How to customize or match face masks with clothes

 

Angela in a black mask.

A black mask with other colour outfits looks wrong. What can you do to right this wrong?

At the annual Writers' Summer School in The Hayes Conference Centre, in Swanwick, Derbyshire, I was impressed by one of the young writers who had a series of outfits, different each day, all with matching masks. How could I match that effort? If you want to buy from Etsy, if you are working, or seeking a date and a husband, and want to spend on several sets of tee-shirts and masks, that is possible by ordering online.

To be recognized at your conference or anywhere, It's me, a tee-shirt with a photo.
It's me tee-shirt from the-gift-project.com

The masks I received in Singapore from the government came in three colours, blue paper disposable masks, black washable fabric masks and white masks. With a bit of thought and effort, I could easily match up the black mask with several outfits for day and evening.

You can buy a black mask and matching scrunchie for your pony tail. Or buy two and use the scrunchies on your cuffs, or as bracelets or to cover a watch strap.

Matching A Black Mask

I did not need to wear all black, although that would work well. I could wear any colour, plain or patterned, with black accessories such as a black hat or cap, a black belt and black shoes.

You could go through your wardrobe and select several all black outfits and put them on the far left of the hanging rail. Work through these outfits for work. Add a white tee-shirt or blouse or cravat or black and white headscarf or headband or hat.

To buy cheaply or in bulk, you find a bigger selection of black masks. What use is a set of three, five, six or ten masks? You can wash one and wear another. You can add decorations such us buttons, if you have a spare button or two on your jacket or shirt. A few garments even have spare fabric on the spare button, not for patching but so that you can test the fabric in your washing machine.

You could edge a mask with a tiny strip of fabric cut from the hem of another garment. Even cut a small diamond or square from the mask and replace it with a small square or diamond from another garment. If there is a gap, cover it with a piece of braid. 

Speaking of  braid, you can buy braids and ribbons in various colours. Add a strip of ribbon all the way around the outside of the mask. Or make a strip with a double arch linked by a small bridge like the top of a pair of sunglasses.

White Masks

The Singapore national day mask, give to every household in August 2019, alas not repeated in August 2020, was white with a red merlion logo. I could match that with white t-shirts or blouses or an all white dress. Or any colour, but best of all red, with a white hat or cap, white ear-rings, a white belt, a white bag or rucksack, and white shoes or white socks.  - or even white tights.

DIY Masks

The internet is full of videos and instructions for making masks. If you make your own clothes, you can choose a fabric suitable for making masks and use the offcut for a mask.

A simpler way, which saves messing around with elastic, is to take an existing mask and add a cover in your fabric. If you are nifty, you can make slots or loops so that you can add different red and other ribbons to the same masks.

Coloured Straps

An alternative is to keep to the plain black or white mask, but add a coloured ribbon around the ears.Bulk Buy

Bulk Buy Customized Masks

You can order customized masks with a logo. There may be a minimum order. How would you ever want 25 identical masks? For a Christmas party. For a wedding.  

For any social or educational group. For example, for a club. A Toastmasters club. A writing group. A book club. To look good in group photos. To advertise your organization.

Mask Cost - Mass Produced For Companies

A big company might want to give masks to staff, and customers. What about the price? Monkey masks were offering a minimum order of 500 at 3.90 Singapore dollars per mask. They claim to have produced masks for AIA insurance and other big companies.

Five hundred masks if far more than I need. And more than I want to pay. 

One-off personalized Masks

How about Able Label? An old favourite of mine, from the days when I was permanently in the UK as a busy travel writer. I used to order address stickers and business cards from them. As soon as I had placed an order, I received a new offer. Irresistible. I had a customized tee-shirt, same design as the stickers, and a customized tote bag to carry my books, with a picture of one of my books on the bag. At a writer's holiday, I was my own advertisement.






Flowers, pale pink on pale blue with touches of black and white. from Able Label.

Strawberries, red and murky green on pale pink with touches of black and white.

For amusement, a zip. From Able Label.

Your initials, zip, flowers, camouflage, from Able Label. About ten pounds each. Plus postage. UK 3.95 pounds second class mail. More for next day and courier. They also post to Europe and International.

UK's Able Label 

The Able Label website shows masks which can be customized with your initials, in red, navy and burgundy, at just under ten pounds each. So for thirty pounds, which you might have spent on shoes or a dress or a top, you could have three coloured masks.

hat and mask from Wish

Also comes up in orange.




Useful Websites

For your one off mask

Able Label

https://www.able-labels.co.uk/personalised-embroidered-face-mask.html

Silk masks, some options with scrunchies.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1055035331/uk-made-silk-face-mask-same-day-dispatch

Your photo on the t-shirt It's Me

https://www.the-gift-project.com/products/personalised-its-me-t-shirt-mask-mens-womens

For business bulk buy

https://www.monkey-mask.com/


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