Accessories
Book & Gift Store
Classes
Corsets & Underwear
Computers
Costumes 4 Sale
Costume e-Lists
Dance Costumes
Designs & Designers
Dolls
"Ethnic" Dress
Fashion Theory
Free eGroup
Free Stuff
Halloween
(Costume) History
How-To
Kinky Clothing
Major Sites
Military Uniforms
Movie Costumes
Museums
New Pages
Occupational & Occasion- Specific
Patterns
Questions?
Religious Dress
Theatre History
Travel for Costumers
Unite!
Vintage Clothing
Weddings
Weird Clothing

Costume Design & Construction

Changing Suit Collars Project (2D+8C)

One of the easiest methods for transforming or spicing up a suit for the stage is a collar conversion.  You can make low-cut modern suits look more like late Victorian ones by forcing the collar to be higher, and adding buttons as in this case:

     
You can keep the collar where it is, but give it a flashy new lining:

Complete Book of Sewing

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

Elegantly Frugal Costumes : The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide

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 going for a total transformation, use a seam ripper to pull out the original stitching, and save all the pieces you pull out.  If you are either moving the collar location, or remaking it entirely, get the performer in the jacket so you can adjust the collar on him/her, pinning it in the style you want.  If you are simply relining the collar you can do your pinning on a dress form, or the performer.

Lightly hand baste with big stitches your changes to the collar and press them in place.  Put it on a form, or the performer, again to check that everything 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. If it is working, do permanent stitching now, if not, twiddle it till it is working.

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.

• Return to Class Index
• Return to Projects List