Costume Design Blog

Greening Theatre With Foundation Garments

When I think of waste in theater, I think immediately of all the paperwork we produce.

However, I recently came across this link for, of all things, pantyhose recycling . . .

The people who make No Nonsense pantyhose have started recycling old hose into park benches. (Click on the image to go to their site.)

From pantyhose to park bench

Who knew?

And I realized there is an entire group of things that are required for a show, that are tossed at the end of a run.

Of course some people prefer to use dance tights for actresses for the very reason that you go through so many during the course of a run.  I think they often look like tights, rather than hose, but maybe that’s just me.

So now that we have a way to recycle women’s pantyhose, how about men’s socks and undershirts?  I’m thinking there are only so many sock puppets you can make….

The allure of costume design … and a reality check

“Is being a costume designer, especially in theatre, as exciting and theatrical as I think it is??”

This question was posed to me through email a while ago.

I really want to encourage anyone with the dream of becoming a designer to do it.  There is no better feeling than getting paid to do something you love.  Not only can you proudly exclaim that you love to get up everyday and go to work.  But you also get to use phrases like, ” do what you love and the money will follow”.

Now for a small dose of reality

There are days when I DON’T like what I do.

There are actually days when I have to force myself to go to another meeting with a director I don’t enjoy working with.

There are times I want to roll my eyes at an actor in a fitting because they are just making suggestions that cannot be executed (or falls squarely into the category of “stupid).

There are nights when all I want to do is watch TV, but I can’t because I have renderings that are due the next day.

There are days when I don’t eat lunch because I’m too busy shopping for that one elusive costume piece to complete the look – which makes me crabby to everyone around me because of low blood-sugar.

I take on shows that I’m uninspired by because I need the work.  I take on shows that don’t pay well because I need the work.  I work with theaters that I know won’t lead to any notoriety because I need the work.

If I didn’t have a spouse who supported me, I would be living in an efficiency apartment, eating ramen noodles, tea, and beans on toast.

So, no, it isn’t as exciting as most people think.

Even the biggest designers are not going to red-carpet events every other weekend.  But one should have dreams….

Still…

I wouldn’t do anything else.

One thing that having a baby has taught me, is that you hold onto the good times (the smiles, the laughs, the chasing through the hallways) and put the bad (exploding diapers, sneak spit up events, inconsolable crying spells) in the back of your mind.

Being a designer requires a lot of self discipline.  There is pride in that.

There are also the joys of creating art that is enjoyed by others: audience members, actors, directors, etc.

There are wonderfully fun and fantastic people working in film, television, and theater, and you get to know them.

I am challenged, inspired and rewarded in this career.

This is why no other job has worked for me. And likely never could

Sources of Inspiration

I find that it’s important to look at other designers’ work.

We all know how inspiring paintings, sculpture, music, and nature can be. Well, I include contemporary costume and fashion designers as well.

Just look at some examples I’ve pulled from my long list of bookmarks under the heading “inspiration” in my bookmarks tab. They may or may not have practical applications for theatrical costumes, but they inspire me to be more creative, less pragmatic.

 MaederMade 

Paper dresses!

A period dress made of paper!

And not just any old paper dresses… Historically accurate in color and design using found paper and other household items. An exceptional artist, and he does workshops! If you are in the Philadelphia area, there is still time to get into one of the workshops. If you aren’t in Philly, keep an eye out in case he visits a city near you.

Viona ielegems 

I love the way she sets up her photos as much as the costumes.

Note: Per her site’s request, I can’t post any of her work here (tried to ask permission, but she never responded). Just click on the link above to see the work. Also, if you are an artist who chooses to have a web presence, consider the ways the web is used and either be responsive to requests, or else don’t lock down your rights. I want to give you exposure!

Gwen van den Eijnde 

Beautiful wearable art

This artist combines fabric and other materials in an ultimate display of wearable art. I am stunned by the creativity, and the technique required to create these three-dimensional images. They really are moving sculptures.

Fi Bowman 

She is a fiber artist with a wonderful sense of story. However, I really find her sketch books inspiring. A constant reminder that I should be drawing more, and that it doesn’t need to be art, just sketching and journaling.

