The Costume Shop

K.eep I.t S.imple S.illy!

2008-03-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

K.I.S.S. , known as the KISS principle this little bit of age old wisdom should be applied to all things theatrical, but especially to costuming. As I have already outlined in my Authentic vs. Believable article on period costumes, simple is often the best way to go.

Here are two simple ideas I picked up from our friends at Jones High School. First we have a very simple skirt made with a piece of colored touille and a silk ribbon at the waist. It simply ties and the touille gives it plenty of body for a tutu like feel. The structure of the touille makes hemming unnecessary so this project requires very little sewing and made excellent skirts for Oberon's fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Second, the problem of creating animal costumes for humans has plagued many drectors. Here is a simple solution for Bottom, who has been cursed with the head of a donkey. A black ski mask covered in Faux fur with two large ears protruding from the top gives just the right touch. Of course it can't compare with a full-blown donkey head, but this one won't break the bank and is easy to act in.

Got great ideas like these? Take a photo and send them along with basic instructions to Dramorama ideas c/o Mark @ Markrmorris2@sbcglopbal.net.

Sewing 101

2008-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, here it is, big confession.....I don't.....know how....to sew. Or at least, that is I didn't until our recent production of Two by Two, a musical comedy base d on the story of Noah's Ark. when faced with the reality that we did not have fitting costumes for our female cast I did what any cool headed director would do, I panicked!

After I calmed down I began to assess the situation and came to the conclusion that it was time after twelve years fo building costumes with staples and hot glue to bite the bullet, buy a patern and get sewing!

Here are Mark's top ten tips for beginning tailors.

Number ten: Start small. I bought the easiest pattern I could find that gave me the look I wanted. Anytime you are learning something new, if possible give yourself the best odds of success and start simple.

Number nine: Stick to the script. on the back of your pattern package there shouldbe a list of materials you need, buy them! don't assume you understand what they will be used for if you have never done this before.

Number eight: Seek expert advice. Unlike home centers, who generally hire anyone with a pulse, fabric stores are usually staffed by knowledgeable people who are more than willing to help someone get started in their favorite hobby. thye can help you sort out what kind of elastic, thread, hook and eye fasteners, etc. you will need to make success a surety.

Number seven: Take your time. Do not go when you have fifteen minutes to spare. Even with the expert help you will need plenty of time to navigate this newfound universe. Just like any other project the planning period is often the most essential, so get it right.

Number six: Make sure you have the right tools. No the "craft" scissors will not do for cutting through the heavy faux fur and denim you will need to create that stunning Xena Warrior princess outfit. Get good scissors, extra needles, plenty of thread and anything else your expert suggests that fits into your budget. Remember if all goes well you will be using this stuff again.

Number five: Watch someone else do it. Teh first time you need to thread the machine or fill a bobbin you will want someone to demonstrate the proper technique, trust me. So call Mom or Grandma and ask them for a lesson or two. IT shouldn't take long but will save you hours of trying to unriddle the directions in "You Can Sew" or whatever publication you picked up in the junk store, besides the woman on the cover has a beehive hairdo, how current can the info be?

Number four: Start cheap. Don't go out on a limb with forty dollar a yard fabric on your first time out. If you have to abandon this sucker midstream you don't want it taking down your entire costume budget with it. Go to Wally World 10% of them still sell fabric, and they have discount tables. As always start at the cheap stuff. If they have what you want you win and if not you can always spend more.

Number three: Read the instructions. Before cutting any fabric, or even cutting your pattern out read the instructions and decipher the pictures. Call for help on any terms you don't understand. Look at a similar finished garment if possible to help you understand, but whatever you do, understand it before you do it.

Number two: Don't be afraid. You bought cheap fabric, you know how not to set off the self destruct on the machine, how bad can it get? the worst thing that happens is you have to start over or get help. As a side note to this one, fix your mistakes as you catch them so they don't pile up and ruin the effort.

And the number one tip: Have fun. Enjoy your completed creation, send us pictures, wear it with pride. You have accomplished something many people are afraid to try,you can sew. Although I caution you not to spread that around.People like me are always looking for people like you to do stuff like this, so don't offer unless you mean it!

I've included a pic of my first effort, be sure and leave lots of nice coments about the superior quality of my work!

Halloween Tricks for more treats!

