Costume Design

By Seleni Rivas and Adana Vazquez

History
The first use of a costume began as a ritual for a sacrifice. Human sacrifices were performed to honor gods who would proviede fertility, health,

and so on.
During the late Middle Ages in Europe, dramatic enactments of Bible stories were

being performed and stylized from traditional Byzantine court dresses were worn as costumes to keep the performances as realistic as possible.
Garments were very expensive because only the finest fabrics were used.

The majority of characters were clothed in Elizabethan fashion, and were divided into five categories; "Ancient", which was out of style clothing used to represent another period "Antique", older additions to contemporary clothing to distinguish classical characters Dreamlike, "fanciful" garments for supernatural or allegorical characters "Traditional" clothing which represented only a few specific people, such as Calum Hood "National or Racial" costumes that were intended to set apart a specific group of people but did not tend to be historically accurate.

Designer Role

The main concept of costume design in a production is to provide physical and emotional support to every actor and dancer through the clothing he or she will wear to enhance characterization. The costume must be able to last on stage and threw every production. This means it must provide three main things: comfort, flexibility and durability. All while it must have those three things, the design must provide strong visual support of the story, concept and context of the play as a whole. It is the role of the Costume Designer to ensure that the costumes reflect the visual style of the production and help actors and dancers portray their characters on their journey through the plays action.

Design of each garment

Theres a number of things that are needed to design a piece of garment such as a costume and here are a couple of them: To provide a costume sketch and research material for creating the piece of garment To provide a working drawing and/or discussing details of cut and fit with a cutter. Being able to choose the type of fabric depending on the research and the concept/ theme of the production. Participating in rehearsals to understand how the garment will be used and to ensure that stylistic choices made in initial discussions will still work as the production develops.

Being able to adjust the design if required, to best suit the physical proportion of the actor/dancer and the particulars of the character being portrayed.
The deisgner is always keeping in mind the overall look and balance of each scene, while making all choices and being aware of how colour schemes and the overall growth and development of the story of the play or dance from scene to scene.

The Costuming Process Includes: Planning - The designers prepare a great deal on their own. Notes script
requirements, like the number of costumes per actor, whether or not the same actor plays different characters, how many quick changes there are, etc. Then, after the creative path has been established through initial discussions with the director the process of creating the design sketches begins.

Designing - Collaboration with the Director and the Designer. Costume

design is not about beautiful fabrics or historical accuracy. It is about conveying the essence of a character through clothing.

Budgeting - Each Production has a specific amount of labour budget and a

materials budget. With the materials budget, a rough estimate is made of the amount of money allocated to each costume.

Buying - After the budgeting and costume breakdown has been completed,
the designer and the buyer/head of wardrobe go shopping for the materials needed. There may be several buying shopping sessions, or one or more complicated sessions during which most of the buying is completed.

The Costuming Process Includes:

Treating fabric - Before reaching the cutter or tailor, the fabric may have to be modified according to the designers wishes. Cutting and Sewing - Cutters and tailors begin their work-term with an extensive discussion with the designer, where the practical, technical and design aspects are discussed. Fittings Included animated discussions with the designer, cutter/tailor, actor and other wardrobe departments such as accessories and boots and shoes. Dress rehearsals - The cutter/tailor takes technical notes regarding the costumes they built, the designer observes all the visual elements, and the head of wardrobe picks up the loose ends.

Collen Atwood

Born :September 25, 1948, Yakima, WA. Colleen Atwood is an American costume designer. for Best Costume Design ten times and won Academy Awards for the movies Chicago in 2002, Memoirs of a Geisha in 2006, and Alice in Wonderland in 2011

Atwood has been nominated for an Academy Award

Awards: Academy Award for Costume Design,

Saturn Award For Best Costume, Costume Designer Guild Award for Best Costume Design Fantasy Film , Satellite Award for Best Costume Design, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Costume Design, BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, BFCA Cristics Choice Award for Best Costume Design, Costume Designer Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Period or Fantasy Film, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume for a Variety/Music Program or a Special, Costume Design Guild Award for Career Achievement in Film Award, Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Costume Design.

Sandy Powell
Born: April 7,1960, London, United Kingdom.
Sandy Powell OBE is a British costume

designer who has been nominated ten times for the Academy Award . She won the Oscar in 1999 for the film Shakespeare in Love, in 2005 for The Aviator, and in 2010 for The Young Victoria.
Awards: Academy Award for Costume

Design, Saturn Award for Best Costume, BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Costume Design, Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Costume Design, Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement, and many more.
Education: Central Saint Matins College of

Mark Bridges
Born Niagara Falls, NY Mark Bridges is an American costume

designer, born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York.

He received a bachelor of arts from

Stony Brook University and a master's of fine arts degree in costume design
Awards: Academy Award for Costume

Design, BFCA Critics Choice Award for Best Costume Design, BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design
Education: New York University State

University of New York at Sony Brooks

Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rox6DGVQw2E

Questions
What were Costumes used for when there time

period first began?

Which Designer was the most successful? Do you think Costume designing is easy or

hard?

Answers

Rituals for a Sacrifice.

Collen Atwood Personal Answer.