Beautiful in pink

For our latest show we executed over 35 outfits that had to be made raw....20 of those were for the Beautiful Girls number. We made a progression of pink flapper dresses that went from pale pink to a vibrant orange. They each had a vintage rhinstone buckle at the shoulder and a pink headband to tie everything together. Each dress was custom made for the girls' measurements, so that they could dance in them and feel comfortable. This was probably the biggest overall task that my girls and I had to tackle for this production of "Singing in the Rain". We also made the sparkly pink top hat, to go with the tux (which was donated for the event).

(All faces were blurred as all actors were minors)

Dress without a face

I have discovered the danger of things being too good.

Here are two of the costumes from the show that I just finished. They are from the "Dancing Cavalier" section of Singing in the Rain that I made for our winter production. Faces have been removed, as it is a High School production and the actors are minors.

The dress has almost 20 yards of fabric in it...BTW.

Unfortunately, tons of people just assumed that we had either purchased the dress or had borrowed it from a local museum or costume house in the city (one of the possibilites being this close to Manhattan). Folks just could not beleive that we (my mum and I) made this dress. She gave me some amazing help on the bodice during her Christmas visit and then I completed and fitted the dress over the next week. There were over 30 woman hours of work in that baby. Don't get me started on the man's version...

They were just amazing on stage...I was so happy.

What have I been doing with myself lately?

You might have noticed that I haven't been posting a terrible lot in the recent past. This is because I have been working my little fingers to the bone costuming our Winter Musical. I thought that I would post a couple snaps of one of our latest creations.

This is Miss Marissa, a lovely young student at my school who is playing Lena in our production of "Singing in the Rain." The gown was sewn by my sainted mother and myself. We mostly completed the bodice together in a couple afternoons and one hectic morning during her Christmas-time visit, I then completed the remainder of the dress last weekend. The wig is constructed from two wigs, that are supported with foam inserts and supplemented with flowers, bows, birds and yes a cage.

And this is just the beginning.