Dracula's Finished!!!

So it's closing night and I just finished doing a hair for a couple of people. I ended up getting my money a week before opening so I was sewing like crazy, either staying up till 3 in the morning sewing or staying up till 3 in the morning lying in my bed worrying about costumes. So, if you haven't figured it out, taking pictures of construction was the least of my worries. They did turn out beautifully though.

I'll be posting pictures probably sometime tomorrow or at least in the next week. It could take a bit cause my show Once Upon A Mattress opens on Friday and graduation is on Wednesday (Woohoo!). But I will try to get them up as soon as possible.

Research for Dracula

Right-o. So I have not done anything construction-wise with costumes. However I have done a lot of research. I went and got a butt load of books from the library about men's costumes. It is impossible to find out what kind of tie men wore in the year 1885 on the internet. Or at least I couldn't find it. I also went to Taylorsville High School and looked at costumes that I may be renting so that I could get ideas on what exactly I want. Then I went to DI where I found a perfect velvet robe for Mina. It was 6 bucks and plan on buying it from the director when the show is over. I'll post a picture later.

Other exciting news is I'm starting to decide on colors. You have to understand though, this is what I want, not necessarily what I'll end up with. I have a very limited budget. (Donations are always welcome!)

Mina-Blue! I found a gorgeous light blue, almost periwinkle, skirt. I'm going to construct a darker blue overskirt with a matching bodice for Mina's first dress. Her second dress, which will be worn in Act II will be navy. Haven't gotten much farther than that.

Lucy-Yellow and Orange! I want her to be over the top. She's going to have bows and ruffles all over the place. I found an orange underskirt and will construct a yellow bodice and overskirt. She only gets one bustle dress. The rest of the time she will be in a nightgown and then her burial dress. (Which I need to do research on what women were burried in during the victorian age.)

Renfield-Green! In this production, our Renfield is played by a woman and we are keeping her a woman. In the beginning and the end she will be in a forest green gown. Every other time (when she's the mental patient) she will be in a mint green hospital gown.

For the men, well, I haven't exactly decided yet. If I can't get green for Renfield, then Seward will be in green. And I know that I want Van Helsing to be more from mid-Victorian. I want him to be out of style.

Well, that's all that I have. Didn't get too much done during Spring Break, I was up in Logan playing with friends.


P.S. The director is going to have a conniption when he hears about this. He wanted Mina in dark greens, browns, you know, earth colors. But he wants everybody in greens, and browns. But the deal was, he gets free reign on Dracula's costumes if I get free reign on everybody elses costumes. So put that in your pipe and smoke it Jonathan!!! You don't get everything you want!!! (Insert evil laugh here.)

Aztec Bride- muslin mock-up

While watching General Conference on TV on Sunday, I decided, why not start on costuming so that I'll actually stay awake and half listen to conference? (I still ended up falling asleep for part of a talk.) So here we go! My muslin mock-up of the top of the Aztec bride.

If you don't remember, this is what it's going to look like:



I started off cutting out a large band that will go around the bust. I added darts so that it would lie flat. I didn't even think about taking pictures until later. So there are none of the band. Just use your imagination for that part.


For the next part, I cut out a wide band and gathered one end. I then started at the top left side, pinned it, then pinned it diagonally across the chest. I then looped it and pinned it at the bottom left side making a figure-eight! I gathered and pinned while looping it around.

Here it is! I didn't do the straps. I was mainly concerned about getting the shape I wanted. The fabric is then going to wrap around the back. I don't know how I'm going to get the girl who's wearing this in and out of it yet. Zipper would be logical, but they're a pain. I think that's my only choice though. Any ideas? (If anybody even reads this.)

Dracula Brides!

So I am in charge of costumes for my school's performance of Dracula. Luckily, I get to rent a lot of costumes. Yay! No making bustles! (Although I want to in the near future, just not for school. Plus, if I make a bustle, I want to keep it!) However, I will be making all of the brides' costumes.
Traditionally, in Dracula, you have 3 brides. Well, we decided that having 5 brides would be more fun. It's cool with me. I don't care. I decided to have each of the brides be from a different ancient culture.


The first bride, who is the head bride, is more traditional:

(Please excuse the drawing, I'm not an artist. Well at least not with a pencil. And yes I know, lined paper, blech. Oh well. I don't care.)


I want everything to be flowy with everyone, but this one, I want to be a little more structured. For the middle part of the bodice, I have this weird white pre-ruched fabric I'm going to use. The bodice is going to be made of a more structured material. The skirt is going to be a mermaid with a slit in the middle that goes to her knees. The sleeves will be chiffon or organza or something like that. This one is in the classic white.


The next bride is Aztec:


She has a top with a swirly figure-eight design with straps that will be twisted. The skirt is sort of like a traditional loincloth but the top band is going to be thick and come down around mid-thigh. She's going to have the main front and back flap but will also have strips of fabric down the sides. Her color is gold.

Then there is Greek:

She has a boat neck with poofy-slit sleeves. It's one whole dress, but around the middle, it's going to be sheer. There's going to be a rope wrapped around the middle in the traditional greek style and a middle slit or side slit. I haven't decided. She also has a low scooped back. Her color is Blue.

Next is Indian (as in India, not Native American):

First off, know those wrap skirts that they sell in those kiosks at the mall during the summer? The one's where you can tie them in all different ways? I'm going to make one of those. (By the way, I actually broke down and bought one and I love it! Every gal needs one!) Then I'm going to make a traditional top, called a choli. Then, and here's where it gets tricky. I'm going to take a giant piece of fabric and pleat part of it. Just enough to stretch from her wait to her shoulder. I'll have snaps or something to keep it in place. Then it will come down and one corner will attach to her finger or wrist. On the other arm, there are armbands with strips of fabric hanging from them. This one's pink.

And lastly, Egyptian:

Right, so I'm going to create a basic sheath dress with slits on both sides up about to the knee or mid-thigh. There will be a band under the bust to gather the fabric. Then I'm going to make a type of cape thingy that comes down the front a little bit. Does that make sense? Oh well. The bottom corners will attach to her fingers. This one's purple.

So there you go! Those are my ideas. Oh, and another thing, all the dresses are going to be made out of sheer material (don't worry, all the necessary areas will be covered. I do plan on doing linings.). Also, the colors are not going to be bright. They are going to be washed out and very light. Kind of like it's a white with a hint of color.