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Thankee!
FABRICS & COLORS:
Some of the best fabrics to use are wool, twill, serge, cotton velvet, satin, taffeta, cotton, and linen.
Colors were rich and varied – garnet, plum, moss green, gold, gray, beige, brown, blue, and black. Fabric patterns were interesting and fun, including plaids, prints, paisleys, stripes, herringbone, and tweeds.
DO NOT use fluorescent or modern-looking colors or prints, and avoid obvious polyester fabrics.
THRIFT SHOP COSTUMING:
You don’t have to be a great seamstress to make a good costume for the fair. Many costumes can be created by adapting clothing found in thrift shops and used-clothing stores. Have fun hunting!
Women – Petticoats can be made by cutting off the skirts of 1950s evening gowns or any long, full-skirted dresses. White, long-sleeved blouses that button up the front or back are great. Look for knitted or crocheted shawls. Lace doilies make great day caps – just add ribbon and some silk flowers. And don’t forget gloves!
Men – Find baggy pants and taper the legs down or remove the cuffs. Buy an old vest and square off the bottom by folding under the points. Adapt white shirts by cutting off the fold-over collar right at the top and finishing off the edge. A sack coat can be made by shortening an old overcoat to fingertip length.
Movie and Book Sources for Costuming
The Dickens Christmas Fair takes place in a very specific time period. Corsets were the foundation garment of the time (for women and men a like) and the Bonnet for women and the topper for men was a staple in every proper gentlepersons wardrobe. The Dickens fair takes place in what is known historically as the industrial age. Crinolines and many, many starched petticoats held up the voluminous bell shaped skirts that were in fashion. We do not allow the high umpire waist of the 1820’s-30’s and we do not allow the high bustle of the late 1860’s-80’s. The reason for this is, Charles Dickens is the headliner in our fair, he is up and walking around greeting guests as they enjoy our show. We want to maintain a time in history that he was alive as an adult.
There are many books and movies that are excellent sources for costume manners and accent of the time we are portraying. There will soon be a recommended books and movie list on our website at www.Dickensfair.com with links to Amazon.com for both performers and guests to utilize. Below are the lists themselves for a trip to the library or a trip to the movie rental store.
- The story of Adele H. (French movie about british events. subtitled)-Women’s garments and military costume.
- Christmas Carol {Patrick Stewart} -Fabulous for all classes.
- Black Adders A Christmas carol (BBC)-worth seeing anyway.
- Oliver!- The cheesy musical. The first part of this movie has an excellent crowd scene watch it for just that.
- Oliver Twist {Elijah Wood} (Disney). The color palette is excellent for The Dockside area, or Mad Sals.
- BBC Mini series David Copperfield- A baby Harry Potter plays young David, very good movie and source for visuals.
- Nicholas Nickleby (2002)- A wonderful movie full of approvable costume ideas and colorful characters. Highly recommended for this fair.
These movies are a sampling of what is visually required for the theatrical look of the fair. You may also get mannerisms and accent from some of these movies.
Corsets: highly suggested - mid 19th century styles, over the bust
Hoops or Crinolines: the circumference of your hoop should be no more that 95" - 110". With the streets of London being so populated these days hoops that are any larger are becoming dangerous!
Dress: Fabric in both the bodice and skirt match, long sleeves or mid-arm length with white undersleeves, no zippers
Skirt , jacket and blouse: Full bell shaped skirt, the Zouave jacket was popular at the time (black, red, blue green) and was worn with a white collarless or peter pan collar, front buttoning blouse.
Colors - jewel tones, NO BLACK (unless Mr. Dickens wrote you in black). Plaids are wonderful, again in the darker jewel tones, & patterned cotton fabrics are also acceptable - (Please let me see the swatch BEFORE you start sewing!) Adding a petticoat over your hoops will keep you from committing that dreaded fashion faux pas of hoop lines showing!
NO BUSTLES.
Indoor headwear: This past season saw an explosion in the dainty and attractive head coverings known as days caps. Made of lace and adorned with all sorts of ribbons and bows they are the ideal item to cover your hair while indoors. An extra bonus is that they fit nicely under your bonnet - no need to remove them when you sally forth on the streets of London.
Outerwear: A cape or shawl works nicely to show that you are outside, and along with gloves and a bonnet or hat you will be right in the height of London fashion. Please - no top hats on women - of ANY size.
What is the deal with bonnets anyway? Bonnets are one of the quickest ways to convey that we are in fact portraying another time and place to the patrons. They are the preferred headwear of London this season.
- 02:25:52: You could hear from an old friend today or meet a new one, but... More for Taurus http://bit.ly/vbrIa
- 17:35:37: You two shoulda twittered aforehand so i'da known you were coming, @lalafifty5 @liann7o7
- 17:37:50: @thats_ms_dragon you still have talent shows? we cut that funding ages ago...
- 17:38:42: @thats_ms_dragon if admin ever realized that there was a disconnect between them and staff, we'd be in an even bigger mess.
- 18:45:50: @nicoleseiffert last name? yeah, he's one of the new teachers. i dont have any geo classes this year but yeah i can help.
- 18:46:07: whats the kids last name? ward?
- 19:04:41: @nicoleseiffert np, i dont know anything about him 'cause we've not had a dept meeting yet.
- 19:09:20: yeah but dont have myspace
- 19:09:43: er, that was for you, @nicoleseiffert. yeah, got link, but dont have myspace.
- 19:10:33: but not worried 'bout it, @nicoleseiffert. I help whoever asks, really.
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- 02:27:20: The New Moon highlights your 4th House of Roots and encourages... More for Taurus http://bit.ly/vbrIa
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- 02:21:37: In the midst of this very busy period, you are able to slow do... More for Taurus http://bit.ly/vbrIa
- 20:51:28: @misslucero man, voice is STILL screwball. Ugh.
- 20:54:10: @Prtybttrfly check with aunt dawn?
- 21:20:06: tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired
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- 02:22:24: Someone's unexpected behavior might rattle your foundations to... More for Taurus http://bit.ly/vbrIa
- 22:12:25: can already see I'm going to have trouble keeping up with this during school times - had to backup hella to catch up with ya'll!
- 22:17:12: @senraven just saw the question re:weekend. All figured, though.
- 22:30:12: last thing you need is to be hurting any more, @thats_ms_dragon!
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- 00:07:14: ugh. work on saturday - was late (I was tired!), then laundry/family/etc. Caught up on eureka, though. GOOD SHOW!!!
- 00:08:07: then sunday, lazed a bit, family time, then work. then classroom setup, then home and cleaning. now late to bed. work by 7am -forever.
- 01:07:56: can't sleep - the beauty supply store is getting some construction work done and I keep hearing drills and pounding and loud crazy noises.
- 02:21:07: You are tired of supposedly responsible people misleading you ... More for Taurus http://bit.ly/vbrIa
- 02:40:09: I am so tired but they've started up a steel-cutting loud as hell saw. Intermittently, and just enough time in between to ALMOST sleep.
- 20:32:29: @misslucero ...was boring!
- 20:32:49: @grantimahara Which song was that?
- 20:33:04: @xeeyore42 congrats!!!
- 20:34:21: @billprady Lewis Black is gonna be on an ep? AWESOME!
- 20:34:33: @labelleizzy Congrats!!
- 23:18:37: syllabi done, worksheet will wait until the morn because I am ded. sleep now. tomorrow is another craaaazy day!
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