Amphorae

In my last post we explored the experience and requirements of theatre costuming, today we'll look at the counterpart; reenactment costuming. Let me start by saying that I am not exactly currently part of a reenactment group. Enthusiasts and authenticity-conscious reenactors may be horrified to know that I was, at one point, part of the Society for Creative Anachronism . Let's be clear. If you like history, want to wear costumes from a bygone era, and would like to be part of a very welcoming group that has very simple (almost non-existant) standards for historical accuracy from a beginner, then the SCA is a great group to which one can belong. I was personally attracted to the words "Creative," (I'm a costumer by trade, and even in college creative was my default adjective for myself) and "Anachronism" (from another time). It's how I met my husband and I made many great friends. If you want to be really authentic, you can; if you want to just have...

With my most recent show finishing tech tomorrow, and everything well in hand for opening on Monday, I feel that now is a good time to address the differences between costuming for theater and to re-create historical styles. I do both. I love both. They are completely different things. Costuming for Theatre First of all, when designing costumes for a theatrical production or television you aren't alone in getting to decide how they look. The director (and/or producer) is the ultimate authority and if they want a leather frock coat with studs, you will give them a leather frock coat with studs. You can try to point out historical inaccuracies all you want, but they only thing this will make you is unpopular with your creative team. Believe me, I learned that the hard way years ago. I also used to point out every historical discrepancy in films, but now I know that far from being ill-researched there was probably a good reason for doing something differently. This brings me to ...