Fittings for La Ronde

The fittings for La Ronde took place in the same room as the fittings for Tender. The actors attended individually. In attendance was myself as costume designer, wardrobe supervisor and wardrobe assistant as the fitting room was next to the rehearsal room for La Ronde the director attended ad hoc throughout the day. Because the designs were so specific most aesthetical decisions were made on the actual costume worn by the actor, as apposed to referring to the design throughout the fitting. The designs were out on the side however and referred to at times but a great deal of time had been spent by the supervisor getting the costume prepared for the fittings. As a designer I knew what I wanted the costume to look like.

The actors knew the characters well at this point and could explain how they would perform in the costumes This was helpful from a technical point of view. The play demands a great deal of technical performance from the costumes as the actors take off and put on their costumes during the action. The fittings addressed the technical side as well as the aesthetical.

Some interesting comments were made by the actors for example: ‘I didn’t realise period costume was so heavy’, a fair point as this is not necessarily portrayed in the designs. Similar comments echo that of the Tender fittings such as ‘I feel the part in this outfit’.
The director intermittent attendance was welcomed to reduce any confusion later in the production process. The director was elated and joyous about the costumes being fitted and though some had changed slightly from the designs due to sourcing issues the essence of the design presented to the director had not swayed and at this stage to director was delighted with the results.
One costume which had changed quite a bit from the original design was the costume for the character The Young wife. Though we had looked both at in the ArtsEd store, the National Theatre Hire Departments and Haslemere costume hire we could not find something in the same colour. The timescale and budget would not allow for a costume to be made so we had to consider alternatives. We did find a very similar cut of costume which fitted into the colour scheme for the production. I was pleased with the dress and felt it worked with the concept and the director seems not to be bothered at all. A previous point which I observe here again is during the design process though a designer can take into consideration how the production will be sourced it is impossible to consider all eventualities and a flexible is approach is needed in these situations.

Costume Parade for Tender

The dress parade took place in the rehearsal studio at the end of a long days rehearsals. This was not ideal but was the most appropriate time in the schedule. The purpose of the parade is for the director to see the finished costume a few days before the dress rehearsals so that any changes which needed to be made could be done so with the time allowed. The dress parade for Tender was essential as the director had not seen any of the costumes during the fitting stage and some of the costumes had been sourced without a design to support the choices. I was quite confident that the activity would go well and that for the costumes which had a design that the director would not pleased.

At this stage the designs become redundant and the costumes take over. The director was interested to see every detail including accessories which surprised me as he had taken little interest up until now. A positive response from the director with little surprise on his part which implied the realisation had lifted off the page. Scene 14 raised a few comments as the additional costumes came under scrutiny but none were rejected and the director seemed pleased that the characters where conveyed well through the costumes choices.

Fittings for Tender

The fittings took place in a light and airy room with space for the actors, designer and wardrobe supervisor. The actors attended the fittings individually and the wardrobe supervisor allocated them the selected garments which were source using the designs. Even with the my attendance as costume designer the designs were referred to regularly accuracy: The director had chosen not to attend the fittings but was relying on the realisation on of the costumes looking like the designs shown at the last director/ designer meeting. Secondly the designs were also used to inform the actor how the clothes are to be worn. The director had informed us that he wanted addition costume for scene 14 which had not been discussed at any of the design meetings. The supervisor and myself had had enough time to shop for the additional costume though not image had been generated. Know the characters well help with this process as did the contemporary setting of the play. Together myself and the wardrobe supervisor went out looking for what I though would be appropriate for the character in the scene. Mindful that some of the characters would not have a great deal of time to change I wanted to find items which could be added to the fundamental costume which they were already wearing. I did start to wonder at this point in a contemporary production whether designs are actually needed if I was able to just go out shopping for these additional costumes. I did concluded that the designs which were produced aided a conversation about the characters with the directors and the design which were produced enabled the director to have confidence that the costume which I would source for the additional scene would be suitable.

The actors responded well to the fittings with comments such as ‘my character would definitely wear something like this’ and ‘I feel the part now’. One female actor felt less comfortable in her costume and though it looked very similar to the design which she saw at the presentation on designs felt the realisation of the costume on her body unflattering. She was upset as her character was in her late 40’s and she felt that women in their late 40’s still dress ‘cool’. Struggling with the fact that the character was older than she was she didn’t understand mine or the directors reasoning to make a young person look older you need to place them in older cloths. She left the fitting a little more reassured but resistant to dress her hair in an older style.