For my BACOST201 module I had to select an interesting object and use that to inspire me to create a costume for a character from a carnival. After lots of research I decided to create a costume for a character who is a martial artist and sword fighter.
Below you can read about the character I created:
Diana Romano is a 3 year old who was born and raised in Treviso, Italy. She is 5ft 8” and has a well toned, tanned body. Diana has hazel coloured eyes, and wavy dark brown hair. Her parents are called Larissa and Damon Romano (aged 51 and 52). They are both native to Treviso. She has one sibling, an older brother called Enzo. She and Enzo are very competitive, and Diana feels that she always needs to prove herself. Because of this, she is a very determined and hard worker, always striving to do her best. She works as a governess, and is also a paid companion of one of the older daughters at the household. As much as she likes her job, she’d much rather be following her passion for martial arts. Her parents do not approve of this hobby, as it is un-lady like, and out of character for her. However, during the period of carnival she is able to wear a mask and perform on the streets. In an ideal world, she would like to have her own business.
Diana has a small circle of close friends; her best friend Natasha Esposito (also aged 23), whom she has been friends with since the age of 2; Margherita Longo (aged 24); Anthony Russo (aged 24) and Pietro Salvatore (aged 24). Together, Diana and her friends perform in secret in the carnival period.
Diana also particularly enjoys reading and baking. At work Diana tends to wear colourful dresses paid for by the family that she works for. Dressed like this, she becomes a role model for younger children in the household. When it comes to the carnival period. Diana wear a jerkin and breeches - firstly because the outfit is easier to perform in than a dress, and secondly, the outfit and her mask help her identity remain hidden.
The 6 key words for my object were precious, flowing, ornate, attractive, sophisticated and intricate. These words fit into her character as follows: As the youngest member of her family, Diana is seen as the baby, and therefore is very precious in their eyes. When performing her martial arts, she has incredible rhythm and focus, which allows her to easily flow from one move to the next. One of the perks of being a paid companion is that she needs to look the part. She particularly enjoys wearing earrings and a brooch. Diana is quite tall for someone of her age, so naturally she stands out anyway. Due to her martial arts performances, she is able to keep fit, and therefore her body is well-toned. Her luxurious, wavy dark brown hair and hazel eyes combination make her an incredibly attractive woman. Her smile is contagious, and is one of the reasons why PIetro has hidden feelings for her… Diana takes her job very seriously, and likes to obtain as much knowledge as she can so that she can be an adequate role model to the children she looks after at the Manin household. And finally, she has a keen eye for details, which is important in her line of work as she needs to report back with any information regarding the children she is looking after.
I think I have successfully incorporated these elements into my costume as it is made up of lots of curvy shapes, precious and attractive fabrics, has lots of small details and overall looks quite smart and sophisticated.
I set the location in Italy as that is the origin of my object, and the time period is in the 18th century because this is the closest to the time period of my object - The Venetian carnival was banned from 1797-1979, and my object is from 1850-1900, so present day for my character is 1793. I have put her in a position that would allow her o get away with wearing a variety of fashion pieces. I didn’t want her to be upper class, but I needed to find some way to tie her in with my key words. And finally, I liked the idea of her hiding behind a mask, so decided to give her a role in the carnival that was perhaps unusual and something people wouldn’t approve of.
As Diana is a martial artist and sword fighter, she needs an outfit that she can move around in and isn't going to limit her in any way. It needs to be comfortable and durable, because it is worn for a large part of the day. As a street performer she needs something that will catch the audience's eye, but nothing too extravagant because this is also a disguise.
The shape of my jerkin is mainly influence by styles of doublets and jerkins that I found in my research. A particularly useful resource for this was Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion books. I chose to make a jerkin over a doublet because of the role that she plays in the carnival. As a martial artist, she would need to be able to move around a lot, and I thought that sleeves in a way may restrict her, and with it being sleeveless, it provides her with a far greater range of movement. I decided to eliminate the traditional peascod belly because I am making for a female, and because she would be performing in this outfit, she doesn't need additional padding to warm her up and make the costume sweaty. Many of the doublets and jerkins that I researched had high collars and some form of tabs/peplum. In my interpretation of a jerkin I have kept the high collar and given it a type of tab. The bottom shape of my jerkin is inspired by the shapes found on my object. These trapezium shapes are also featured in the fabric and the leather decorations. I liked using this shape because it isn't as popular as other shapes, and in my experience, isn't featured in patterns an awful lot. So I thought that the usage of this untraditional shape fitted in well with my character, because what she is doing (disguising herself as a male) could also be classed as an untraditional act.
The main colour palette for my costume is black, gold and purple. the proportion of the colours in the costume is accurate to my object. Black is the colour of the main body of the box and then it is edged with gold and has clusters of gold foliage. The finer details - berries and precious stones feature some purple coloured pieces, which is where the colour for the buttons came from. I think the buttons are an important part of the costume because they are a dull purple in the centre and are edged with gold. This reflects how Diana sees her life - her day job - whilst enjoyable - isn't her true passion, and isn't how she wants to spend the rest of her life - in a sense, it's dull to her. The gold edges reflect that this act is what she really wants to be her day job. This is where she shines. The gold piping reflects the gold stems on the box.
The breeches were the right choice for me because they are similar to what would have been worn with a doublet at the time. I had them come just below the knee, because again, this allows for greater movement. The breeches are also quite "poofy" and this also helps with the range of movement, and further emphasises all these intricate movements that she is making within her performance. The material for the trousers was chosen because the pattern reminded me of leaves, and one of my favourite elements on my object was the golden leaves. I have embroidered some gold leaves onto the breeches and arranged them in a way that looks wavy. Again, this is to reflect the fluidity of my character's movements. Down the sides of the breeches are some undulating pin tucks. My box features a type of decoration called ripple moulding, and to me this looks like undulating pin tucks, so like the box, I thought it would be a nice way to edge my breeches. I also did these in a black fabric, so that they don't stand out and detract away from other elements of the breeches. The way they blend in reflects the fact that this is a disguise, and Diana is hidden in plain sight.
The mask helps her fit in with the carnival festivities and conceals her identity; the shoes are smart, so fit with the aesthetic of the costume, but they are also sturdy and practical so that she is able to perform all of her moves comfortably. The white shirt that she wears underneath shows that although the black elements of the costume are upper class and fancy, she is actually still a working class citizen, and needs to protect the jerkin from sweat because it's the only one that she has.
Here you can see my interesting object that inspired it all, and images of my finished costume.
