Phantom of the Opera

For our final night we went to Her Majesty's Theatre to see Phantom of the Opera.  The musical first opened in 1986 and is the highest grossing musical of all time.  

http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/performances/about/phantom-of-the-opera/17

http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/performances/about/phantom-of-the-opera/17

I found that the  costumes were stunning and the detail in them was spectacular.  I thought that this costume on the right was really clever because it started as a simple dress and then when Christine, the character, begins to play her new part, a skirt in added on stage and the new costumes echoes that of the original actresses dress.  

http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/performances/about/phantom-of-the-opera/17

Around London

We spent one of our evenings walking around touring the sights of London and I noticed that there were a lot of shapes, colours and lines that could be used within designs and as inspiration.

Harry Potter Studios

On the Wednesday we all travelled to the Warner Brothers Studios to see the tour of Harry Potter.  What I liked about the tour was the fact that the costumes were on display in the different locations that they were seen in the films allowing us to see how they reacted to the desired settings and lighting.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Dance scene

 These costumes were seen during the dance held in the forth film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  These costumes show the characteristics of each of the different characters.  The pink  dress that was used for Hermione looks girly and sweet; which showed a different side of the character that was previously unseen.  However, Cho Chang's costume shows her asian heritage in the style of the neckline and sleeves.    For Harry's black suit at the front it looks to be too big for him showing that he had to borrow the suit.  

http://es.harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Fleur_Delacour

I found that this image I took to be quite interesting because it shows that mould that was used to create Fleur Delacour's iconic blue pointed hat.

I found it really interesting to see how the invisibility cloak had been created by lining it with green material to act as a green screen to edit in post-production.

Another thing that was fascinating was the costumes worn by Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge. The light pink colours and the soft woollen materials used would suggest that she was a kind and friendly character but her actual character was cruel and mean towards everybody.   

Wicked at Apollo, Victoria

http://www.apollovictoriatheatre.org/wicked/

Wicked was adapted from the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire and tells the stories of Glinda the Good and The Wicked Witch of the West and how they earned their names.  

http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/events/wicked

This is a good image showing the ensemble cast of Wicked wearing their Emerald City outfits.  Nearly all of these costumes appear to have been made asymmetrically and all using various shades of greens and yellows.  I think that this choice of asymmetrical design was done to show the quirkiness of The Land of Oz and how different they are to us.  

http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/events/wicked

In this image both Glinda and The Wicked Witch, Elphaba's costumes can be seen clearly.  Glinda's costume resemble a princess' dress with the sequins and sparkles and the use of pure, pale colours are used to show the goodness in her character.  On the other hand, Elphaba's costume is much darker to represent her wickedness.  When looking up closely at the detail the design look like leaves and bark to show her seperation to the people of Oz.  

http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/events/wicked

Theatre in the Victoria and Albert Musuem

The V&A museum holds an entire section full of theatre designs and costumes from films and theatre productions.

This costume is made using only 2 colours; black and silver.  The back of the costume is the most striking because the detail of the embellishment stands out and catches the light.  

It can be clearly seen where the design for this skirts has come from; he 1850s.  The use of hoops and the rounded silhouette echoes the original shapes of the crinoline and gives the audience an idea of the history and meaning of the costume.  

 

Around the Victoria and Albert Museum

An Embroidered Jacket

Whilst walking through the V&A museum we saw other garments that were shown in more detail.  This jacket above shows just how much detail went into the decoration of this jacket.  The amount of time and material needed to complete this jacket would mean that only the richest of people would afford to dress like this.

Two 18th Century Dolls

 These dolls dressed in 18th Century clothes show what the people would have worn at the time.  The detail included, even on these dolls, shows that displaying your wealth and status through your clothes and belongings went down even to children's toys.

Visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum

V&A Entrance Hall

For a week at the beginning of December we went on a trip to London with our University.  One of the first places that we went to see was the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Although the museum covers practically everything in design and all periods of history we chose to look more closely at the fashion and theatre sections.


I really found the fashion section interesting because the room goes around in a chronological order making it much easier to see how the fashions changed and developed.

For the Regency section of the room the clothes were placed in front of a painted wall designed to resemble the countryside and show the setting that the clothes would have been seen during the time. 

What I find most useful about the layout of the V&A museums exhibition is the inclusions of the underwear that would have been used to create the fashionable silhouette.  This crinoline caught my attention when looking  around because of the brightness of the red fabric used.  I would have thought that the undergarments would have been a lighter more natural colour.  

Costume Maker

The costume maker would work closely with the costume designers, supervisors and the assistants to make, fit or alter any of the required costumes that they are unable to buy or hire.

• The costume maker should have a creative talent and understand colour, design and composition.  
• Some good skills that they would require is the ability to age and distress garments where needed to any degree. 
• A good understanding of period costumes and the history behind them will help greatly as well as an understanding about the properties of different fabrics.  
• For this job a person would expect to work long and/ or irregular hours and so they would need to have the durability to cope with this 

Most of the work for the costume maker happens during pre-production when they are given specifications and designs from the costume designer.  When they begin making the costumes they need to agree and cost and time scale in which to complete them with the designer.  A maker could be required to take an actors measurements although they are usually given them.  Research into correct cutting styles and designs may be necessary and you will find that they are usually supplied with the fabric needed.  Once a design is complete it is the costume makers job to ensure that it is packed correctly and safely ready for transport.  When the costumes are worn for the first time by the actors the costume designer may be asked to be there to explain how the costume is worn and to make any needed alterations.  

Getty Images - Costume maker Phoebe Allies works on a jacket for Mozart's Don Giovanni, one of six operas appearing in the 2014 Glyndebourne Festival
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2631768/Behind-scenes-look-Glyndebourne-Festival-celebrates-80th-anniversary.html

soucrce: www.creativeskillset.org