Costume designers Elizabeth Rasmusson and Brittany Johnson are the founders — and most of the muscle — behind J&R Santaprises, a Marietta shop that makes bespoke suits for professional Kris Kringles.
They have dressed Santas for climates warm, cold and tropical.
And despite their prices — a full Santa suit might cost upwards of $2,500 — they are booked a year in advance.
They’ve used velvet, silk and wool. They’ve learned that a well-fitting Santa suit will require about 200 hours of labor. And they’ve had to improvise hot weather outfits, since Santa might show up in a Texas parade in the middle of the July heat.
This month we spoke with Rasmusson about what it takes to get Santa — and Mrs. Claus — ready for the runway.
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Santa: Not just for Christmas anymore
A Dallas Santa Claus wanted a jacket to go with his red-and-white striped bib overalls for an Independence Day parade. “His initial idea was based on a picture he had found from the Civil War of a patriotic Santa,” said Rasmusson. Why would Santa be in a July 4 parade? “That’s a good question. These professional Santas are Santa year-round.”
What happens when Santas get together?
One customer wanted to impress his fellow Father Christmases at a Santa symposium. “He was going to that convention in Gatlinburg [Tennessee]. He wanted a spring look. He asked us to do a custom look for him. I sketched these little knickers, the classic golf look, but Santa-fied. He thought it was super cute and loved it. After he went to the convention, we started getting all these phone calls from the other Santas.”
When you see Santa at the beach:
“A lot of them will wear a Santa Hawaiian shirt. They carry candy canes or stickers, and if little kids ask them, ‘Are you Santa?’ they can give them a candy cane or stickers and sort of wink.”
How long is the Santa season?
“One of our customers does the holiday teas at the St. Regis in Buckhead. He starts his full-time season as Santa in October. He’ll be doing these private photo sessions with families and holiday events in November and December, and will still take January and February off. A lot of them go to children’s hospitals during the year.”
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How long does it take to make a Santa suit?
“It takes 200 hours to make a full suit, starting with me talking to them, then sketching, then we do a first fitting in muslin, an inexpensive cotton. We perfect the pattern. They try on the muslin, we mark it up with a sharpie, take that apart, and readjust that first pattern. We make it so it is even more specific to that Santa’s body. Then we take that one and cut it out of the fashion fabric, and we have another fitting in the fashion fabric.”
How much does a Santa suit cost?
“The average order ends up being around $2,000 to $3,000. We had some Santas who have done a whole trousseau, and they have been around $10,000.”
Who can afford $10,000 in Santa clothes?
“Most of them are retired. This is sort of their second career. They are retired, but they are making money at their hobby. I feel like most of them, while they do make money and can do fairly well, most of them are doing it for the love of the season, the love of working with children. They feel the suit is an investment into making this a magical experience.”
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