Sketchbooks are great practice for any art form.

Lauren Raine 

A mixed media artist, and theatre designer. I love the way she uses texture in her pieces. She has a series of masks of goddesses from around the world that you should check out. And a series of hand pieces from 2009.

Mask-making is an art form all its own.

Datamancer 

I ran across this site when I was researching Hamlet several years ago, and continue to return to it. The tab on jewelry was actually practical to my design. The tabs for the steam punk computers are just for drooling over!

Steampunk art ... that actually functions!

In the end, it’s all about drawing inspiration from everyone and everything. Even images and events that are best perceived as negative can inspire you.

Keep your eyes open.

Drink it all in.

And go make something of it.

Designer . . . Actor . . . Director

At some point, I find myself wondering how we can make the design experience more effective, more… je ne sais pas.

I’m tired of having actors bitch in the dressing room or to the director during notes, and expressing things about the costume that they won’t tell me.

They tell the director that they don’t feel right in the costume, because it doesn’t feel like the character.  Or they complain to wardrobe that none of their costumes fit (when in truth they just don’t fit like modern clothes).  Or I get a message from stage management that there have been “discussions in the dressing rooms about the wigs…”(a nice ambiguous note that is entirely useless to me in terms of fixing any actual problems).

Sometimes it feels like they are trying to design their character for me.  This is extremely frustrating.

But I have heard from a number of actors now that they feel that they can’t say anything in the fitting room.  Either because this is what they were taught in school (shut up and wear what you are told), or they have said things in the past to designers, and the designer burst into tears, or got angry, or otherwise behaved poorly.

So I have been trying to figure out how this could be improved.

How can we as designers engage actors in an appropriate dialogue about character, when we have already created a design with the director? How do we encourage them to share and collaborate, without overriding the design choices we have already made?  How can we create WITH actors (who don’t fully finalize a character until well into the rehearsal process … and for many, until they put on that costume we’ve designed for them.)?

I do think it is, in part, education.  If actors are taught to just shut up and wear what the designer gives them,then of course they have no outlet if something just feels “off,” then where else can they express that but behind the back of the designer.  So they need to be taught appropriate ways to communicate during a fitting. (This includes realizing that they are not the designer, and that the designer has made choices for specific reasons. Questions work much better than demands or petulant, “That’s ugly” commentary.)

But it would help if designers knew how to approach actors, and how to take that criticism as well.  Yes we are told to grow a thick skin when it comes to our designs, but it seems that we do that in relation to the director only. We must remember that actors have opinions too.

I don’t have solutions here.  Only mutterings, musings, and questions.

How you can turn any school subject into a costume focused study

I have received a number of emails lately from students in secondary school (high school for Americans) and university (undergrad) who want to study costume design, but can’t find, or afford a program that is costume oriented.

They want to know what they should focus on now in order to get into a better program, or their next school, or if they can even BE a designer if they don’t know x,y, or z.

So I thought I would make a beginning list from each subject to show just how easy it is to further your costuming skills, while learning the standard curriculum.

Consider these as research projects when you are assigned a paper.

I have  not included the obvious subjects of drawing, painting, literature, and home economics. You should have figured that out already.

Maths

• How do you calculate simple shapes? (circle skirts?  Swags?)
• How do you calculate yardage in a foreign country (one that uses meters instead of yards)?

Biology

• What are the different muscles in the body, and how do they function?  Consider how fabric pulled tight against them will look (sketch it out).
• How do fat cells work, and how does that affect movement?
• How does the body age?  What happens to various body parts?

Chemistry

• How do different dyes affect different materials.  What happens when you add a base, or an alkaline wash?
• What are the chemical properties of wool? Cotton? Silk? Polyester?

Physics

• What are the physics principles involved in making yarn? (or thread)
• What are the physical properties of different fibers in fabric?  How do they behave differently to different stresses?
• How do light waves affect your perception of color?

Psychology

• Why do good people do bad things?
• What could cause a woman to kill her own children? (Electra, or any of the other Greek myths are loaded with questions for this subject!)
• How do I positively approach actors who are inherently overly body-conscious in a way that encourages them, rather than makes them feel insecure?
• How can I be the best possible contributor to the collaborative project that is theatre?

