Insert obvious euphamism here...

Shopping on the internet...

Oh the things we find...  and they're all sold out.

Promo Photos

I hate promo photos. They always look contrived. The actors usually don't have the proper hair or make up, the costumes have typically been thrown together at the last minute.  Often the designer doesn't even get the chance to put the costumes together and the actor or director does the 'styling' of it. The actors are often whoever is available and they create scenes that don't really exist in the play... what I really hate is when the someone says "I want it to be organic", yea like we're hiring Pirkle Jones to come and document this event that will just be happening.

That said... I did these. I pulled the costumes, I took the photos, I posed the actors... I chose the two actors with the best hair, and actually I don't think they are ever in the same scene on stage.

I guess they look at least as good as the normal last minute stuff I see.

Research uncovered.

SNL, I have found your inspiration...

Details

It baffles me when the historical research looks like this;

or this;

and This is what you have made as a "romantic era" dress...

It's like the Romantic Era got wrung through Little WalMart on the Prairie.

Continuity Fail...

Aww... I guess this happens to even the best of us.

Lucky for me, when actors forget to remove watches or wedding rings it isn't preserved for all time.

Great Sci-Fi Costumes...

I love Science Fiction.  Sometimes "alien" and "future" costumes are pretty spectacular.  I think I shall start documenting it...

In this edition I present the "Edo" from Star Trek TNG, Season 1, Episode 7 "Justice"

The Edo are a sensual and peaceful race that seem to only have time for leisure and calisthenics. Sadly they have a simplistic governmental justice system that results in all punishments being death.  The crew of the Star Ship Enterprise find that they cannot stay due to all their law breaking.

The Edo follow the George Lucas model of "no bras in space", and are creepily Eloi-like (a-la The Time Machine)in their identical blondness. The men's shorts show a little more information than most care to know and not in a sexy A&F sort of way.  Still I have to give credit for them pulling these 70's get-ups out in 1987.

I give this an
A for Gratuitous almost-nudity
D for "futuristic look"
B+ for humor
and a
C for creativity... They all have the same jumper? Even American Apparel sells the same stupid t-shirt in half a dozen colors.
B for function within their society

Overall grade; C+

Ouch.

When the sidewalk up and attacked me, I planted firmly onto the concrete, hands down.  Graceful. The first thing that went through my mind was "OUCH!" but then the second thing that went through my mind was... oh my gosh, my palm, it's turning blue!  The scientific excitement of watching my palm swell up and turn blue with little red specks instantly translated into "so this is what a fresh bruise looks like on the palm".  I cataloged this visual artifact for future theatre productions... bruises are very useful.  Sometimes it's a little disconcerting how much I know about trauma wounds and kill shots.  I wonder what other people think about their fresh bruises if they have no purpose for them other than use as decorations to garner sympathy with.

How to save broken and ugly armor.

Here is the breastplate we had in stock... It was essentially unwearable, had broken shoulders and looked nothing approaching 'authentic'. It was more like an interpretation of armor by someone who had never seen any.

The first thing I did was detatch the busted back and the cardboard deco from the front. Then I mended the shoulders with some thermal plastic.

Next, add a massive amount of hot glue to the holes.  Then I covered the shoulder patches and front with a molded vinyl from the fabric store, and used a little piping along the edges to seal the edges... this is the point where I questioned my chances of success...

Finally I coated the body in gesso and sand, then painted it black. After that dried, I sponged gold over the whole thing.


How about that? Not so bad after all.

Problem solving...

What do you do with a rented shirt that has huge ties at the neck you wish were not there?

I don't know about you but I did this;

Bionic-ish

My director wanted the queen to have a metal arm...

... I think I am fairly pleased so far.

Really?

Slapping the phrase "Harry Potter" at the beginning of anything seems to mean "I'm inflating the actual retail price of this thing by 300%"

Really people? Really?

Girl in a Box

We are all of three days into rehearsals with Cymbeline and we just did our publicity photo shoot... Looking at the image I realized that although I don't think I've ever put a leading lady in cream before, this is the second show in a row that I am doing it for. See below; Eurydice in a suitcase wearing a champagne colored cocktail style wedding gown and here... Innogen wearing a pale gold silk ensemble in a trunk. I suppose these themes are to be expected when you design one show on top of another...

On a side note, I've started a website/online portfolio check it out at http://www.alexaedesigns.com

Ok... now back to work!

Eurydice

It's late... I'm half asleep but I thought I'd throw up a quick snap of the show I'm putting up this week... hopefully a real blog post will happen this week. If I am very good and get all of my work done I may have time to even write a little bit about this show. Who knows perhaps there is someone out there who hasn't given up on me posting to this blog all-together. Perhaps. This show might turn out ok... I still have a few artistic problems that are killing me but I've got two days to work them out. Wish me luck.

SASSY GAY FRIEND - Macbeth

If you haven't seen the Sassy Gay Friend yet... please... there are a bunch of them and they are Fab-ulous... enjoy!