Jenna Lourenco
Theatre Researcher, Educator, Performer, Director,
Costume Designer/Costumer
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Chemises & Shirts
This show was an ambitious one for this department. We had only a few key student volunteers with varied sewing experience, and the cast was slightly expanded from the original to include 3 maids who served as costumed set crew. There was also very little in our stock that could be used for this show and we the budget was minimal for this kind of endeavor. I decided to expand our reciprocal borrowing as much as possible for the gowns and frock coats, etc., and to focus on building the undergarments/1st layer/foundation garments that would help to build our stock. In the process, I needed to draft and build several garments, including chemises for the female characters and shirts for the male characters.
Chemise Pattern
The chemise pattern had a lower neckline for the front, but was otherwise the same for both front and back. There were two sleeve patterns. One was drafted with more shape and designed to have a flounce at the elbow to mimic the historic fashion. The other was simpler for the maids -- a practical sleeve that would not get caught on anything backstage or on the furniture they had to move.
The chemises also served their historical purpose, as a barrier between the actor and the more expensive, harder to clean costume pieces. There were 9 female characters, and so we needed to build 9 chemises that could be washed and dried daily, if needed.
Mens' Shirt Pattern
Two of the mens' shirts were going to require blood effects for every performance for the duel scene. This was an additional reason for deciding to build our own shirts rather than try to borrow or rent them. We were able to devise a recipe for blood that was washable and some crude blood packets that burst on cue -- a student assistant designer was given the task of testing recipes and delivery methods and they were quite successful in developing a truly washable recipe.
We chose to make knickers from some old, damaged dress pants for this scene as well, so that there would be no chance of blood spilling on anything borrowed or rented. Backstage, there was a dedicated basket for all of the bloody garment, as well as cleaning supplies and a dedicated trash can for the actors and the stage cleaning between scenes, and all garments were washed immediately after each performance/rehearsal where blood was used.
A gusset was added to these shirts, under the arms, so that they would have full range of motion during their fight choreo routines.
