Make-up and ... Wedding Dresses?

Thats right - the hunt for the two remaining wedding dresses has begun! Hermia's - pink - and Helena's - peach - both 1970's.

 

This morning gave me the opportunity to meet with makers Lucy, Helena and Danielle to check on their progress and discuss any problems they were having. Last Thursday, Lucy was experimenting with dye recipies for the lycra in order to get a match for the very different skin tones of the cast and today she brought me in her results. Helena is far ahead and going well - her toille for Titania is finished and she is waiting on the measurements for her second costume - Robin Goodfellow - from our supervisor Sarah who is currently in London costuming a grad film. Danielle assured me that she would be pattern drafting today. We have a week and a half until the toille fittings - scheduled provisionally for the 13th.

 

At 11, Louise our head of make-up for the production arrived! Though I was initially not going to have prosthetics on any of the fairies, Ken our director is set on having them and as such we are havin ears for the fairies. They are not dramatic, remaining small, and to prevent them from appearing too elfin I have asked that they curve outwards as opposed to upwards. The mechanicals as fairies have a slightly larger, curved version. Louise is going to make us up some practice ones so that we can see what they look like in the flesh, as it were.  For the remainder of the meeting the conclusion is that - make-up will do the henna on the costumes, with the makers having the option of doing some of the henna if they choose. Louise is going to draw me up some henna templates in order for me to choose what I want it to look like. Louise is also going to draw me up a template of the pattern on Oberons thigh as this is a variation of a design I found in a book on Indian henna and I am very keen to have that one kept. Helena and Danielle are going to draw up for Louise a diagram of where the costumes end in order for Louise to be able to work out where she will be doing the henna on skin and where the costumes will need to be blended to the skin in order for it to achieve the 'second skin' look that I want for the costumes.

 

After the meeting it was time for me to run to the train station as Grace managed to book us an appointment for the wedding dress department in the Oxfam in Poole where we made a tremendous find! On looking at the design, the saleswoman went into their storage and came out with an almost perfect dress! The only part that needs altering is the neckline and shoulder straps but other then that it is spot on. The most fortunate part was the price - £20. Whereas all of the other dresses were brand new wedding and bridesmaid dresses numbering upwards of £150 this was one that was left over from a vintage dress sale that no one had bought, so it had been reduced.

Providance.