Andra's Workshop

Yemaya sketch and final pic - hand dyed fabric.

Many of my costumes are inspired by mythology and history.  This particular one represents the Caribbean goddess of the oceans, Yemaya, who is commonly depicted as a twin tailed mermaid wearing a crown and whose colors are blue and silver. 

The silver bodysuit represents a fish's scales, the long silver, green, and blue strands on the arms and legs represent seaweed. (I added green to the traditional blue and silver because the water in this area is green, while the water of the Caribbean is blue)  The beaded belt and feathered headdress are inspired by Trinidadian Carnaval costumes.

When designing costumes for a stiltwalker, you always have to take into account how you're going to deal with the stilts - just cover them, or integrate them into the design.  I chose to make the stilt covers represent the mermaid's fins.  I wanted to make them from mottled blue and green fabric that looked somewhat watery, but was unable to find anything like what I had in mind, so I decided to hand dye the fabric. 

As with most of the costumes i've made for performers, this was designed with travel in mind.  All the feathers detatch from the headdress for packing.  This costume has made appearances as far away as Ontario, and Rio de Janiero Carnaval (for which I designed a matching shell bra with clear elastic straps to replace the spandex bodysuit in the 37 degree heat). 

Vampire Queen - FILM HAUNT

In the fall of 2006, I volunteered my time on a great project - the Film Industry's Halloween Haunt.  The event consists of a tour of the Bridge Studios with live stunt shows, special effects, and acting to raise funds for Charity.  I was asked to be one of two performers playing the Vampire Queen, and decided to put together a dramatic costume for the character.  The part involved the character walking slowly down a long flight of stairs while stunt-vampires fought over her.  The director wanted a gown with a long train that would trail behind on the stairs. 

I designed the gown around the idea of a kimono.  Originally it was to be open all down the front, but during production I decided to add a small zipper from the waist up for practicality.  Below the waist was left open which helped prevent tripping, and disguise the fact that the two actresses wearing it were of different heights. 

The gown was worn with tights and high boots underneath, and a red corset on top.  Because two people were going to be wearing the gown, it needed to be versatile for size, so it is the corset that actually determines the snugness along the torso - without it, the gown is fairly loose and shapeless. 

I built a standing collar that attaches to the back neckline with snaps (so it can be removed for ease of hairdressing). 

The train proved to be the most challenging aspect of the gown - in order to help it hold its shape, I ran a length of horsehair braid around the hem, but then found the increased weight of the hem made the train puddle down the stairs rather than "floating" down.  I ran more horsehair braid - this time from the back waist, to the back hem, and this alleviated the problem.

I also made the headdress for the costume, which was inspired by some lovely gothic crowns i'd seen on the internet.  It was made from a bat earring picked up from the dollar store, some beads, and some lengths of chain.  It is simple, but adds a lovely dramatic touch to the outfit.

PNE rolling costumes

Each year during the PNE, they hold an on-site parade featuring floats, dancers, costumed characters, and inflatable figures.  One year the parade was having a western theme, and I was approached to build two large costumes for it. 

The client wanted something along the lines of the large, rolling costumes that you see at the Trinidad Carnaval, in specific bright colors, but with a barnyard influence. 

They knew they wanted one to represent a turkey, and were looking for suggestions for the other. 

I took these very disparate concepts and began mocking up sketches of how to take the image of a turkey, and turn it into a cool, colorful, dancing girl. 

The second costume I proposed to represent a "Corn Dolly" - a traditional european art form where corn husks are made into small figures representing the harvest spirit. 

The client liked my final concepts, which ended up being a hot pink, teal, and gold "turkey", and a green and gold "corn dolly" both with 10' x 10' crests sitting on rolling frames which belted to each dancer's waist. The costumes were designed to be seen from all sides, and are as detailed on the back as on the front.

Challenges and Problem Solving

The execution of this project was a challenge:

1. the scale - drafting patterns and transferring the patterns to fabric on such large items - one trick i've come up with for these situations is marking out long straight lines with a carpenter's chalk line.
 
2. weatherability - the garments needed to be relatively weather-resistant as the PNE has a history of regular rain showers during it's 21 day run each year.  The main parts of the crests were made with outdoor and camping fabrics - mosquito netting for the corn dolly, and rip-stop nylon on both. 

I also had to take into account the wind - the holes in the turkey's crest aren't just decorative - the dancer would be pulling the equivalent of a large sail behind her, so they help make the costume more aerodynamic.

3. transportability - both crests were completely collapsible.  The spokes that supported them were made from 1/4" diameter aluminum rod that inserted into steel pipes on the rolling frame allowing the whole thing to dismantle.

After their run at the PNE, these costumes made an appearance at the following years' Pride Parade, where I made one modification - for the PNE, the dancers were dressed in full matching jumpsuits - a real departure from what you would see on a similar costume in Trinidad, but more appropriate for the all-ages crowd. 

For the Pride Parade, I put the dancers in sequinned bikinis to match the crests and headdresses.  It was really nice to see them presented more authentically!   

Turkey: Pink and gold large main crest, Teal smaller crest, Pink and teal feather boa tail, Pink and gold sequin headdress, Teal and pink jumpsuit, Teal rolling frame.

Corn Dolly: White, green, and gold main crest, Green and gold sequinned "husks" tail, Gold & green sequinned headdress with yellow feathers, Green and gold jumpsuit, Green rolling frame.

MORE PNE COSTUMES

Please contact me at andra@andranorton.com