Albert said:
> That is all well and good. But this "REAL P's of the C" thing was 98% > reenactments. I mean it was the whole shebang. And for the reenactments to be > so > important AND the costuming to be so bad...I mean more than bad...completely > unprofessional! Well, there no excuse. That's my point, really ______________ Gotta chime in here. The re-enactors were the foot soldiers; they were responsible for their own clothing, which represents many research hours and many dollars to get authenticity to the highest level possible. Take a look at the battle and seige scenes in The Southern Strategy" episode and the upcoming ones depicting the war in the South. I believe you will be hard pressed to find fault with the clothing worn by the soldiers (except for that guy with the cigarette in the first episode--don't know where HE came from,). As one who was there during the filming of the Charleston scenes (if you look reeeaaallly fast, you can see my brown silk taffeta sacqueback in some of the dance clips), I can attest to the importance attached to getting the clothing, arms, and camps as close to authentic as possible. I think the ones you are finding fault with are the named characters, who are paid actors and costumed by the production company. The company is interested in a good scene, and if it happens to have good costuming (darned few and far between in this production) that is a chance happening. To their credit, the production company made an effort at authenticity by hiring as a consultant a well-respected re-enactor / scholar to advise them on the military scenes and clothing. He was extremely frustrated because, talk though he might, they weren't interested if it did not fit their idea of the scene. To my knowledge, neither he nor anyone else advised about the costuming of the paid cast. There couldn't have been anyone--otherwise they would not all be running around with (Jo-Ann) lace jabots and dead cats on their heads. Several re-enactors lent or rented clothing or firearms to the productiion company. When--if--they got them back, the items had been very poorly treated and in some cases ruined (despite the costuming departments promises to the contrary, spray-on "stage dirt" IS permanent). On the other hand, there are some interesting touches. One re-enactor, a member of the group which portrays the Coldstream Guards, let them use his officer's dress coat, which a documented copy of a Guards coat of the war period,. So far it has turned up on both General Burgoyne and General Clinton. He is sure that Clinton must be spinning in his grave, to have been seen in a Guards uniform. Keep an eye out for further sightings--the Guards uniform was more elaborate than many of the uniforms worn by the AWI generals. So you will know the coat--it is the one with all the gold braid. Jane Pease _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
