Kids These Days

A lot of my job involves research. Often, it can be cut-and-dry technical and historical research. But then there's the messy social history part, about customs, culture, socioeconomic status, and all the parts that shape a person's world view and thusly their style. It's easy to be weirded out by the fads of the past, thinking that we're all so beyond crushing bugs to make cosmetics or processing hair with lye. But then. But then. The word vajazzle shows up in Savage Love and you Google it. And what you find is just as weird as whitening your face with lead paint.

Flying Car Fashion.

I'm relieved and disappointed at the same time.

Social Observation from a Costumer

The three muses of Costume Design (according to me) are Observation, Research, and Bullshit. Observation and Research require more insight than a lot of people realize, a lot of creating a character is also looking into social behavior and history. It is in this context that I have pondered pantyhose deeper than I'd ever thought possible.

The Old Settler up at Writer's Theatre is set in 1940s Harlem. Stockings in the 1940s came in colors like "nude" but of course, it's my nude color, not the nude color of the ladies living in Harlem. So women with any skin color that didn't match Barbie walked around with funny-looking nylons. Nan Cibula-Jenkins, the costume designer, made the choice to have the girls' pantyhose match their skin tones to appeal to a modern eye. I supported the decision and went off in search of pantyhose with back seams in a variety of "nudes". No such luck. After hours on websites, in stores, on the phone, discontinued products and backordered colors, the best resolution was to buy back seam pantyhose in Barbie doll nude and dye them. I guess we haven't come so far after all.

A Vision in Plaid

I'm currently doing two projects in the 1940s, and it's such a beautiful period. This is just a bit of research to share. Enjoy.

Strong Women, In Any Culture.

I'm doing another play set in the Middle East, always a difficult and wonderful research process. In a place where women's clothing is so often symbolic of their religion, status, and (what we Westerners consider) their oppression, I keep finding these images of incredibly strong and beautiful women.

The image is scanned from the Chicago Public Library image files, I do not have its original credit.

Sigh...

More fashion porn from the fabulous Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Enjoy.

Judgment Day

Today was my first day of shooting for my first film. Nervous, exciting, all that. We're filming a portion set in the Civil War (like the research I posted) and we're using reenactors as extras. These guys seriously know their stuff. In the costume world, lack of time always forces one to fake it, and it usually goes unnoticed. Reenactors notice, reenactors know.

Often in the industry, we have a historical costume that is put on a modern actor (not used to wearing it) to present to a modern audience (not used to seeing it) and they have to safely do cartwheels through the aisle. Clearly, we have to sacrifice the authentic for the functional and aesthetic. Reenactment folks bring a whole new level of authenticity to the table. They special order historically accurate fabrics. One gentleman hand stitches all of this own garments. They know every date, battle, button and they have guns. I was terrified. 

I was met with appraising eyes, I got lots of criticism, and a few compliments (whew). It was a long day with plenty of waiting around, so I asked questions and got lectures and lessons about... everything. Even if my costumes (ahem... period dress) didn't quite win them over, I think I did. It was kind of wonderful having authorities on site to help make choices and give input. At the end of the day, I had a deeper respect for the reenactment community. And on my way out, one kind soul said, "Ya know, I could never deal with actors and run around all day with a smile, I think you're pretty good at faking it." Victory! 

The Best Part!

I have a confession to make... not only is my job cooler than yours, but it's way nerdier. See, the art and fashion part is all a cover-up for the research part. Sigh. The point of the pie, the cheesiest chip. You find yourself looking for and really needing strange specific little bits. Sometimes I can badger friends and strangers (what bands did you listen to in high school? what do you wear on high holy days?). Sometimes, I'm Googling and flipping through every book in desperation (a 1930s Hungarian postal worker? French turn-of-the-century chambermaids?). It's fantastic, and I could do it forever. 

I'm getting things together to work on my first film project (!) and I keep finding these great photos. The project is partially set in the Civil War, and I'm finding the research to be well-documented and plentiful (sadly, wars lead to good research). How often do you see snapshots of Lincoln?