Emma Tompkins

I feel very fortunate to have interviewed Erin. Her perspective changed how I think about recording work as an artist & practitioner. When our discipline feels so ephemeral, longevity takes on a different meaning when you see the work the archive team creates with our history.

Sherry is raising money for Back Up, a charity that supports theatre freelancers in times of need. To do this she is willing to shave the 28 inches of hair currently on her head. You can vote and donate to decide the outcome! Pls RT

I really would love to see the opinions from the directors, actors, producers, access mangers, designers, interpreters and oh maybe the people with the actual conditions who continually work successfully with trigger warnings help get the same air time FFS.

Get involved costume peeps

And yet...

Doesn't draw too much focus or trigger the camera, plus multiple constructions with that '1 mm from space' flaw clause means that just one element of this photo shows you the depth of engineering, artistry and human understanding that costume is and has always been.

So everything from digital design, pattern cutting each section to fit the different shapes of different bodies, printing the right fabric with the right thickness, luster and drape, and making a colour way & stripe that works for character, world building and story telling but

Not to mention that multiple identical versions of the same costume would have to be made for the shoot, so they would have had to get it perfectly matched, again and again.

Remember humans are 3D and multi facetted, fabric pattern is flat and so lines become tricky. It's why stripes are the mark of a good (or bad) tailor/garment. Additionally certain lined patterns can trigger film cameras to freak out so it's an extra layer of challenging.

Not only are you trying to neatly line match at the seams, if you have a dart or fold in the design you could theoretically rework the line in the print so you don't lose it in construction. The dress bodice clearly has a dart/seam but barely loses the line across the front.

I don't think it's possible for that to be made in the weave (any textile nerds out there please let me know if I'm mistaken) which suggests digital printing. Which limits the fabric choices and means construction and pattern cutting would have been intricately calculated.

This is a very fun design note, and fitting for a story about magic but it suggests a few more things about the construction that make it even more impressive.

Traditional suit pinstripe is a woven fabric, the stripe is in the weave, so it's always a straight line. The designer and costume team here have reinterpreted this, so it goes straight *and* in different directions in the pattern (as you can see in the skirts and lower legs)

The pinstripe here is clearly influenced by the bold stripe used in the stage version (thanks to @PJbyDesign for the education as I've yet to see it) but it takes it so so so much further and is an example of what big film money can do for a design

Pinstripe is an incredible pattern to work with, it does a lot of the story telling for you, it's also hella exposing. Like a 'if you get the sewing out by 1mm you can see it from space' level exposing. I once resewed the shoulder seam of a frock coat 10 times to get it to match