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bri·co·lage "brE-kO-'läzh, n.
[French, from bricoler, to putter about, to tinker; also bricole, trifle]
To use an item at hand as a tool for which it was not designed. Ex: a brick used as a hammer.
A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur. A bricoleur is a person who creates things from scratch, is creative and resourceful; a person who collects information and things and then puts them together in a manner for which they were not originally designed.
Hello, welcome to my brand-new official professional blog, La Bricoleuse!
My name is Rachel E. Pollock, and I work as a Costume Craft Artisan, primarily in professional theatre. I hope with this forum to provide information and insight into this little-understood, extremely-complex, and oft-overlooked aspect of professional costume construction.
What, you may ask, is a costume craft artisan? I am! A craft artisan is sometimes also called a Craftsperson or a Crafter, but is never to be confused with Craft Services, who are the folks that feed you on-location when you are shooting a film. A craft artisan is someone who's responsible for all the aspects of costuming that don't involve dressmaking or tailoring. A craft artisan makes masks, solders jewelry, builds wings, rubberizes bootsoles, dyes garments, paints fabric, ages and distresses costumes...you get the idea! I'm a Jane of all trades and, yes, a master even of some. This interview I gave the Harvard Gazette is a pretty good overview. In some shops there are more specific specialty positions--dedicated milliners, for example, or dyer/painters--but in general, the craftspeople are Renaissance-women and -men, expected to possess a vast range of skills in the creation of costume accessories, from masks to tiaras to pirate boots!
Future posts will feature project process documentation, product reviews, supply sources, troubleshooting craft problems...who knows! Possibly book reviews, discussions of any specialized classes or seminars i teach or enroll in, pick-a-little talk-a-little on any productions i might go see (especially the craftwork therein), related topics like website or blog recommendations of other costume professionals...I guess only time will tell. These are my plans, at least.
I could be wrong, but i feel like at present the professional costumer is sorely under-represented in the blogosphere, and particularly the professional craft artisan. It's a shame, really. There's loads out there to read by hobbyist costumers--dress diarists, SCA enthusiasts, recreationists, cosplayers, even costume fetishists--all wonderful resources to be sure! But where, i ask myself, are the blogs of those for whom costuming is in fact their bread-and-butter? Where are the bloggers writing about backstage life, the collaborative art, costumes for theatre, opera, ballet, and film?
Could this be the first-ever dedicated craft artisan blog? Perhaps!
I welcome your feedback, your input, your questions and queries. Feel free to comment, feel free to friend this journal. All posts will be public--![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
labricoleuse will contain no filtered or friends-only posts.
Unrelated to craftwork--I recommend checking out the blog, A Dress A Day. Dress fan and fellow blogger Erin does in fact deliver on her titular promise of a dress a day, images (with attendant discussion) from all over the web: fashion runways, vintage auctions, even her own closet! Browsing the archives is a fun way to spend a lazy afternoon, but watch out, workplace-surfers; it can quickly become a time-suck. :D
[French, from bricoler, to putter about, to tinker; also bricole, trifle]
To use an item at hand as a tool for which it was not designed. Ex: a brick used as a hammer.
A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur. A bricoleur is a person who creates things from scratch, is creative and resourceful; a person who collects information and things and then puts them together in a manner for which they were not originally designed.
Hello, welcome to my brand-new official professional blog, La Bricoleuse!
My name is Rachel E. Pollock, and I work as a Costume Craft Artisan, primarily in professional theatre. I hope with this forum to provide information and insight into this little-understood, extremely-complex, and oft-overlooked aspect of professional costume construction.
What, you may ask, is a costume craft artisan? I am! A craft artisan is sometimes also called a Craftsperson or a Crafter, but is never to be confused with Craft Services, who are the folks that feed you on-location when you are shooting a film. A craft artisan is someone who's responsible for all the aspects of costuming that don't involve dressmaking or tailoring. A craft artisan makes masks, solders jewelry, builds wings, rubberizes bootsoles, dyes garments, paints fabric, ages and distresses costumes...you get the idea! I'm a Jane of all trades and, yes, a master even of some. This interview I gave the Harvard Gazette is a pretty good overview. In some shops there are more specific specialty positions--dedicated milliners, for example, or dyer/painters--but in general, the craftspeople are Renaissance-women and -men, expected to possess a vast range of skills in the creation of costume accessories, from masks to tiaras to pirate boots!
Future posts will feature project process documentation, product reviews, supply sources, troubleshooting craft problems...who knows! Possibly book reviews, discussions of any specialized classes or seminars i teach or enroll in, pick-a-little talk-a-little on any productions i might go see (especially the craftwork therein), related topics like website or blog recommendations of other costume professionals...I guess only time will tell. These are my plans, at least.
I could be wrong, but i feel like at present the professional costumer is sorely under-represented in the blogosphere, and particularly the professional craft artisan. It's a shame, really. There's loads out there to read by hobbyist costumers--dress diarists, SCA enthusiasts, recreationists, cosplayers, even costume fetishists--all wonderful resources to be sure! But where, i ask myself, are the blogs of those for whom costuming is in fact their bread-and-butter? Where are the bloggers writing about backstage life, the collaborative art, costumes for theatre, opera, ballet, and film?
Could this be the first-ever dedicated craft artisan blog? Perhaps!
I welcome your feedback, your input, your questions and queries. Feel free to comment, feel free to friend this journal. All posts will be public--
labricoleuse will contain no filtered or friends-only posts. Unrelated to craftwork--I recommend checking out the blog, A Dress A Day. Dress fan and fellow blogger Erin does in fact deliver on her titular promise of a dress a day, images (with attendant discussion) from all over the web: fashion runways, vintage auctions, even her own closet! Browsing the archives is a fun way to spend a lazy afternoon, but watch out, workplace-surfers; it can quickly become a time-suck. :D
