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Costume Design & Construction

Suit Conversion with Applied Decoration (3D+8C)

What you will need: 

• A suit jacket (male or female)

• Fabric, artificial flowers, trim, jewelry, plastics, drilled bottle caps or other strong, lightweight, materials to apply to the jacket 

• Sewing thread or glue

Background: Suit jackets from thrift stores and our stock at UAF are often a quick way to provide costumes, but real-world suits often don't have enough theatrical flair to suit the plays we put on stage.  Painting suits is an effective solution in many cases, but in others much more is required.  Here are some examples of how we have applied decorative elements to suits to make them into theatrical costumes.

Costumes and Chemistry : A Comprehensive Guide to Materials and Applications

A Complete Guide to Silk Painting

Art to Wear American Craft [MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION]

The Costume Designer's Handbook : A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Designers

The Costume Technician's Handbook : A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Technicians

 

Stage Costume Step-By-Step : The Complete Guide to Designing and Making Stage Costumes for All Major Drama Periods and Genres

The Magic Garment : Principles of Costume Design

Costume Construction

Dyes & Paints : A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric

Unmistakably Mackie : The Fashion and Fantasy of Bob Mackie

Fabric Painting and Dyeing for the Theatre

The Art of Manipulating Fabric

Men's Coats (The Twentieth Century-Histories of Fashion Series)

Thierry Mugler : Fashion Fetish Fantasy

Irving Penn Regards the Work of Issey Miyake : Photographs 1975-1998

Fruits (Japanese Street Fashion) Costume Design : Techniques of Modern Masters Instant Period Costume : How to Make Classic Costumes from Cast-Off Clothing  

The Glue Book

These costumes for Cadmus and Teiresias in The Bacchae are covered with artificial leaves and bits of moss and raffia (on the legs).    The leaves are simply put on with hot glue in layers starting from the bottom.    

Also from The Bacchae, is this flower covered woman's suit, glued together the same way.    

This suit was made for the role of a greedy self-important bureaucrat in an opera by designer Milla Kalen, who hot glued coins and rhinestone brooches to this pinstriped suit.   

This suit is covered with foam spikes and a paint, glue and sawdust mixture to suggest motor oil for the character "Nasty Suit" in Kartasi.

This technique can also be applied to other pre-existing clothes besides suits:

This dress has decorations of small metal objects like bottle caps and keys sewn to it.  The same dress after more bottle caps is used in The Bell that Rang for Itself

What To Do:

Render your costume design on paper to give yourself a plan to work towards.  You may end up changing your plan slightly, but starting without a plan is definitely a mistake.

Find a suit jacket that fits your performer.  If you are planning on using glue to apply the decoration, choose a suit that has a rougher surface texture to help adhesion.  Make any alterations the suit needs (cuff shortening, repairs, collar moving) before you begin.  

If your decorative elements will allow it, pin  or tape them to the jacket before applying them permanently, so you can see if the layout you have planned is working.  Look at the suit from the distance you would see it onstage (this varies based on the size of the theatre) and check it against your original design.  Does the design  as applied on the suit "read" as strongly as your drawing, or is it fading away?  Is it too busy? If it isn't strong enough, add to the decoration, if it seems to be over decorated, weed out the excess.

Whenever the base suit is valuable, (or if you have extra time,) sew your elements to the suit rather than gluing them.  Never assume you can get the glue out later with cleaning.

If glue is used, apply the decor in stages to the suit according to your plan.  Remember that most designs require several steps or layers, and you should leave time for drying between the steps.  Hot glue, which dries almost instantly shortens the steps, but is weaker than some other glues.

When it is finished, photograph the jacket and the rendering as jpeg files and post them to your File folder at the class eGroup.  Post a message to the group letting everyone know you have posted these pictures so you can get feedback.

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