Lab hours 4

This weeks lab hours I worked on creating ears for Mr and Mrs Beaver.  First I had to use the pattern sample to cut the ears.  The material that is used for the ear is the same fur material that was used for Mrs. Beavers dress binding around the neck and sleeve.  When sewing the ear we were debating whether to use a cardboard to stiffen the ears or not.  The fur material was fluffy and thick.  I used the sewing needle to stitch the edges of the ears without using the sewing machine.  As part of the ear on the base it needed to overlap so the ear could stand upright and also we can glue the hair clip to the ear.  Below is a picture of the pattern sample for the ear.

Just by looking at the material it had line patterns on it so just trying to cut out the ears I had to make sure that material had the same line pattern on both sides meaning if I was cutting it vertical both side had to be vertical and same goes if it was horizontal.  This was something I learnt while doing this project.  At first I thought it is  easy but the material made it difficult trying to decide which way should I cut the material. Using the pins to hold the materials together makes sewing and stitching easy.  Below is the picture of the ears after hand stitching the edges of the ears.

Costume Critique 3

1. Name the production and the costume designer.*

For my costume critique I choose the movie "Grease".  The designer for the costumes is Albert Wolsky.  He was born on the 24th of November 1930 in Paris, France.  He has worked both on stage and shows as well as for film and has received two Academy Awards.

2.What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color,texture, etc? 
I like their black outfit for both characters John Trevotor and Olivia Newton John. The black matches both of the characters and also scene in the movie that they did the dance.  The pattern of the outfit was dissent enough for the dance motions and the movie.  To compare all the costumes that were used or designed the Black outfit showed the inside of the female character that Olivia had in the movie.

3.Were there any costumes you didn't like? Why or why not.
The jacket for the pink ladies.  I did not like the pink color that they used for the jacket.  It was dull looking especially for popular ladies in school.  I thought they could have used a bright pink that would get most of the attention from the students on campus, even though they still get it while wearing the light pink. I also picture popular people in the movies to be wearing costumes that would draw attention and portray their character in the play.  

Lab hours 3

Today one of the characters for the play came in to try out her outfit. Abigail is one of the followers. She wanted to be a Raccoon.  I also worked on Mrs. Beaver's costumer, added left over brown fur from Mr. Beavers shirt material. I had to sew the brown fur around the sleeve and neckline.  There was check match on top of the dress that Mrs. Beaver was wearing that kept falling off from her shoulder.  I had to sew that portion up to making it more fitting so it don't fall.   For this sewing I used the needle to stitch it up and for the sleeves and neckline I used the sewing machine.  It was difficult to sew around the sleeve and neckline using the sewing machine because the material was thick and there were more than one layer of the binding around the neckline.  The sleeves were good flow.  The dress is still incomplete with the binding of the fur around the edges of the dress.  I had to start with those two parts because that was the first areas that we wanted to be adjusted but than it would look even beautiful if we continue to add it around the edges of the dress. Below is the picture of the dress.

 

Lab hours 2

For the project I worked on during this lab hours, I had to add fur to the Red Robin and the black witch.  I used the needle to sew the fur to the dresses.  It was challenging especially trying to sew the fur to the dress for the first one but as I got to the second dress I was able to adjust what I did wrong with the first dress and improve from it.  Below you will see the picture of the Red Robin and the black witch.  For the black witch dress the zipper at the back of the dress was broken so I had to remove it before I could sew the fur around the neckline.  The reason why I did this is because I thought it would be easy for whoever will be replacing the zipper for the dress.  I am enjoying learning how to do this basic sew skills.  I used the razor blade.  I also helped Ingrid to clean up the storage room for the costumes.

Costume Critique 2, Vasiti Cava

 Name of the production and the costume designer.
Mirror, mirror is the name of the production.  It is the modern version of Snow white.  The costume designer is Eiko Ishioka.

 What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color, texture etc.
I love all the costumes during the grand ball gown for Mirror mirror but the one that stand out the most is this red peacock dress for the witch.  The costume for the Evil Queen measures 5'8 to 6 in circumference, handmade from 25-35 yards of fabric with huge wire cages and corsets underneath.

The Queens costume have strong shoulders high necks and sliced layers of fabric around the neck to give the feeling of power, sharpness and danger.  This is why I feel was well done compared to the rest of the costume that were on display during the movie.  

Are they right for individual characters in personality, station in life, occupation?

The character of the Evil Queen costume was a good match.  Her costume had the characteristics of what her personality is like in the movie and especially the role of a Evil Queen.  As we all know that a Queen will always want power as part of her role, so in this movie the designer Eiko Ishika portrayed it on the costumer.  As audience it was comfortable to see that the Queen stood out in appearance and leadership.

Lab Journal, Vasiti Cava

Today (Tuesday) during class time I observe Sister Dooley take measurements for the characters for the play.  Sister Dooley told me that I will have to take measurements for the other characters as they come in during my lab hours.  I started helping her out with writing the figures for the characters measurements.I was amazed on how detailed were the measurements for their outfits.  Even though not all the parts were needed for their costume but it was good to know them .  I was able to learn something new about the waist, hip and the arm length measurements.  The picture below shows the measurements I took for one of the characters.










Apart from taking measurement I had to take the actresses up to the costume room to look up some outfits that would have some character features of their character.  Great learning experience trying to put a animal character features into normal dress outfits and visualizing how the character will look like in the costume.  I am having hard time trying to do this cross matching but its great fun. Another one is the costume fitting and adjustments, the use of pins to mark where the adjustment is needed.  I am enjoying the company and supervision of Ingrid and Sister Dooley.  This picture is one of our characters in the play.

Costume Critique, Vasiti Cava

1.      Name the production and the costume designer.

The production name is Cinderella 2015 film.  The costume designer is Sandy Powell the 3 time Oscar winning designer.  She was in charge of the costumes for the film. 

2.     2.        What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color, texture, etc

I like Cinderella’s ball gown.  The ball gown design was inspiration from the Disney animated film in its colors and shape.  The shape of her gown made her look like she was floating when she had to run away from the ball when the clock stroke 12.  For the color of her gown it was a great matching for the evening event especially since she looked like she was floating in her gown the light blue represented the sea and the texture for the calm of the sea as a ship floats on it.  I believe that the collection of this shape, color and texture combination brought out the beauty of Cinderella’s character.  According to the report about how the costume for the ball gown is that it took 18 tailors and 500 hours to make each dress.  There were 9 versions of the Cinderella gown that was designed each with more than 270 yards of fabric to use.  Now it makes sense on why it looks like she was floating in the movie, it’s because of the amount of fabric used to create those layers for the gown.

3. Are the costumes right for the play? In period and style? For the theme of the play?

From watching the movie and researching about how the costume was created, yes the costume was right for the play, even though the designer wanted it to focus on the 1950 Cinderella costume outfit.  My observation and critique towards the costume it’s a combination of 1950 and today’s character moderation's.  The theme of the play portrays the character of the Cinderella in the costume she wore.  She has a personality that made her live in a fairy tale world.