Designer refashions clothes into scary costumes

Jen Rocket comes from a long line of seamstresses -- four generations of them, in fact.
“I’ve been creating since I could remember,” she says.
Between then and now, the 32-year-old Highland Park resident has turned the family pastime into her career. She runs a design and alteration studio out of her home, where she caters to requests for everything from couture dresses and dance costumes to refashioning old wedding gowns into something fresh and modern. Companies also recruit her for product design assistance.
This time of year it’s not unusual for her client list to include the likes of the Bride of Frankenstein. Ms. Rocket is a sought-after designer forHalloween and theatrical costumes -- including for the annual ScareHouse attraction in Etna -- that have a fashion flavor, often by upcyclingapparel and accessories into something that’s, well, terror-ific.

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“Jen is one of the most adaptable artists I know,” says ScareHouse creative director Scott Simmons. “I’ve met many creatives who can thrive in one genre or style of costuming, but Jen is someone who thrives in multiple styles.”
Mr. Simmons first tapped Ms. Rocket’s talents about a decade ago while she was a student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh studying industrial design. When she moved to Los Angeles to further her fashion education, she continued to ship creations across the country back to Pittsburgh. She’s also worked for three years at Pittsburgh-based costume and prop company Specter Studios.
“I feel like it adds a layer of whimsy to my design,” Ms. Rocket says about the range of her work. “I’m not your straightforward fashion designer. I don’t do lines of clothing. I do whatever is in the air.”
The calls she gets for Halloween costumes come in all kinds -- from Peter Pan to peacocks, she says. But it’s not all frights and fun; the spooky business is serious stuff.
“We’re not just making something scary or creepy for the sake of it,” Mr. Simmons says. “We spend a lot of time determining how that character got into the story in the first place.”
Ms. Rocket collaborates with ScareHouse wardrobe manager Allison Boyle, art director Macabre Noir and other set and costume designers to make looks that bring characters to life and leave a shocking impression on visitors. Work for the season can begin as early as July. She spends time surveying stores for pieces she can make over for the monsters.
This year some of her designs include the dresses for the burlesque entertainers in the 1930s-era party set and the bellhop, dressed to kill in a fitted jacket with epaulets and gold trim. Ms. Rocket and her husband Joey, who serves as creative director for her business, also made the burlap costume for Sam from Legendary Pictures’ “Trick ’r Treat.”
“There’s a theater aspect that comes in,” Ms. Rocket says. “Trends have to be louder and softer in certain areas. You also can make things a little off kilter. There’s a whole process of learning.”
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