Alice in Wonderland costumes
Meg Errington, Isla Graham, and Bryony Newenham-Falk
Raroa Normal Intermediate School
Year 8 Textiles and Design Technology
Teacher: Frank Wilson
Bryony, Isla, Meg and a fourth student were asked to create costumes for Raroa Intermediate's 2010 production Alice in Wonderland. Their given brief was to create a costume for as little cost as possible, with the students then developing their own design briefs to suit their projects.
They had one hour each week during their two-term Textiles and Design Technology course, and they also spent many hours of their own time working on their projects, which they finished during an all-day session in the Soft Materials room on Production Preparation Day.
Queen of Hearts
Meg's costume was for the Queen of Hearts, which she decided to develop alone rather than with her original partner. She first researched costumes, looking at the latest Alice in Wonderland movie and using the internet to look at costumes used in other productions of the show.
Meg consulted the student playing the role and the show's producer and director, then developed her design brief which stated that she would design a costume that was recognisable as the Queen of Hearts; included elements of the card motif; was in keeping with the period of the play; conveyed the queen's imposing presence; and cost as little as possible.
Instead of having a set budget, the students negotiated costs with their teacher – the Queen of Hearts' costume, at about $20, was the most expensive, because Meg chose velvet and satin to give a luxurious look that would gleam under stage lights.
After drafting a pattern, for a skirt and top, Meg began construction but had to stop when a problem came up. The producer and director realised that they hadn't fully communicated what they wanted during the initial consultation and rejected all the students' concepts, although they liked some aspects of each idea. This meant that the students had to go through the design process again. Luckily, Meg had started on the skirt, which the two were reasonably happy with, so was able to stitch it onto a bodice to make the dress they wanted.
Meg constantly improved on her design, adding and developing her ideas throughout the process and held several fitting sessions. She found that the dress was too big so had to alter it to ensure the costume fitted the actor properly. Meg planned to attach hearts to the dress using the appliqué technique; however, this proved challenging and the results didn't look as good as she had hoped, so instead she used a heat-bonded material and ironed the hearts on to the dress.
Teacher comment
The Queen of Hearts costume is gorgeous! I was really impressed with Meg's work as she constantly refined her ideas and worked independently to complete her outfit. She incorporated the different ideas of three stakeholders to come up with a dress all were very pleased with. Meg was persistent and ensured she met the timeframes by working many, many hours in her own time.
The Mad Hatter and Dance Group
Isla, Bryony, and a third student worked together to create costumes for the Mad Hatter and the Mad Hatter Dance Group. They consulted with the actor, dancers, producer, and director, then developed a brief. The first costume was to be recognisable as the Mad Hatter: include over-sized elements and look ragged, bright, multi-coloured, and "over the top". The dance costumes also had to be bright and exaggerated, include the card motif, and reflect some elements of the Mad Hatter's outfit.
When faced with the issue around costume design, this group challenged their clients rather than doing exactly as requested. They had found a jacket in the costume room and decorated it with patches (using lots of small fabric pieces) to make the Mad Hatter look "as crazy as possible".
However, the producer and director said that they wanted the character to look like Johnny Depp in the Alice in Wonderland movie and gave the girls a jacket to use. The students didn't particularly like the jacket for this purpose and didn't want to simply copy an outfit, so they negotiated with their clients, explaining why their design was better, and made their own version which the producer and director liked in the end.
Teacher Frank Wilson comments that the controversy over changing designs was a good learning lesson for all the students in the class, as well as the producer and director, in that stakeholders need to be clear about what they want right from the start and that designers need to check before they start construction.
The students had been told to source as much as possible from the costume room, and there they found four circular skirts in one colour that they thought would suit the dancers. They made a pattern from them and sewed skirts for the rest of the dancers in various colours. The girls told the dancers to wear a brightly coloured singlet and striped socks, or leggings, to go with the skirt.
The group also found some hats in the costume room but were told that they couldn't glue anything on to them as the hats would be reused in other productions. The girls therefore glued the decorations they chose – pipe-cleaners, cards and feathers – on to sashes which they tied around the hats. They made the hats quite early on so that the dancers could practice with them and, because they slipped around, placed foam inside so that the hats stayed more securely on the dancers' heads.
The girls faced last-minute pressure when told close to the production date that instead of ten costumes they had to make 14. Despite the extra work involved they managed it successfully. The whole Mad Hatter project involved an immense amount of work but the students were pleased with their accomplishments. They were excited to learn that a repertory theatre group had asked to borrow the costumes, especially as it meant that, after all their work, they would be used for more than the two-minute slots on stage.
Teacher comment
The Mad Hatter costume was fabulous; it really suited the crazy aspect of their client's character and was exceptionally detailed. The students thought of every necessary element to create a successful costume. The dancers' costumes were also great. The hats really gave the outfits a madcap feel, and the girls worked really hard to ensure the hats were stable enough to survive the dance as well as fitting the hats to each dancer individually.
I was really impressed with how the girls tackled any problems that occurred during the design and construction phases. They also coped well with an increase in the number of dance outfits that were needed close to the final deadline!
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