Yesterday I sent out an email in the hope of recruiting some helpers for The Canterbury Tales. I was really pleased with the response and as a result the seating covers are now almost complete. As I was in fittings today Selina, my set assistant supervised this and it has meant, with it falling on a costume dye room day, that the bunting has been started also. I'm really pleased with this progress and I think it just illustrates that if you're prepared and need assistance there will be people there who want to help. This week I have been experimenting and working on the banners for the Knight's Tale (Arcita and Palamon- fighting scene). The first two pictures below show my 2nd banner. I chose to make it much bigger as the first one I did was way too small and I changed the shape as I didn't want the banners to match the bunting.
Below are my fitting photos for the day. I think the fittings went well. There are a lot of extras that need making and some alterations to be done to the hired garments.
Above is Chaucer's costume. I'm pleased with this, my only notes were that the belt should cover the seam at the waist and I would have prefered black shoes for him but these are ok.
Below shows Emilee/Constance/Pilgrim's costume. We had to change the neckline to a more rounded one as the square neck wasn't working, however I'm pleased with the braid. I think it's important to consider how the costume will be made when designing it and I think being there at the fittings has really helped me to get a better understanding of how costumes are interpreted. This can only benefit my design work.
Below: Channel at the neckline with very subtle gathers, this will be covered with the braid I chose.
Squire: Katie created two sleeves for this costume, the one on the left is my design and the one on the right is a historically accurate one. I think that the sleeve I designed draped better and we cut it to fit his arm. As a designer I have realized I really like having lots of options as it helps to get an even better result. My supervisor hired a selection of garments for this purpose and although there isn't much that is not being used it helped having different things the actors could try and seeing what suited them (comfort and fit) as well as my design. Anything leftover could be used for front of house when the shows take place.
These are the outfits for the ASMs, I chose the garments for them to wear (in the first picture below) mainly because of hair colour and as both dresses fitted them well.
Yeoman: Below with Don John's snood.
Below: This is the outfit we chose for the Yeoman. We had to change the hose and consequently the colour because this actor is doing a lot of fighting and therefore requires ease of movement, so these hose below were more comfortable for him.
Monk: His snood is unfinished although I'm pleased with the fit of the gown.
Pilgrim Lady/Miller's Wife: This is a dress that we got from The National Hire and it fits really well, there just needs to be a panel added at the front and the tippets which I think will make an interesting and authentic addition.
Reeve: This hired gown fitted really well, the additions of the cape and coife need to be made and added.
Knight: I think this is looking really great, the fabric and the cut work really well together and smarter hose are arriving tomorrow.
Wife of Bath.
I am pleased with how this costume is going and the colours work really well. I think it would benefit from having a real leather band as it would really give an authentic medieval feel.
Host: I am pleased with how this costume is progressing and I decided to go with the darker red hat below and the grey hat for the Nun's Priest (as the host uses this hat in a tale) as they suited the costumes more and they were the best fit and style of the ones we had found at the hire departments for these characters. I think that hats can be quite a difficult element of a costume as it is more subjective as to whether a hat suits someone. It also of course depends on the size, and how a hat is worn can really affect how a member of the audience interprets that character.
Shipman. I really pleased with this costume and I think the fabric I chose is a very good colour and texture for this character.
Nun's Priest: The grey hat fitted him well and tonally went with the rest of his outfit. The snood will be a different colour (grey/mauve) to tie in with the tones of the rest of his costume.
Alison/Pilgrim: This costume is a really good fit and I like the colour. I think looking at all the costumes together has helped me to see the colour palette for the play and I think it works really well altogether. They aren't too similar, but tonally they all work together and don't clash in any way. Some colours have changed due to the hired garments but we managed to get things that would complement with what was being made or sourced. I can also check this on Friday when we have our moving parade.
Prioress: I am really pleased with how this costume is looking as it is quite a complex make. We really thought about how the headgear looked and fitted and I feel confident that it will work really well.
Miller (with Warden's tartan): This costume works well for the Miller and the colours and textures have a good aesthetic.
Overall I am very pleased with how the fittings went, I think now it's just a case of completion along with the extra pieces required. I think I'm gaining more confidence in working around any issues or adjustments that have to be made to my designs, whilst still keeping to my vision for that character and the whole show. What was fashionable in the medieval period has different connotations in modern society. This particularly applies to the Squire's hat, which in the medieval period would have been quite big and extravagant but the mock up was not in keeping with the feel of the other hats and garments. Therefore I decided to make it much shorter so that it still had a young fashionable feel but would not be interpreted as a comedic element, although it is still authentic to that period.
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