2007-10-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Halloween fans, here are a couple of really cool ideas that I found on the web. Sorry I know I ususally write my own stuff but these are fun I promise! by the way, make a cool costume this year? Want to share your idea with the world (really we have people from Japan on this site from time to time) snap a couple of good photos, write a list of materials and a few step by step instructions and send iot to Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net and if we like it we'll post it! First here's a couple of monster makeup how tos here and here. and for the ladies here's some cool glam makeup ideas for a variety of characters. Fairy wings? We got you covered! Here is a blog with links to several fun costume ideas, funny and scary! And last but not least for the transformer fans a blog that shows you how to build yourself into Optimus Prime! Be sure to check out the cool prop how to over at the prop shop, happy tricker or treating!

2007-08-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

When looking for that special touch to make a costume look just so, don’t overlook the prop master’s friend, spray paint! It will stick and dry well on almost any fabric, including leather, although check vinyl and plastics in a small inconspicuous spot before going all out. It comes in a wide variety of colors and finishes and makes for great distressing.

Here is a brief tutorial on the Tinman costume we recently created for our production of “The Wiz”.

For those who don’t know, The Wiz, is an urban retelling of the classic Wizard of Oz complete with a magnificent soul music score, in which the tinman is a mechanical carnival midway barker left behind to rust into oblivion when his amusement park shuts down.

In our case we had recently produced the Wizard of Oz and due to a lack of time we were forced to use a “make do” off the shelf costume for the tinman. Here is a link to a similar costume you can order online.

One of the skills that any true theatre techie will develop early on is “prop eye” the ability to visualize that item on the shelf at Walmart or home depot as a part of something else. (with lots of hotglue and duck tape of course) For the tinman we needed to dress the suit up a little so I added boots, shoulder tabs, slinky sleeves, a “hubcap” collar, a pair of gauntlet gloves and a distressed finish.

For the boots we went directly to the prop outlet (also known as the Dollar Tree or $99 cent store) and purchased two small trash cans in bright colored plastic. We cut the bottoms out of these using a jigsaw. A box knife or keyhole saw would work as well. The actor then slips bare feet down through the top of the upside down can and replaces his foot ware, add a coat of distressed metal finish (more on that later) and voila!

The flip up tops from the center of the lids became the shoulder tabs. These were also distressed then attached using large safety pins to the shoulders of the costume. They could be more permanently attached using an upholstery needle and fishing line or heavy thread. The bottom edge was fastened to our slinky sleeves, and they too received the weathering treatment.

For the slinky sleeves look no further than your hardware store. This pair is made from one long dryer vent hose cut in half. They come in a couple of different diameters and should be able to fit all but the largest tinmen. Get your wire cutters ready and be extra careful to bend under any sharp points!

For the hubcap collar its back to the $1 store for a plastic “chrome” finish serving tray that you can easily cut the center from using a box knife. If the edges happen to be sharp a thin strip of duck tape folded over the edge should take care of it.

The gloves were simple garden gloves, brown jersey in this case. The gauntlets were cut from a piece of fun foam and attached with craft glue. We used the jersey gloves with the little rubber nubbies on them. The spray paint gave these a nice sheen but didn’t dry well so you might stick to the plain variety. ***the fun foam can be made into much more elaborate metallic pieces, check out this link here for details***

Now for the finish. You will want gray spray primer, a nice rich brown spray, cheap (I prefer Walmart brand) silver, gold and flat black. Make sure you give the plastic trash cans a good coat of primer to help your finish last before applying color. I sprayed all of my [parts separately but you could just as easily spray the whole getup. Lightly streak the red, black and gold across the surface to give the appearance of rusty and grime. I did them in this order: brown, black, gold and finish up with a light dusting of silver to help blend.

New to spray paint? Less is more! Lightly press the nozzle as you move the can across the surface of the costume with a “brushing” motion. Don’t stay in one place too long or you’ll puddle and run. More light coats are superior to heavy coats, remember we are not trying to preserve the surface just enough to make it look good.

Just add a distressed straw boater hat, a junk pipe cain, a pair of silver sprayed shoes (see it works on almost anything) a little makeup (we used gold instead of silver, the features showed up better) and ease on down the road!

The actor pictured is Eric, a rookie who handled himself like a real pro!

Color is your friend!

2007-03-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Color can be a great tool in costuming! What do you think when you see a man dressed all in olive green? Military, right? What about solid black? Solid black with lots of safety pins and zippers? Solid black with a ski mask and black leather gloves? You get the idea.

