The Apparel Oft Proclaims The Man

Hello all!

I had the great pleasure of visiting the Costume Shop this afternoon - what a feast for the eyes!! I am really excited to share some of the detailed pictures with you - things that you otherwise might not get to see from even the first row of audience seating.

We'll start with Ophelia's first dress - Lauren and Tyler (designers for Hamlet) shared the rendering and the fabric with us!

First off, I visited Gretchen - she is working on flatlining the bodice of Ophelia's first dress, Flatlining is when one fabric is adhered to another fashion fabric - this gives the fashion (pretty) fabric more structure and makes it less flimsy. Flatlining makes the garment easier to work with, gives it structure, makes it more durable for the run of the production and more pleasing to the eye!

Gretchen is using Coutil (a cotton fabric specifically used for corset making) to house the metal boning that will give the dress bodice its' corset-like shape of the period. Gretchen is attaching this to the beautiful pink fabric that the dress is actually made out of - this is the part that everyone will see when the garment is finished. Gretchen is doing this on a curve so that the boning and fabric will better work with the curves of the body!

To give you an idea of the finished bodice shape, here is a picture of Gertrude's dress in process -

Another very notable feature of Ophelia's dress will be the Cartridge Pleats. To give you an idea of what they will look like, here is a picture of Gertrude's dress which is partially complete:

Amazing, right? They fit over an undergarment called a Bum Roll, which gives the dress its' shape. And this is the way the Cartridge Pleats are made - I couldn't believe how much time this whole process takes. Below, you can see Vanessa 'dotting' the three holes every few inches - these are markers used to handsew three separate threads through the entire width of the skirt to acheive each pleat!

And just because it is gorgeous, here is Gertrude's dress in process and it all its' glory!

Sandahl was working on creating stitching lines on Orsino's robe for Twelfth Night - when the shop creates a pattern from scratch, there are no seam allowances on the pattern pieces, the way there are when a pattern is mass produced. So Sandahl is transferring stitching marks onto the lining fabric!

Here is the fashion fabric that Orsino's robe will be made out of - you can see that it has already been flatlined with a structured fabric.

And here is MJ, doing the flatlining:

And here is the rendering for Orsino's robe :

These charming cottons are for Maria's dress in Twelfth Night - I love this pairing!

This is the fabric for Olivia's second dress in Twelfth Night - just looking at the fabric makes me smile!

And here is the rendering:

The trick is to making the border on the dress is to take the red section of the fabric and piece it together so that it continously goes around the bottom of the skirt:

The very patient and methodical Cutter/Draper, Rachel, is manuevering this very slippery fabric - a mix of chiffon and silk charmeuse.

Designer Nicholas Hartman found this unique and cool quilted vest for the character of Fabian.

He then decided to put all the musicians in Twelfth Night in similiar quilted vests - so the Costume Shop learned to quilt and made their own fabric out of which to make vests!

Here is the backside of the custom made fabric - I am so impressed!

Ashley is working on Lord Aster's coat for Peter and the Starcatcher - this is the voluminous lining for the coat - she is working to give the coat fullness without bulkiness.

Here is a muslin mockup of Polonius' doublet from Hamlet. Mockups are made for fittings and alterations before the garment is made from the actual fabric.

Susie is working on creating more custom patterns:

Mary is working on alterations - taking previously built pieces from stock and making changes to them for current productions.

Megan is taking a (beautiful!) previously-built vest and adding button holes with this cool contraption called a Buttonhole Spacer.

Jeanine is giving what is called "TLC" to some garments that have been pulled from stock - she gives them a careful combover to make sure that they will be in prime condition for this season. She is checking seams, buttons, repairing anything that has seen better days.

Emily is building a sash for Peter and the Starcatcher.

Anita is attaching a band of grommets to a vest in Hamlet - the sleeves will be attached to the vest with ties that will lace up thru the grommets.

Carlton is flatlining the red coat that Lord Aster wears in Peter and the Starcatcher (a very important coat - you will see why when you see the show!).

Lauren and Tyler are hard at work discussing Hamlet.

Tyler shared his latest project with me - true artistry indeed. There is a theme of "cracking" throughout the costume design for Hamlet. Many methods were tried involving flour and water, potato dextrin, etc. The examples below were the "failed" attempts - but aren't they beautiful??

But eventually, the below method was found and decided upon. It involves several built-up layers of Sharpie, Dye-Na-Flow, pencil and paint pens. So about 10 yards will be hand-painted to create the crackle pattern!