For a time, Barb Rogers haunted thrift shops, rummage sales, and auctions to find old clothes that could be converted into costumes and sold. Not a seamstress, unable to use a pattern, and without a sewing machine, she developed her unique way of designing costumes. Broadway Bazaar Costumes was born in one upstairs room, on the main street of Mattoon, Illinois, with 130 costumes and Barb's burning desire to succeed. It had grown to fifteen rooms of fun, fabulous, dazzling costumes within five years. A member of the National Costumers Association, Barb attended national conventions, competed with costumers from all over the U.S., and won many awards. But after ten years in business, she was brought down by a severe illness. Always the survivor and eternal optimist but unable to continue running the shop, she leased it out and found her second love: writing. Barb, her husband Junior, and their two dogs, Sammi and Georgie, relocated to a small mountain community in Arizona, where she could heal and write. In addition to her costuming books, Barb published several other books. She always held on to costuming as her first love. Barb died in 2011.