French

• Traditional costumes, fashion history, French theater in the 1960s are all great topics.

Spanish

• Traditional costume, native south American costume, Spanish inquisition attire, Spanish dancing (history of dress) are ideas for topics.

German

• Traditional costume, traditional handicrafts (lace making, embroidery, etc), WW2 uniforms just to mention a few.

Mandarin

• Silk and the silk trade, traditional costumes, opera costumes

Arabic

• How do the intricate patterns present in Arab buildings and art translate (or not) into clothing?
• How does Islam work in the context of dress? (Think outside of just berkas to the more secularized Arab cultures. Eg. Lebanon.)

Sculpture

• How do you take something from 2D to 3D?
• How do you sketch a 3 dimensional idea that is in your head?

Music

• How does music affect the mood of the audience?  Is a story told through music?  How could you visualize that?

History

• Pick a time and place and learn about how people lived.  What they wore, what they did, what materials were available.

Economics

• How does the fashion industry create jobs?
• What are the economics that go into producing a pair of shoes?
• What are the economics of a major broadway show vs one produced off-off-off Broadway?

Religion

• What is the history of priestly vestments?
• How do images of the Hindu gods impact religion?
• Why do the Amish wear old-timey clothes?
• What is the symbolism behind Hasidic dress?

Physical Education

• What does a sculpted body look like?
• What types of clothes are most comfortable for movement?
• Can you study various dances?

Sociology

• How do those without money treat clothing?  How is it the same, or different from those with lots of money?
• How does what you do, or where you come from affect the way you dress?

Anthropology

• What have people used in the past to cover themselves?
• How have we inherited or incorporated old (and at the time practical or necessary) conventions into our dress that today are unnecessary?

I did not take all of these subjects in college myself, but you get the idea!

Where I really pushed this idea into practice was with art history.  I wrote the final paper on the similarities between rococo painting and the exuberance of 18th century dress.  Yes, more typical than some others listed here, but I also wrote a paper for marine biology on the color patterns of a certain marine snail.

What are some creative term papers or projects you have come up with?  Please share!

Portfolios – The Physical Real-World Kind

I wrote before about the importance of having an online portfolio; however, even in this age of technology, it is vital to have a paper portfolio as well. There are plethora options available to choose from. And you will probably acquire all of them at some point because they each have very useful situations, and non-useful situations.

Starting with the smallest (and most portable) are the picture books.

A 4x6 photo album is great for a flip book portfolio

I got the idea for these from a scenic designer. He had more shows than would fit into a standard portfolio and he physically couldn’t cart all of his model boxes around anymore. So for interviews he had a large-format portfolio with the large-format items (ground plans,renderings, etc.) and then each show had one of these smaller format picture books with extensive production and research photos.

To translate into costume design … shows that are modern, contemporary, or largely pulled shows, for which you have production photos from every angle, would easily have their own book created in iPhoto (or similar photo editing software). Then you have a sort of flip-book that directors can quickly page through and get a sense of the style for that show.

Next there are the small-large-format portfolios.

Mine is 14” x 17” with a spiral binding that allows me to add or subtract pages easily. This is also extremely portable. It is compact, and in a way that is nice in that it forces me to edit myself, choosing only the BEST images from each show to showcase my designs. It serves as a launchpad for conversation, rather than documenting every detail of every project.

A 14 x 17 portfolio is a great conversation starter with directors and producers

There is also a large-large-format portfolio.

I have mixed emotions about these. On the one hand, they allow you to include large-scale renderings. Most designers don’t do 8 1/2” x 11” renderings, so it can be difficult to fit renderings, swatches, research, and productions photos all onto a two-page spread in the smaller version. Yet, the larger portfolios I’ve seen have needed serious editing.

Sometimes a portfolio can be too big, causing you to show too much to a director

Human nature seems to be that if you have the space, you use it, and then the director/producers can end up with the wrong impression. Not just of your show, but your style and skills as a designer. As one of my professors liked to say, “never show a director or producer anything that you don’t want them to see.” Sounds obvious, but it is actually quite difficult.

