The original pronunciation of Shakespeare fascinates me. To me it sounds closer to Scottish and American than it does to modern English, but you tell me;

Pink

Pink is one of my least favorite colors, but sometimes it is appropriate for the stage.  Sometimes big pink fluffy dresses need to be bigger, pinker, fluffier.  I present my case;

Scrambled.

I made a meme... let's see if it spreads.

Brevity-Princess dresses

I am reaching the finish line here and the dresses I'm making for the ladies are coming together. I am making what may be described as 'poofy cupcake princess dresses'... it makes my inner 6 year old go "SQUEE!"

-It makes the sleep dep fun.

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.