Renaissance costume pieces -- Glen Eyrie Madrigal Banquets -- scattered times, since 2007

  One of the first mentored costuming projects I ever did was back in 2007, for the local Christmas Madrigal Banquets, under a fantastic woman named Karin, whom I admire and try to work with whenever I can to this day.  She taught me so very much, mentoring my early teenage self out of the how-to-sew-class style I 'd worked with since I was very small, into actual costuming and building. (And embracing what I thought was me cutting corners or "cheating", but was actually practical, real sewing, just not taught in classes. Who knew??) 

  Now, Karin's magic extended far and above the servant costumes for all of us servers, which have to be streamlined and fit the Renaissance style, while being enormously flexible, able to fit an almost entirely different set of serving staff each night of the annual 14 banquets.  An incredible feat in itself.  On top of that, Karin was costuming approximately 12-16 singers in grand Renaissance dress, plus the Lord and Lady, Castle Page and Honor Guards, Ladies in Waiting, Steward and his Second, and a few others.  All on a shoestring budget and with never enough fabric yardage.

The bodices and short chemises on the 2 of us on each end are pieces I made in my teens.

  Over the years, I worked on things like cutting slashes in a leather slash-and-puff German men's doublet, adding decorative cord to a lady's French hood, cutting and building many, many servant's bodices in different cuts and sizes, finishing and embellishing hats, and on the list goes.  Here's where I started to realize that my affinity for hand sewing when I could was not a common skill.

  I learned so much about the give-and-take between historicity and practicality in these early years.  Like the cross-lacing on the servants' bodices; not historical, but practically much easier to teach modern volunteers to lace and tie themselves as opposed to historical spiral lacing.  So, compromises are made in the small things.  Similar thing finding and using "close enough" fabrics when working on a tight budget.  And that piecing fabric is totally period (just look at extent garments!).  And not sweating little things -- as Karin prioritized: "Well, this show happens in the dark"!  So many things I take with me through all my life and my own projects.

My fellow costume assistant Deb that year - helping each other tie our spiral lacing.

  In my late teens, I was a costume assistant on the floor, for the brief time we had that position.  I modified a semi-historical dress I was given (the pale blue one) to make it a little less Halloween costume-y and a little more flattering.  The satin had a lovely swoosh.  Very important, I'm sure.

  Over the years, I've added more servants' costume pieces to my collection, making it so much easier to get ready on nights I'm serving.  And applying things I've learned about cutting for fit, etc. so each one is better.  This event and working with Karin on and off over so many years (I need to find a picture with her...) have been so formative in my costuming journey.  I look forward to learning more every chance I have to work with someone who really "knows their stuff" in this way!

Tree Bound short film -- 2018

This was a fun fantasy project to work on.  Especially in foggy Alabama in the spring, with all the redbud trees blooming.

The pre-production time was extremely limited on this one; but as we were very much going for fantasy and trying not look historical, there weren't many pieces that needed building.  About 80 percent of the costume pieces used were from my own collection in the end, plus some from a Colorado event set in the Renaissance, and others from a local AL theatre company.

The Hunter's costume was new for this project, and came out great.  Very Robin Hood in style, with vivid natural colors as much as possible.  The sleeves on the main pale brown shirt were massive, really adding to the look. 

Getting everyone ready at an outbuilding in a park area was a little rough on the organizing, but worked well for keeping everyone in the same place for holding, Wardrobe, and H&M.

The Princess and the Peasant Girl were ready early, and looked fantastic in costumes from my personal collection.  While we weren't going for historical looks at all, I did lean into what I tend to call Historical-Fantasy, where I'm avoiding super modern feeling fabrics and colors, and certainly anything that looks like plastic or parachute-type fabric, which helps add to the realism without fitting into any time period.

The colors happily compliment the scenery beautifully as well.

We went with a German kertle-style gown on the Princess; though simple and not over-embellished, it had the feel of the Middle Ages, but with her hair down in a more contemporary fantasy take.  It also had to be at least somewhat comfortable, since she'd be spending most of the shooting day tied to a tree...

The Peasant Girl got her hands and face dirty beforehand, and natural color muslin in her chemise further helped separate her from the Princess.  Plus, it complimented her chicken, so...

In the short timeframe of the shoot, I was unable to find good boots that fit the Hunter...  In the end, leather scraps bound around the ankles disguised the dark shoes he wore very well, for the little they were seen.

The quiver was a quick make, to go with the fantasy expectation.  Made out of a piece of PVC pipe, wrapped in faux leather and bunch-stitched with thick, dark cord to make it feel more rustic and textured.

Except for the weight of the quiver, which was no joke, it came out well for the needed prop.  The arrows were literally sticks dyed dark, with notches cut in the top, and feathers glued on for fletching.  I had a natural wood bow and a decent dagger available that completed the ensemble.

The enormous sleeves, though!  Ha ha!

My goodness, a moment where the Princess isn't tied to the tree?  What is this nonsense?!

The Prince appearing on scene is the moment the Princess knows she is saved, so bolder colors and fabrics with a sheen made him pop against the background, without slipping into a "halloween costume" look.

Much of this one was assembled from the local theatre company, with the crown, belt, and cloak coming from my collection.  The weight and size of the cloak really gave the actor something to work with to add drama to his entrance.

With the Peasants, we only had about 2 hours the day before for a quick "fitting", which left little time to make any adjustments for the next morning.  But we did alright, getting around some different fit issues for each. 

If there had been any more time, I would have liked to do more with layers and accessories on these three.

 

When it came to the Fairy Godmother, we knew ahead of time that we didn't want some fluffy, diaphanous frilly thing, nor did we want the animated Cinderella hooded robe look.  I opted to rent a gown from the Glen Eyrie Castle Madrigal Banquets here in Colorado, and accessorize to make it more of a fantasy style; a wide-sleeved chemise underneath, a kerchief in the neckline, jewelry, and a shimmery cape-train instead of wings.

Her colors really stood out and added richness to her moments.  And so fit the way the actress played the character.

Unfortunately, the iridescent cape-train wasn't seen hardly at all in the finished film.  But it looked lovely, nonetheless!  The Fairy Godmother's currant red next to the Princess's deep blue were so rich, but not distracting.

Tree Bound can be watched on the YouTube channel for Sheepshed Entertainment, HERE ----->  Tree Bound 

And check out the Awards tag on the left of this page or search Tree Bound in the 'Search This Blog' feature, as the costume design for this project received an award in November of 2018. 

Overall, though the turnaround was fast, and there are things I wish I could have added to or taken time on, it was a fun project and a lovely way of using lots of pieces and costumes and accessories that don't get much time "out in the wild".

Tree Bound -- Award for Costume Design, Nov. 2018

This little film made some festival rounds, and really surprised me when it won an award.

Very unexpected, for sure, but a lovely surprise.  Especially for the last-minute, patchworked-together nature of the project.  But my thanks to the judges of the Kite Film Fest for the recognition.

And a thank you to Sheepshed Entertainment for bringing me on to this speedy, whimsical high-fantasy project!