Finally, I’d like to point out the extra-large portfolio bag.

I’ve used mine only a couple of times because it is SO awkward to carry around. On the upside, you are not restricted in size (you can make large plates with renderings, swatches, research, etc.). You can take as many shows as your shoulder can carry. You aren’t forced to go through the shows in a prescribed order in the interview. If you find yourself wanting to show off your Shakespeare before your Arthur Miller, you don’t have to page back and forth in a book, just pull out whichever you want to talk about next. There’s more flexibility in your presentation. Additionally, if you find out that they have seen 20 other versions of R&J, you can keep your version in the bag, and focus on your kick-ass idea for the Cherry Orchard.

It's huge and bulky, but gives you all kinds of options

Another thought…

The other thing that has come in handy (especially when applying to grad school, and when interviewing with designers as their assistant) is a complete show bible. A simple 3-ring binder with all of the documentation (budget, receipt copies, research, sketches, measurement forms, piece lists, etc.) for a single show.

Don’t forget to separate out any examples of your sewing and draping skills. And make sure you have extra copies of your resume, references, and business card!

Designing with Baby Take 2

I received the following comment:

so i have a question on a personal note. my husband and i are trying to conceive and i came across your blog, being a costume designer (working) and a mother how is it to juggle both? that is my biggest fear, that i have worked this hard and this long to finally get to a point where folks are calling me and i no longer have to apply for jobs, and i don’t want to lose that, i also want a life and a family. any suggestions? tips? helpful hints?

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First, let me apologize to all of you who have sent me email questions over the past several months.  I have them all faithfully saved in my email, and am trying to get to them as quickly as possible.  It seems that everything takes three times as long these days!

Life with a baby is certainly different than life before!  At seven months, Lucy’s only schedule, is a non-schedule.  Sometimes we sleep through the night (from 8:30 to 6), sometimes we go to bed at 9, then again at 10, then again at 1am, then get up for the day at 4:30.  I dare you to try and create a working schedule around that kind of unpredictability!

Lucy

Yet I don’t think having a baby means you have to give up your career.  It is scary to think that you may lose all of those contacts that you worked so hard to secure.  That you may have to go back to cold-calling theatres and agressivly needing to put your name out to get work.  And it’s frustrating to think that that comfortable feeling of having theatres call you instead of the other way around, could go away.

As it happens, i have found that many theatres are quite amenable to bringing baby with you.  Actors can’t seem to get enough of babies – especially well behaved babies.  Lucy’s attitude actually improved every time I took her to fittings for the show I designed this summer!

However, there are some things that didn’t work out so well.

Babies are very distracting in a production meeting.  Unless they sleep through it, they seem to thrive on pulling attention.  I have been lucky in getting supportive directors and collaborators so far, but I need to find a good baby sitter before my next meeting.

Tech week and the week just before tech are incredibly stressful.  Trying to get everything done for a large Shakespeare production while watching a baby was impossible.  Again, if I could afford a babysitter, or nanny, it would make all the difference.  Unfortunately, theatre doesn’t typically pay enough to cover those costs.  So consider the added expense when you look at taking on a show.

Anouther issue that developed for me was how to feed her.  We want to breastfeed for a year because I believe it ‘s the healthiest option, and also, it’s free! (most theatre people are frugal people!)  Obviously, making a different choice would make it easier to leave her in the care of someone else for a couple hours, or most of a day.

And then there is entertainment.  Lucy is most happy playing on the floor between my legs.  But she really wants to play with whatever I am working on.  It doesn’t matter if it is a small button, or a sharp needle, of an electronic device…  If I am playing with it, she wants to play with it too.  As you can imagine, this slows down my process.  A lot.

I keep thinking that things will be easier when…  She is mobile and doesn’t need me to move her from one room to another… She can talk and tell me why she is unhappy…  She develops her own dexterity and i can give her arts and crafts to do while I work…  But I know that I really just need to enjoy this brief time I have with her at THIS age, and trust that everything else will work itself out.

