A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Play by Shakespeare for Costume Design IIIA
The initial concept for this show was to take aspects of the art of drag such as camp, absurdist, fish drag and even drag kings, and bring them into a bastardized Tudor era setting. So the characters for the most part live with the silhouettes and traditions of Tudor era clothing, while still holding onto the vibrancy and eccentricity of drag as an artform.
My nobles, have their own house colors and are draped in rich brocades and expensive jewelry. Hippolyta, as a queen of the Amazons, has elements of armor within her costume, throughout her bodice, gloves and finger details and even in collar pieces. Her armor is even seen in her wedding look. My lovers are foils of each other visually, Hermia our idyllist waif and soft hearted lover is contrasted by Helena who is decked out in a heavy and dark weighted look, dragged down by her own self deprecating thoughts and feelings of worthlessness.
In the garb of the mechanicals there are elements of their jobs incorporated into their clothing ,such as moiré wood grain-esque fabric for our carpenter and joiner. Another example is the japanese sashiko stitching and woven fabric details seen in the tailor and the weaver respectfully.
Within the world of the fae there are elements of eastern silhouettes mirroring the Vietnamese Ao Dai and a Japanese Kimono while also blended with western structures such as armor or a corset incorporating their worldliness and widespread grasp of the world. Since their domain rules over nature and due to the names given to the attendants of Titania, there is also a strong use of nature motifs and the colors and materials of the names given. Another detail is that in both Titania and Oberon, as both of their structured pieces mirror the strength and beauty found in nature. Titania’s corset is meant to emulate a tree and its bark, burning from the inside out while Oberon’s armor alludes to the delicacy of a skeleton flower.\
10x14 done digitally on Procreate
103 hrs and 45 min of drawing time tracked