By using color we can say a lot about a character that will be noticed right away! Ever see one of those black and white photos with one or two elements toned bright red? A character in contrasting colors will stand out. Dress a group of actors alike, identical or just similar, and suddenly they belong together. Put everyone in rags and one man in a tuxedo and everyone wants to know why. By using grouping and contrasting in your costume scheme you may find that some pieces you thought were interesting but unusable suddenly become usable.

When my company Family Theatre Warehouse produced Seussical, the Dr. Seuss musical, we looked at images from several professional and regional productions. Most of them showed the Whos either dressed all in bright colors (far too busy) or one solid color (such as yellow) to set them apart. We had already decided to use Seussian art work for our backdrop in bright colors, and since the script calls for no animal costumes, (so our animals were brightly dressed in more or less human clothes), we needed another way to set the tiny (in actuality full size actors) whos apart.

We went back to our best source, the work of Dr. Seuss himself, and came away with a solution. Since having all of one color of costume for such a large group would be expensive and impractical we decided to use Seuss’s own color scheme, black and white! Since all of our other characters were dressed in bright solids we now had a way to put whos onstage with others without confusion. The audience could instantly identify who was whos!

The image above features our youngest performers (junior company 4-7 yrs) in one of their numbers from this very fun production!

Great two tiered costume rack design!

2007-03-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Costume storage got you down? Tired of opening the closet to be buried by mounds of clothes? Budget too tight for expensive metal pipe racks? Try this two tiered wheeled costume rack and get sixteen bar feet in a four by three space! Build multiples and you’ll have a veritable costume storage smorgasbord! We built ours ten feet tall, but the height can be adjusted to fit your space.

You will need 6- 8’ 2x4, 2-10’ 2x4’s, 4- 3” castors, 2- 8’ pieces of 1 ½” metal electrical conduit, and 4 pairs of closet rod cup style brackets.

Begin by cutting your materials. CARPENTER’S NOTE: always start with your longest pieces first and work your way down to conserve material. All joints were made using 3” drywall screws, predrill your lumber especially on the diagonal bracing to prevent splitting.

Here is the cut list

2 pcs 2x4x10’ tall uprights

3pcs 2x4x4’ Middle spreaders

2 pcs 2x4x 32” bottom castor skids

4 pcs 2x4x 27 ½” costume bar support arms

4 pcs 2x4x 20”diagonal braces for castor skids (45 degree cut at each end)

8 pcs 2x4x 16” diagonal braces for pipe support arms

8 pcs 2x2x16” diagonal braces for tall uprights

8 pcs 2x4x12” inside support arm

Assemble the outside frame with the tall uprights on the outside of the middle spreaders. Using three inch screws fasten the four outside corners, then set the middle spreader in place @ 5’. Place your diagonal outside corner braces as per diagram.

Assemble pipe arm supports with 27 ½” arms down, place 1 inside support arm at each end, leaving a 3 ½” space to fit around upright in center. Fasten your pipe brackets to the inside face of the support arm.

Fasten top support arms at top end of upright using screws, attach diagonal arm support bracing. Next fasten bottom support arm at 5’ from bottom and attaché diagonal braces.

Now fasten your castor skids to the bottom of uprights and attach braces. Screw castors to the bottom of the skids.

Using a hacksaw or reciprocating saw, measure and cut pipe to fit between brackets, leave 1/8” slack to allow easy installation. Install pipe, stand rack upright and hang costumes! On several of ours we have added plywood shelves at the bottom to keep costumes from falling into castor wheels. We also added coat hooks to face of one end of upright to allow costumes to be hung temporarily for pulling. Make sure that you keep a ladder or step stool handy for the top racks. And always load rack evenly to prevent imbalance.

Got another great storage idea? Send description and pictures to Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net for consideration and possible publication here on Dramorama.com!

Add thirty years in thirty minutes! Age makeup 101

2007-03-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Need to get old really fast? Start your own theatre company I guarantee you’ll age twenty years in the first five minutes! But seriously, age makeup, how do we do it?

First of all you need to decide, how much age do we really need? Is the character just supposed to be a parent but is being played by someone the same age as the child? I suggest using costume, posture, mannerisms, etc. In short makeup will not do your acting for you and if the difference you want is not that great it is probably a question of acting, not makeup.

On the other hand, if you’re playing Methusaleh (oldest man in the Bible recorded as 969 yrs) then makeup is in order. Start with the hair, as it will be easier to whiten the hair without messing up your hard work on the face. Hair white is a makeup product that can be brushed on and maintains a good covering. Other methods include white or silver aerosol hairspray, and cornstarch or baby powder applied over fresh hairspray (to make it stick) followed by a good coat of hairspray(to seal it.)

