Designing And Making Stage Costumes

Written for the use of students and practitioners in the amateur and professional worlds of today's theatre, this handbook covers every aspect of a costume designer's work from preliminary sketches and discussions with a producer to cutting and trying on for Shakespeare and modern plays.

Written by a well-known costume designer, this book is for anyone who would like to create costumes for the theater, whatever their experience or their budget. Topics include understanding the structure and work of a theater company; making the best use of production meetings; coping with budgets; decoding the costume clues in a script; setting up and equipping a workroom; finding costumes at thrift shops and flea markets; altering modern clothes for period productions; using and adapting commercial patterns; and developing simple sewing skills. Tina Bicât has worked as a costume designer for The Royal National Theatre, The New York City Ballet, The English National Opera, as well as for fringe theater groups, television, and film.

A step-by-step illustrated guide to creating professional-looking stage costumes.

The "New Stagecraft," which Motley helped to shape, replaced the painted, three-dimensional sets and realistic costumes of the nineteenth-century stage with fluid, representational scenery and evocative costumes. Together, the elements of the design formed a unified interpretation of the play. Motley's accomplishments were especially significant because they spanned both New York and London and set a standard for beauty and excellence in theatre design that lives on today in the work of their many students.

This is an invaluable guide for anyone who designs, or aspires to design, costumes for stage productions. It explains the role of the costume designer, from understanding the script to realizing ideas on paper and in fabric. Among the topics covered are art and design materials; exercises for developing drawing skills; script and character analysis; the theater production process; and approaches to historical and modern dress productions. This excellent guide is complete with a fabric dictionary of textiles and their terms. Gary Thorne designs for repertory theater in Canada, England, and France. He is also the author of Stage Design: A Practical Guide.