measure me and was quite nervous that I would guess what she had in mind. This is a bigger deal than one might initially think as I am over 6' 6" (a hair past 2 meters) and around 225lb (100kg) So lots of fabric was harmed in the making of this magnificent coat!

I figured I was getting a coat but did not fully appreciate what that meant. I thought it might be a period swashbuckling type coat as we are getting ready to vend at a new Renaissance Faire this spring. Christmas came and I opened the box to find the most amazing coat. A full on Doctor Who coat complete with Sonic Screwdriver (available at Think Geek).

Happy Christmas to all my readers!

You may have noticed that I recently added some hit counters to my sites, and I have been amazed as to how many readers I have out there!
When I started out I was writing it mainly for myself and one or two friends who knew I was about to make a new, and possibly ultimate, Tennant Coat.
From there my blogs have grown, and I never really knew how many cosplay enthusiasts were bothering to look.

Well, now I know it is more than just a few, I want to thank you all for taking the time to follow what I have been up to this year, and hope you will continue to see where I go in 2010.

I have pretty much written the last entry for 2009 (don’t worry, I’ll be back in January fired-up with ideas!) so all that remains now is to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

I wish to especially thank a few people for
their support this past year: 

Ramie for showing faith in my work

Lisa for aiding the breakthrough with the GAP trousers

Timelord25 for his faith in me to make him a new Five Coat

Seth for his invaluable input and eye for detail, giving me something to live up to

Finally Primrodo for being a sounding board for ideas and direction, and for the use of the image of his TARDIS,
which appears above