30th March - Second Day of Fittings

Wednesday 30th March

So the second day of fittings was equally as successful as the first in terms of organisation, timekeeping and efficiency. And also this time I was in the fitting space in a more active role, as opposed to doing the more administrative side, which was taken on by Camilla.

Before the fittings started, we had a brief tutorial with Adele and Frances explaining where we went wrong in the previous days fittings, and I completely agreed. Adele assured us that as fittings went it was very successful, but as none of the models had tried on the sample petticoat or any of the stockings or shoes it was a bit of a waste of the designers time and a failure on our part.

As I was on the more administrative side, ensuring the makers and models were punctual and going into the fitting space on time, I wasn't aware that the models were being fitted without the sample stockings or accessories; as this was always my intention when it came to my fitting day.

But despite this I felt it was a fair comment to be made, and I agreed with it. I just didnt necessarily feel it should have been directed at me as I wasn't in control of that fitting day.

Wednesday proved to be another successful day for fittings though, nothing really went wrong and as I was in the fitting space I managed to get every girl in a pair of shoes and stockings. It was so important to see the models in these so I could see if the stockings worked/didnt work or needed a different style or colour.

I also noted down people who needed additional attention when it comes to the hair styling on the day, as this was a new challenge thrown at me.

It is going to be hard work acquiring wigs/hair pieces for dirt cheap, so going to have to use my best blagging skills for that!

During the fittings I tried to get as involved as possible, make my presence known and try to build up a working relationship between the Makers and the Designer, discussing the costumes, and the best kind of underwear to have underneath the corsets and combinations. I felt I had to keep reiterating to Frances that the models are not actresses and wont really feel comfortable with too much flesh on show.

29th March - First Day of Fittings

29th March 2011

Our first day of fittings for Moulin Rouge has ended. It was an extremely long day, (I arrived at Uni just after 7.30) but it was a good day. I was extremely nervous about people not turning up, being late and everything going wrong but thankfully it ran smoothly and on time!

Because it was Camilla's group having their costumes fitted, I was more in charge of the admin side; making sure people were turning up, ringing them, making sure they were prepared etc. Camilla was more involved with the fitting process, being inside the fitting space and communicating with the designer, the tutors and the Level 4 students.

However, tomorrow is my Fitting day. I'm hoping that it will run as smoothly as today went. I need to make sure I am taking pictures of every costume, in order, so I can organise them later and work out which costume was made by what student, and there are a lot of them!

So... fingers crossed!

1900's Hair Styles

http://www.lphouse.com/1900s.htm http://urbancasita.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/gibson.jpg http://urbancasita.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/gibson_girl.png

SDP The Day Before the Fittings

28th March 2011

Today was the day before the fittings, and it was a very stressful day! I was in University very early, which was fortunate because I had to rearrange the fitting schedule around the designer before the Level 4 students arrived.

I realised today how unprepared we were; Camilla and I had to try and get a sample petticoat made for the Roses' fitting tomorrow. In hindsight, we should've made these last week. I need to get better at arranging my time, despite having a concise Work Plan, I really need to stick to it and get ahead of myself.

The fittings start at 8.30am tomorrow morning, which means an early start for me so I can get there at least 45minutes beforehand.

I'm extremely anxious about tomorrows fitting plan, Frances Tempest is happy with how I've arranged (extreme military precision!), I just hope that we can stick to it.

Tomorrow's fittings are for Camilla's group, so I will be acting as her assistant, then on Wednesday, my group are being fitted. This will be the test for me!

It's going to be a huge learning curve for me in organisational skills but I will rise to challenge and I'm hoping to succeed.

Fingers crossed!

Historical Research; Toulouse Lautrec

11th March

It is important to understand the Designers references and inspirations so I can fully understand my role as a Supervisor and make sure what I am sourcing fits in with the designs Frances Tempest had in mind.

At the Briefing with the Level 4's, Frances Tempest was emphasising her main reference point as Toulouse Lautrec, a Parisian artist who documented the dancers and customers of the Moulin Rouge through his illustrations and paintings of the dancers performing and the dancers backstage.

Fortunately, I am a huge fan of Lautrec and have previously studied his work, so I am aware of his history and legacy.

Some of the most relevant images I have found depicting the world of the Moulin Rouge are...

These images are all relevant to me as a Supervisor in sourcing the items I need with a historical reference point.

The Storyville Portraits

From the first briefing with Frances Tempest, another influential reference for her were the Storyville Portraits, a series of portraits taken by E. J. Bellocq of the prostitutes in New Orleans. The photographs were taken during the 1920's but took till 1971 till they were published.

Storyville was the Red Light District of New Orleans, built upon the models of Germany and Holland where there is a small area of legalised prostitution, following the concept that it would be easier to control and police if legalised in a small area.

The photographs are melancholy and haunting images of the brothel girls, some fully nude, some partly dressed and some fully dressed. A few subjects are pictured with masks. I feel that these images are so important to reference in this unit as it shows an uncensored view of prostitutes in the early 20th Century, and they would be very similar to our Moulin Rouge dancers.

Here are some images I feel are good inspiration and historical reference.

Tutorials Tutorials Tutorials...

10th March

Yesterday was a busy day! I was sitting in on all of my groups' fabric tutorials with Frances Tempest. Frances was checking the Level 4's choices on the fabrics they have chosen to use for the Combinations and Corsets. It was also the opportunity for me to ascertain from Frances exactly what I would be providing and what the makers would be making.

