C4U Costumes

I am just finishing up the Crazy For You Costume plot. I truly enjoy the research and planning stage that goes into designing and setting the costumes for a show. It consumes me and colors they way I look at everything. I love discovering the reasons and whys for the fashion of the time. I also enjoy developing a clothing story for each of the characters. When you do the costumes you are creating a closet of clothes for the characters to wear. While you never really see the whole wardrobe, you have to know that it looks like and some of the back ground surrounding it so you can create the actual clothing to be worn in the show. If the budget was unlimited and i had the time and skills required it would be so fun to now create it all. But since the budget is limited as in basically non existent, I also have to figure out how to direct the actors in creating or obtaining a costume(s) that fits together with their character and the show as a whole....it's a great challenge.
Back to the research process.........
Since You can only read the script so many times to discover costume clues, you have to go out on your own and do some research. The Internet has made this research so easy to do; you can find images and read about locations and circumstances of the time. I can do it form my home at all hours of the day and night....... Another research tool I have used this time are movies. I have watched most of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies** that are set in the 1930's. ( I am glad that I have a collection of their movies). I know that there are other movies that might have given me a gritter, more real picture of the time period but that was not the image I was searching for. I knew that the Astaire and Rogers movies would give me a glamorous and costumy look that is more called for in C4U...and they are a whole lot of fun to watch as well. It was interesting to really see the hair styles and clothing that was worn by the upper crust and the glamorous people of the time. I loved the cut of the dresses, how they moved, the use of hats and gloves. The Finger waved and pin curled hair was fantastic! ....this of course brought me memories of Grandpa & Granny B...but I digress.....The men were sharp dressed and elegant. I loved their hats as well.......boy we live in a casual world.
Following this movie research I then blended that style with a simplified the style that I found portrayed in several images I found on the Internet and I know have a better idea of how to dress each of the characters in C4U.
I used to think that my favorite time periods for clothing were the 1950's, 1920's 1900- 1915, 1860's, 1800-1820 and royal medieval....however I now have a greater appreciation and love for the 1930 - 1936 fashion.....it has a lot in common with the 1920's and the 1900's.
Most think of the 30's as the time of the great depression and dust bowl era in the USA...and it was, but there was also a chicness about it.....On TV the other day a designer was referring to the 30's as FDR Chic and that was in reference to the furniture..... Anyway it has been so fun to discover a great fashion time period.....and to envision and help create a minuscule look at fashion of the time in Crazy For You.
MCC
** Favorite A & R Movies - Roberta, Swing Time, Shall We Dance & The Gay Divorcee. I also watched The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle - loved it hated the ending but what can you do when it is based on real people? The Berkley's of Broadway. I plan on watching the rest of my collection but they will have to wait a bit until I have more time.