Absolutely the last donation for a while!

One final donation from a particularly bountiful fortnight. I was out when this arrived but luckily Dawn excepted it on my behalf.

It is a beautiful blouse circa 1890 in almost perfect condition.

Heavily pin tucked black satin lined with white silk

Trimmed with black sequin and seed bead encrusted lace

Small hidden pocket sewn to the cotton lining. This used to contain a scented handkerchief or posy. You can also just see some of the internal boning.

At first we weren't sure why the waistband was a lot bigger than the rest of the blouse but we think it could possible have been a maternity garment.

Close up of the neck  with lace and beading

Beautiful details on the cuffs and rosettes on the waistband

There are no labels inside but that is not uncommon for this era so it is hard to tell if this was a home made garment or a shop bought one. It is small, probably equivalent to a modern size 6.

...and one more donation

The final donation in a week of donations was this rather lovely little (it is very small) Tudor style dress. It was given by a lovely lady from Cambridge and it belonged to her late mother.

Her mother acted here at the Maddermarket in the mid 1940s but we worked out that the dress was probably made for her around 1938/9.  The dress was for the character of Mary Queen of Scots but we're not sure if it was for a MMT production. I will be hitting the archives soon.

It's always great receiving donations but when they have provenance too, it's even better.  Not sure if we'll be able to use it for our June production of Anne Boleyn. As I said, it is very tiny and it only just fits my smallest dummy, but I will use it for the production display.

The black is cotton velvet and the white is rayon

The skirt is covered with silver sequins and the braid is beaded silver

French hood trimmed with artificial pearls

Pretty Things

Hello lovelies,

Still fairly quiet in the wardrobe which is good. I'm getting a head start on our big Shakespearean offering in March. We are doing 'As You Like It' with a bit of a hippy/flower power vibe! Watch this space for some groovy gear........

In the meantime here are a few piccys from a donation I received this morning from a lady in Cambridge. They all belonged to her mother.

Lovely little silk blouse that could easily do 20s and 30s shows

Very pretty fine wool dress that may well find it's way into As You Like It

As may these sandals

Hand embroidered mittens and belt. Wish I'd had these for The Snow Queen

Beautiful lace and cotton camisole. 1920s I think

I have some more donations arriving tomorrow. Stay tuned costumeophiles........

Random Musings

Things are fairly quiet here in the wardrobe at the moment. We have had a couple of small, modern plays on the trot so I'm doing a bit of house keeping. Sorting out the undies today and discovered these two that made me laugh........

Little and large.

A 46E and a 32AA to be precise!

Snow Queen Photos

....and there it was gone! In a puff of glitter.Quite literally!!

This stuff gets every where. Still finding it in odd places nearly a month later.

It took 6 months of thinking and planning, 6 weeks of construction, making and fitting and about a week to dismantle and put away. It was so all encompassing that I didn't have any time to update on the way so here are some piccys of some of the work in progress, fittings and performances. Enjoy........

The Snow Queen's wig and head dress

The headdress was quite heavy so we ended up sewing it to the wig. The wig itself needed constant attention. Daily spraying, backcombing and glittering.

Gerda's pocket

This beautiful pocket was probably the starting point of the design concept. I had a book of Swedish folk costume and loved the vibrant reds and colourful embroidery on black. The pocket is key in the story of Gerda as it is where she puts the icy shard plucked from Kai's heart. This pocket was made by a very talented lady called Eileen who volunteers for me in the wardrobe department.

Does anyone speak Swedish?

A few pictures of Gerda's (Moira Hickson) fitting

First fitting before the yards of braid was added.

Practicing hairstyles. You can also see pinning down the back of the bodice ready to be taken in.

Gerda's coat with added braid. This was based on Lyra's coat in the film 'The Golden Compass'

and some more of the cast

Cobweb spider (Chris Neale) trying out his beard

We used fullers earth to create a thick layer of dust on Cobweb's coat. We also covered him in cobwebs (obviously!)

...and boots

Luke Hull as the Prince

Most members of the cast had multiple roles. Luke had to go from Polar bear to Prince to robber to Ice Ghost. This meant under and over dressing and having to make a few compromises with some of the costumes.

Etta Geras as the Robber Queen

Both the Robber Queen and Grandma were wearing ALL of the clothes!!

Some of my fantastic wardrobe ladies enjoying a well deserved festive treat

The following are production photographs (dress rehearsal in fact) taken by the lovely Sean Owen of Reflective Arts. Please do not reproduce without permission. 

Kai (Daniel Robertson) & Gerda (Moira Hickson)

..and Etta Geras as Grandma

Rebecca Chapman as the Snow Queen

Making an entrance

Hard Bear (Dawn Brindle) & Soft Bear (Luke Hull)

Gerda and the Ravens

Giles Conneely as King Grin

The Robber Queen with Twitch, Muscles and Nico

Snow Queen and Kai

Gerda meets the Ice Ghosts

Polar bears in action

Kai trapped in the ice

Gerda saves Kai

Ta da!

Grandma warming up

Sun goddess Bhima (Dawn Brindle)

The robbers

Cobweb and King Grin

Scruff and Aunty Peck the Ravens

In the Snow Queen's Palace

Little Redhead (Hattie Amie) and Gerda

Princess, Prince and Bhima

Many thanks to the following people for all their help with the Snow Queen costumes -

Amy Jean Moore

Martin Frost

Christine Rees

Suzanne Bell

Eileen Collisson

Edna Rudd

Judith Symonds

Sarah Prince White

Chrissie Blackburn

Yet more glitter

Excitement here in S.Q.H.Q. My shipment of glitter has arrived! Crystal Iris Jewels and Squares to be precise. If ever you need any type of glitter then I can't recommend Flints Theatrical Chandlers enough.www.flints.co.uk

This is what 500g of glitter looks like