Project: Double ombre for Romeo and Juliet!

[labricoleuse]

I thought i was done talking about Romeo and Juliet. After all, the show closes this weekend, and i've moved on to working on our next two shows, Crimes of the Heart and The Little Prince. However! Amanda Phillips, the draper who made the Lady Capulet gown and overdress that i ombre-dyed, got some lovely photographs of the effect, which I mentioned back in the overview post but now i can show you the results!





Joy Jones portrays Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet
front view of gown and overdress


back view of overdress
Here you can really see the layers of shading and color in the double ombre, and the slubby lines in the dupioni weave.


The dress in situ with set/lights.


All photos property of Amanda Phillips, used by permission.

Recall that i did two ombres on this dress, one red and one purple, and the fabrics were already crosswoven (the overdress began as a purple/gold dupioni and the gown began as a gold/black chiffon). It turned out truly striking, and even moreso when worn by the actress with all the jewelry in the context of the set.

To achieve an ombre effect with a subtle blend like this one, you saturate the garment in water, then slowly dip it into a dyebath, gradually removing it so that the color intensity is faint blending to dark. In this case, i did a red ombre starting up around the waistline blending down to the hem, and a second purple ombre over top of that going up maybe as far as the knees/lower thigh.

Comments

[naeelah.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really striking. And it's gorgeous with her complexion.

[lordofhaladin.livejournal.com]

amazing!!

[baronesspixie.livejournal.com]

Looks fantastic! Nice work.

Lady Montague's Dress

[(Anonymous)]

This is an absolutely stunning effect! I saw it on stage last week and am glad to read about how you achieved it. Ms. Jones must have enjoyed wearing it--I know I would have.

[dyfferent.livejournal.com]

Fantastic, like an autumn leaf. You should sell bellydance veils, you'd make a fortune ;)

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

I missed this the first time through. I adore the dye effects and how well they work with the gown and the actor's coloring. Did you take the colors of the set into account when deciding what to dye the dress?

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

I know the color palette for this show was very particular and specific--i don't know though whether that began with the director's concept, or if it was agreed upon between the costume and set designer perhaps. I know i spent a good while communicating with the designer about this effect and doing samples on the different fabrics before the actual final shades of the two dyebaths were decided upon. It really did turn out gorgeous--it's apparently going to be featured in a display case in our lobby soon.