Drama: Costume Design

From the austerity of the post-war years to diffusion and a seventies-revival in the late nineties, from New Look extravagance to punk and protest, Deirdre Clancy captures in drawings and text the subtle changes of mood and style in dress over fifty years, with an intelligent and sympathetic assessment of such new social phenomena as the invention of the teenager and the feminist movement. Dividing the book into five-year periods, she presents a vivid cross-section of clothing and the people who wore it, from haute couture, through street fashions and formal wear; leisure wear and teenage trends, to the extremes of anti-fashion.
This essential reference book will be an inspiration to fashion and theatre designers as well as to students and any general reader interested in fashion and modern dress.

Beginning in 1932, Elizabeth Montgomery, Margaret Harris, and Sophia Harris designed more than 300 productions, calling themselves Motley. At the Motley Theatre Design Course in London since 1966, they have trained hundreds of young designers from all over the world. This book draws upon original research in theater archives and interviews with theater artists.

Making Stage Costumes is for anyone who finds that, despite a lack of experience and a meagre budget, they want and need to invent and create stage costumes. Topics include: understanding the structure and work of a theatre company; production meetings; budgets; de-coding costume clues in a script; altering modern clothes for period productions; set up and equip a workroom and understanding how to help an actor build character with costume. Written in a practical style that draws on the author's own enthusiasm and experience, Making Stage Costumes shows you how to make your ideas come to life on the stage.