In Costuming a play we go through a process of "fittings" where we try everything on actors and make adjustments as needed. Getting there goes like this;
As I approach fittings I become a tightly wound ball of antici...pation. I get anxious about every choice I've made and actually seeing it on the actors. I spend hours putting every sequence of choices in order, rearranging them, getting rid of some things before bringing them into the fitting. I lay out scenes on the table to see what draws attention or if I've chosen things that are all too similar... I think this process of pre-fitting selection is more intense on modern shows where there's not really the option of making drawings in advance.
What I really hope for in a good fitting are the following;
1. the actor looks 'good' ('good' meaning; the way that their character should look)
2. the actor is happy and sees how the clothes will support the action&character
3. the director likes it
4. everything is close to fitting (nothing is worse than having a whole fitting where you've shopped everything too small, too short or whatever there is to make the actor feel like a physical freak)
As I get more adept at sizing people up these fittings do go much more smoothly than they did when I first started out. However experience is not a panacea for perfect fittings and every show is different. Eras, brands, characters all change how clothes do or should fit on a body. Once you get a garment on a person it changes completely, thus as I approach fittings I become hypercritical of every garment I encounter. I judge everything about it including how it feels, looks, how it will look under stage light, stitching quality, where the darts are, how the colors will look on the performer, pleats, buttons, lining, what historical eras or people it reminds me of... yea there's a lot of thought going into the decision between "blue jeans with a dark rinse vs. blue pinstripe dress pants". As the fittings get closer, getting myself dressed in the morning becomes more of an ordeal than it should be.
Once I've been through first fittings I'll be able to breathe a little. I'll at least have a better idea of how effective my choices have been, how my actors wear their clothes, any ideas the director and I have missed... A wealth of information awaits me on the other side of fittings, but for now I must rearrange the costume rack again and make another trip to the mall as I face the unknown before me.
Above our kick-ass P.A. walks the deck while the producers read the lines and the Stage Manager runs cues with the board ops... can't waste the whole night.