Attending these tutorials was a huge help, I learned more about what Frances wanted from the costumes, the feeling and the general ambience. A lot of the makers were more inspired by Toulouse Lautrec's paintings then they might have been the designs. Frances was encouraging loose interpretation and individuality to each Character, which I could also reflect in my choice of sourcing.

Another good reason I attended these sessions was to allow the Level 4 students to know who I was, understand my role and hopefully appreciate what I will be doing for them! I feel that a good relationship with the makers will make my life easier, as I remember the relationship between my year whilst doing our VNC and our supervisor.

Yesterday I also had a tutorial with Adele so I (and Camilla) could understand our roles as Supervisors. I realised I really had to up my organisational skills to make sure my Bible is a valid resource, and it is also a working Bible filled with genuinely useful information. I was very anxious and uncertain about what I had to produce, but this tutorial outlined exactly what Camilla and I had to do.

Meeting The Designer

8th March 2011

Today I had my first meeting with the Designer, Frances Tempest alongside my fellow Supervisor, Camilla Thompson. We were to learn what Frances wanted from us, our restrictions and requirements and her expectations.

Our main sourcing job is finding all of the different stockings for each character. Frances Tempest was very explicit that they must be wearing stockings, because the modern "tights" had not been invented yet. Also, there was a complete ban on all man made materials, and Camilla and myself were restricted to finding stockings made only from either cotton or silk.

Because of the colours and patterns of some of the designs some of the stockings will be impossible to buy, so Camilla and myself have been encouraged to dye and customise some of these stockings in the more unusual colours. They will be a challenge to find on what I can only guess is a restricted budget.

There are also two characters with petticoats; Rose and Kiki. Camilla and I came up with the plan of either making them ourselves or putting together a small making team to come up with the petticoats to match the designs.

There are a mixture of shoes and boots in the designs, all very "Turn of the Century". Frances Tempest was very clear about the shoes, she wants them all to have a "lavatory heel" as she described them. These will have to be sourced, begged and borrowed from many a different place as vintage shoes can be quite expensive to buy and although the budget has not been revealed yet, I imagine it is quite limited.

We were also told that for the production, each Model/Actress must be provided with a flesh coloured g-string or some kind of flesh coloured body stocking to hide their modesty as they would need to appear to be naked underneath their Combinations, some of which are quite sheer.

Additionally, us Supervisors need to provide jewellery for the production, small glass beads on delicate chains. It would also be a good idea to provide a reel of black velvet ribbon to add chokers and wrist cuffs to the Models to give them a unique edge within an apparent uniformity.

For the first Fitting we only need to provide one of each type of stocking as a design sample for Frances and only provide shoes out of the AUCB Costume Store so as not to waste budget on finding too many shoes.

Meetings like this between Supervisors and Designers are so important, because Camilla and I now have a clear idea of what it is exactly that Frances wants from us. Despite having been given all these instructions on what to source, I am worried there will need to be some kind of compromise because of the budget on things like the stockings and maybe shoes. Frances has also given us places to start looking for the stockings, which is hugely useful; Funn Stockings and The Vintage Shirt Company. We also need to look at Pamela Mann for body stockings.

Time to get sourcing!

The Self Directed Project; Moulin Rouge

7th March 2011

This was the first day of my new unit and my new challenge, Supervising the Level 4's Visual Narrative; Construction. The Level 4 students are making costumes interpreted from Frances Tempest's designs. They will be made for a photo shoot and a music video style film. There are ten designs for 70 students, so one design will be interpreted by 7 students differently. The students are separated into two groups, TM and TW, and I will take one of these groups whilst the Supervisor I am collaborating with, Camilla Thompson will take the other group. This way our workload is not too overwhelming.

I attended the Level 4 Unit Briefing on 1st March to see where Frances Tempest's inspirations came from.

This production of Moulin Rouge is a far cry from Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge of 2001, this is a historically accurate "Fin de Siecle" production based on Toulouse Lautrec's illustrations and paintings and photographs of The Storyville Girls; girls working in a brothel in New Orleans. Some more references are "Moulin Rouge"1952, "French Can Can" 1954, and "Can Can" 1960.

Frances Tempest's Moulin Rouge has feelings of melancholy and poverty, which is a genuine feeling received from the working girls of the turn of the century. These girls were dancers who would expose themselves for the enjoyment of me; they were prostitutes. The Designer also wanted some costumes to look like the more garish onstage costumes, but some others to look like the were from backstage; muted tones and broken down.

The ten designs are all of women in a basic Combination (onesie) and a 19th Century corset, tightly drawn in at the waist. Tempest wanted each costume to look different, and individual characters to be created. Here are the designs of the ten characters.

Camilla's Group (TM);

Lilly

Jade

Rose

Amethyst

Lulu

My Group (TW);

Candy

Calypso

Ruby

Pearl

Kiki

The last 5 designs are those that I will be focussing on, but Camilla and myself will be working together throughout to help each other source the items needed. These will mostly be stockings and shoes but will need to meet with with designer to discuss her requirements.




I felt it was important to attend this briefing, as I learned exactly what Frances Tempest wanted from the team of Makers. I also learned how important is for the Supervisor to know the Designers influences and inspirations so I can make sure the accessories I source will compliment the garments being made.


I'm excited to get started as I know my strengths lie in sourcing, especially hosiery as I have a wide knowledge of it. I'm also confident about interpreting the costumes well but I feel I need to research into the time period a little more just to back up my existing knowledge. I'm worried I wont be as organised as I need to be, so I'm going to start organising straight away so I keep on top of it.