On to the face. Start with base, always start with base. The base is the foundation for any good makeup application. In order to select the proper base you should test the color on the inside of the wrist of the actor in question. You are looking for a color just a shade lighter than the actual skin tone. Apply this evenly and liberally to all exposed facial skin including the front and back of the neck and the ears. The best applicator is a foam sponge. At this phase you will also need to apply a brown eyeliner or a line of eyebrow pencil to line the eyes. Also lipstick, for women whatever color you would use for this character, for men or a natural un made up look, a red brown color is best. Make sure it has no glitter or sheen, we are looking for a matte finish.

Every good paint job for the stage whether scenery or makeup requires the use of at least three shades, a base, a highlight and a shadow. To find the proper shadow and highlight colors use your base as a reference. You will want a shadow with the same color temperature (warm is more red or brown, cool is more blue or green) as your base, just a shade darker. It may work best to blend a small amount of base with a darker color to get the desired effect. For highlights you may be able to use straight white, or for darker complexions use the above method only going lighter.

Once you have the base in place it is time to sketch out where you want your wrinkles and shadows. Think of it as letting the air out. As we get older our skeleton remains the same but the fatty tissue and the elastic nature of our skin begins to change, causing the skin to hang a little looser. To determine where the wrinkles on a young face will be ask the actor to squint, wrinkle their brow, smile, frown, etc. to find the natural folds in their skin. Line these with a red-brown eyebrow or makeup liner pencil. We will come back to these later.

Shadows belong where shadows already fall, we are just exaggerating them. Along the sides of the nose, under the cheekbones (you can find this line by having the actor suck in their cheeks or make a “fish face”) under the eyes, and along the chin line are places shadows normally occur. Using your pencil draw lines indicating the edge of your shadow. Now fill in the area furthest from the light running up to your line. You can apply this makeup either with a small soft brush, a foam sponge wedge, or my personal favorite, a well cleaned fingertip. Most makeup artists use a combination of those three.
In order to make your wrinkles and shadows appear three dimensional, instead of just looking like dirt, it is necessary to add highlights. In nature, every shadow has a highlight. This is the line where light is most reflected, causing the shadow to have a stronger contrast. With a narrow, semi-stiff brush place a very light line of highlight along the bottom edge of each wrinkle, yes it looks stupid, just trust me! Now place a little heavier line of highlight above each shadowed area.

Almost done. Now, using the makeup sponge wedge from your base step, carefully and gently pat the whole face. This gentle patting motion lifts a little of each color, slightly blending them and softening the lines. Just before it starts to look really good to you up close, stop, step back and squint just slightly. This is a good way to see the basic effect of your work from an audience perspective. Remember this is going to be seen from a distance under intense lights, it needs to be slightly exaggerated.

Now, using translucent powder and a big soft powder brush apply a liberal coat over the whole face, dusting it off gently. Momentarily your lines and shadows will appear less crisp and almost seem to disappear, but if you are using a good TRANSLUCENT powder, the skins natural oils will absorb into the powder in a few minutes bringing your work back to the surface. DO NOT use baby powder, over the counter cosmetic powder, or flesh colored powder with a lot of pigments as these will negatively affect your makeup.

Step back and take a look at your work, you may surprised at how well you have done. If not, don’t worry it’s makeup and it will wash off. Don’t give up, take a break and try again. In no time you’ll be aging actors like a pro.

Authentic vs. Believable

2007-03-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

As a theatre owner with rental stock I get calls for "authentic" period costumes all of the time. When questioned as to what they mean most people don't really know, that's just what they heard from somewhere. They don't really want whale bone corsets and horsehair suits. They just want to look the part.
In our costume closet we have divided our stock into several different categories. If placed on a timeline it would break down like this. First we have ancient, these include biblical and roman type costumes, Cleopatra and Marc Antony would fall in this category.
Then there are medieval and storybook costumes. This category includes blousy "poet" shirts, wench and princess dresses and the like.
Then we have western/ Victorian. This is the first of the modern categories and can be pretty broad. Generally speaking if you put a man in a high button jacket with a string tie, bowler and spats, you will get away with anything from 1850-1920. Same holds true for the ladies in a high collar, floor length dress.
From there we move into the jazz/big band era which ranges from 1910-1950 and includes a lot of ground. You can find fairly good photographic references for much of this time period probably right in your own family. Men wore hats and jackets, ladies wore skirts, hats and gloves. It was a formal era, but also brought us the birth of leisure.
The modern era is generally understood, and sometimes even remembered by most costumers. Just remember you're going for effect not authenticity. Use accessories to further the illusion. A great purse that just screams 1964 might be just what you need to set an outfit apart form the rest.
Gloves, ties, vests and overalls are all examples of things still used today that have an antique feel. Using modern versions of these with a vintage feel goes a long way! Most audience members will believe what you make believable, so wear it like it fits the character!
When working on “period “ costuming try to balance the demands of the production with the practicalities of the modern world. Most men will feel awkward enough wearing a tie, hat, vest, jacket and topcoat without you adding a “legit” removable celluloid collar. Remember the goal is to add to the story telling ability of your actors and not to provide them with a history lesson.

