Costume Obsession

If you’re the kind of person who bases their Must See TV on “which shows have the best wardrobe” (All you Downton Abbey fans, don’t even pretend to look the other way)…well, you are in luck: Fathers & Sons, which is based on the classic novel by the same name, and will open on the Paramount Mainstage in a little over two weeks.

The place is Russia, and the year is 1859. For those of you who need a little historical brush-up, this is smack-dab-mid-Victorian era (which, due to Queen V’s overabundance of children and the span of the British Empire, had significantly greater impact on international culture & fashion than previous eras). Victoria’s rule spanned more than 60 years, during which, fashion changes were basically represented by ever-widening skirts and greater use of embellishments (both of which were used to indicate social status and wealth). Also: we’re in Russia, where they build things like this.

You guys. Do you realize what this means? It’s like costume porn. (Can I use that word on an educational blog?) (But really. It totally is.)

I was going to share some of costume designer Sarie Gessner’s renderings today, but then I went down to the costume shop to see if I could get some photos of the actual fabric, and guess what I found?

Why share renderings when you can look at the real thing?

Actually, this is why:

It blows my mind that just a few short months ago, costume designer Sarie Gessner and director Benny Sato Ambush started talking about the world of Fathers and Sons: who were these people? How did they present themselves to the world around them? How could they best use the costumes of the play to communicate a character’s personality and internal life to the audience?

With answers to those ideas in mind, Sarie sat down and sketched the dress above. And about 10 weeks later, we’ve got the real thing, ready to wear.

Well.

Nearly ready.

(Also: note that the trim on Katya’s sleeve, shown here, has been pinned into shape (and will, assumedly, be sewn down soon). And then extrapolate it to this:

…and this:

…and imagine how much work this single dress represents for our costume shop. And there are 13 characters in the play!

One of whom, we were lucky enough to catch in the act of getting fitted.

(Introducing: James Blazko as Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. Sarie Gessner tying his cravat)

Just two weeks to go until you get to see the rest of them on the Paramount Mainstage! Performances at 8pm on Feb 6, 7 and 8, and 2pm on Feb 8 and 9. (Tickets at any Emerson box office, or here.)

(Crazy)