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Back in April, i got an email from the Costume Director for the Carolina Ballet asking whether i'd be interested in doing the headpieces for a new construction of costumes for the Balanchine ballet Rubies, which they will be producing in their coming season. At the time, she was writing a proposal for funds to make the costumes rather than rent them from an existing company, so it was more of a hypothetical question than a done deal. But, i was definitely interested, so i responded with a bid and waited to hear.
The big ballet companies like NYCB have in-house costume shops, make all their costumes, and keep them in stock for ongoing reuse and also as an income stream, renting whole ballets to other companies with fewer resources. This sort of thing is easier in ballet than in theatre because the range of body types and sizes in ballet is much more limited than in theatre--tall or short, they're all really athletic, the women are all small-busted, etc., by virtue of the physical training they have done their whole lives long. Point being, if a ballet company owns a set of costumes for a popular ballet, they can make money off them for years to come, even if they don't stage it themselves all that often, which i gather was part of the point in finding the funding for making Rubies. And, the Carolina Ballet's costume shop is usually on hiatus in the summers, so this would give their staff more months of employment as well.
But, nobody over there is a milliner, which is where i come in. Because clearly, they got the funding, because i'm writing this post about making their headpieces.
This collection consists of:
One of my students and colleagues, rising third-year grad Candy McClernan, was in town for the summer and has a particular interest in millinery, so i enlisted her help in production, because assembly-line production of multiples is always quicker with more than one worker.
Here are some images and descriptions of how these got made.
( Read more... )
The big ballet companies like NYCB have in-house costume shops, make all their costumes, and keep them in stock for ongoing reuse and also as an income stream, renting whole ballets to other companies with fewer resources. This sort of thing is easier in ballet than in theatre because the range of body types and sizes in ballet is much more limited than in theatre--tall or short, they're all really athletic, the women are all small-busted, etc., by virtue of the physical training they have done their whole lives long. Point being, if a ballet company owns a set of costumes for a popular ballet, they can make money off them for years to come, even if they don't stage it themselves all that often, which i gather was part of the point in finding the funding for making Rubies. And, the Carolina Ballet's costume shop is usually on hiatus in the summers, so this would give their staff more months of employment as well.
But, nobody over there is a milliner, which is where i come in. Because clearly, they got the funding, because i'm writing this post about making their headpieces.
This collection consists of:
- 12 corps de ballet headpieces, which are basically what we would call fascinators if they were for streetwear
- 2 soloist tiaras
- 2 principal ballerina crowns
One of my students and colleagues, rising third-year grad Candy McClernan, was in town for the summer and has a particular interest in millinery, so i enlisted her help in production, because assembly-line production of multiples is always quicker with more than one worker.
Here are some images and descriptions of how these got made.
( Read more... )