Life is full of choices.  I chose to start a family.  I view it like a long-term project with a flexible working contract.  I’m committed to it, and excited about it.  But it definitely has changed my process when it comes to designing.  I have to create a whole new process that is flexible to baby’s ever-changing schedule.

And more than ever, I need to be on top of my $#*+!

Costume Design at the Met

Everyone, if you’re in or near NYC in September, you might want to check out this event. Sounds like it’s going to be really interesting.

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In celebration of the Metropolitan Opera’s season-opening premiere of Anna Bolena this fall, curator Maryan Ainsworth and costume designer Jenny Tiramani discuss how portraits of Henry VIII’s court by Hans Holbein the Younger inspired Tiramani’s work on the new production of Donizetti’s tragic opera.

Rising star soprano Angela Meade, who sings the role of Anna Bolena, will perform the dramatic final scene from Donizetti’s masterpiece.

For more information and tickets: http://www.metmuseum.org/tickets/calendar/view.asp?id=3614

 

 

iPad in the Theatre

I recently bought an iPad.  This would not be newsworthy except that I, like many of my collegues in the theater, more often go for the low-tech options such as a simple pad of paper and a pen for taking notes during tech.

I have a flip phone for a cell phone, and shocker of all shocks, I have never sent or recieved a text message.  Yes, I’m a bit behind the technology curve in some areas!

So I am trying to figure out how to make this a tool, and not just an expensive toy.

First, I purchased a case similar to this one.  It protects my investment, but also allows me to prop it up if I need to work for a long period of time.

Next, I went app shopping.  Some things come with the iPad automatically like email, and web browser.  (communication, and web research). Also, photos and the notebook (which I am writing this blog entry in!) have their obvious uses for shopping, fittings, and tech.

I’m looking forward to using the built in camera to snap photos for the director during fittings.  As a side note, that’s where the whole idea came to me in the first place.  I was trying to remember to take photos during fittings with a camera that took 3 minutes to warm up each time, blew through batteries like nobody’s business, and then had to transfer those photos to my computer before the director could see them to comment!  Such a production!

So, now that I have this somewhat useful tool, how can I make it indispensable?.

I added Dropbox so that I could access any file I created on my computer .  I can pull up renderings that are stored as jpeg or pdf.  I can even read PDF versions of the script eliminating the need for a paper copy ( saving a few trees at a time).

I also added Evernote so I can manage all of the online research and shopping I do.

I’ve been playing around with project management software too.  I’m trying to find one that will help me track all of the pieces of multiple shows I’m working on, and will also track the budget.

Project Achiever does this, but it is still in version 1.x, and has some bugs and issues to be worked out.

In the mean time, I’m using MyProjects.  It does everything except the budget part, creating shopping lists from several shows that can be grouped together based on where I need to go.  And even reminding me via email when a deadline is coming up.  Budget will just have to stay on my computer for now.

But before you think that an iPad could replace your computer entirely, here are some issues I have not yet solved.

• The keyboard on the touch screen is too small and too sensitive to use in any way other than the “hunt and peck” method of typing.
• There are no good, free word processing apps.  (the only app I’ve paid for so far is the project management one).
• There is no back arrow.  In order to back up the cursor in a document, you have to delete and re- type.
• And this crazy auto -correct when you type drives me nuts!!!

If anyone has a suggestion for apps or solutions to my challenges above, please speak up in the comments!

And, by the way …

“Sent from my iPad”

Costume Design Blog Featured on OnlineClasses.org

Hi! Just a quick note to let you know 2 things.

First, I’m still here, alive, and kicking. Our little daughter (Lucile!) was born in early January and has obviously become the center of my life the past three months. So my silence here is not disinterest; just lots of diapers. I have two posts written … my partner just needs to make the time to get them up here. Coming soon, I promise.

Second, I received a lovely note today from Jasmine over at OnlineClasses.org. She let me know that they mentioned this little blog of mine in their post 50 Best Blogs for Fine Art Students. I am honored to be in such company as the other blogs mentioned. I also encourage all of you to check out the post and look at the other blogs mentioned for film and television … and the other categories as well. Good stuff there.

Thanks for your patience. I’ll be back in full swing soon!