5 Minute Mobcap

2007-03-08T00:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick and easy way to knock together a useful little detail for colonial women's costumes called a mobcap.

You will need the following: half a yard of eyelet trim, one paper chef hat which can be had from restaurant supply, hotglue gun and gluesticks, a pair of scissors.

Step1. Fold the headband of the chef's hat back until you have about a 3/4 inch band.

Step2. wrap a length of eyelet trim around the hatband, mark and cut.

Step3. Using hotglue and being careful not to scorch your fingers, OUCH! I told you so, attache the eyelet to the bottom edge of the chef's hat, voila!

Now repeat as many times as you need mobcaps. They will last quite nicely if put away in a hatbox or stored in a drawer. Need different colors? Try Rit dye, it comes in a variety of shades and is really fun stuff. Make sure to read and follow ALL directions as it will stain whatever it comes in contact with!

Hats, hats hats!

2007-03-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

When working on costumes for your next production don't overlook the headgear. While, fashion wise, hats are a fringe element these days in the past it has been considered impolite to leave the house without one! Here are a few tips for finding, choosing and caring for hats.

1.Where do I find hats? Baseball caps and sunhats abound but where can you get really good hats? If you have the budget new hats can be had in most communities especially in boutique clothing retailers. Check out your yellow pages for men's shops or even hat shops. Many costume shops also rent or sell hats. Thrift stores and garage sales are always a good source of almost anything theatrical!

2. How do I know which hat goes on who? It is hard to become an expert in the whole history of fashion but a few good reference books will help tremendously. Many times fashions repeat themselves so keep your eye open for similar hats that might work as is or be customized to make sense in the period your working with. Also keep in mind that hats can signify things such as social rank or profession!

3. Once I have the hats what's the best way to store them? My personal collection has grown to over four hundred caps, helmets and bonnets included. We have tried many things to keep our good friends safe and make sure they are easily accessible and the best solution we came up with was a dual purpose one.

The hallways of my theatre are lined with a row of hats on pegs (I use drywall screws because I'm cheap) they provide a colorful, decorative border, they are safer than in boxes, take up less space and all that is necessary to find the right one is to simply cruise the hall! The same thing can be done on a large wall in your costume shop.

For those deemed too delicate for this approach, first of all beware putting the onstage, secondly hat boxes come in all shapes and sizes and can be had for $10 or less.

Costumes on a Broken Shoestring Budget!

2007-03-07T00:44:00.000-08:00

How to dress Actors Like a Million Bucks With, Like, Way Less

After designing your costumes and assessing your budget you are probably freaking out, just a little, right? Never fear! Here are three sure fire ideas to help you make the most of any budget.

1. Closet raid! That’s right, circulate pictures of what you want among cast, crew, family, friends and friendly looking strangers standing in line at the grocery store, Wow that would look great in this play we’re doing! (never hurts to ask) Men’s suits and dresses, boots, hats, ties, scarves and gloves are just a few of the items we’ve found in our dramorama teams closets.

2. Closely related to the first suggestion is this gem! Use what you got in a whole new way. By using techniques found in this book you can rebuild, combine, dye, accessorize and otherwise improvise your way into a closet full of beautiful costumes! (all of the hints are no sew as well)

3. Beg, steal and borrow from other companies! You know that one of a kind item you thought you’d only use once but you had to have it anyway? Turns out Theatre Alakazam is doing that show on the other side of town. Turn your assets into bartering chips to borrow the stuff you need! (we’ve done this successfully on more than one occasion, just be sure you make a good inventory of all your borrowed items and return them clean and in good condition. And remember you reap what you sow so be sure to be ready to help someone else out in the same way)

Check out that instant costume book, I promise it will be practical no matter your skill level! And you'll quickly save enough money on costumed for it to pay for itself!