Penny
Did you try "whopper popper" snaps on the flags for West Side Story? I
can't imagine a good number of those not holding anything. They are the
giant snaps used by most costumers in theater these days for all sorts of
quick change/take it apart /add something on needs.
Anyway, if you didn't, and you need to add a special effect like the flags
again in the future, you might try them. They are better than velcro because
they don't make any sound, but they do have to be worked in a bit, as they
really really hold at first (making it difficult to take things off and put
them back initially).
angela
+++++
Angela F. Lazear
Cabbage Rose Costumes
www.cabbagerosecostumes.com
Theatrical Costume Design
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none:
be able for thine enemy rather in power than use,
and keep thy friend under thy own life's key:
be checked for silence, but never taxed for speech..."
W. Shakespeare
----- Original Message -----
From: "Penny Ladnier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 5:34 PM
Subject: Re: [h-cost] Clothing Superstitions
Julie,
It makes me wonder if a straightening iron for hair would work for last
minute hem pressing? Maybe I will try it in a rush one day.
I have ironed some full-skirt hems while a few actresses and models were
wearing them. If you have confidence in what you are doing and the
actor/model has confidence in your abilities, they won't be scared. After
one night of rehearsals, the actor/model can pick up on your abilities
really quick.
During West Side Story last year, I rigged two full sized flags into two
actresses' underskirts with safety pins. The actresses lifted their
skirts to reveal the flags at the end of the song America. We had three
minutes to do the pinning between scenes. It worked. You can see a photo
at:
http://www.costumegallery.com/Manchester/WWS/flags3.jpg
I had the safety pins already in their place in the skirts and petticoats,
when it came time to put the flags in them, my teams of dressers knew
exactly where to place them. The actors knew exactly how to hold the
skirts during the quick pinning to make the process quicker. I had my
dressers practice the pinning during dress rehearsals several times to get
the timing down to three minutes. You can't tell from the photo but the
middle of the flags are also pinned to the waistband of the petticoats to
hold the flags in place while the actresses danced vigorously to America.
You could not tell the flags were in the skirts until the actresses lifted
their skirts. We tried Velcro and snaps to hold the flags in the skirts
but they were not strong enough to hold up the flags through the America
scene. These girls really shook their skirts during the number. They
looked great when they shook the skirts in the dance! Especially the girl
with the gold petticoat! Thankfully the pins never opened and the flags
stayed in the skirts.
Penny E. Ladnier
Owner,
The Costume Gallery, www.costumegallery.com
Costume Classroom, www.costumeclassroom.com
Costume Research Library, www.costumelibrary.com
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
h-costume@mail.indra.com
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
h-costume@mail.indra.com
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
