Costuming Emma

Last week, I talked with one of the costumers, +Katie Davis, who worked on researching 19th century fashion and the fashion of Jane Austen.  In talking with her, I found out a lot about the inspirations for the show and about how the costumes connect to the characters.

Regency Era:

The costumes for Emma are drawn from the Regency Era.  The Regency Era ran from 1795-1830 and the dress of the time is one marked by "simplistic elegance."  You can see this in the sense of line, color, and silhouette.  Katie created a Pinterest Board of the Regency Era and there are of Regency Boards that you can peruse on Pinterest.    I also just made a Pinterest Board to start collecting images either from our production or that inspired the production, and that incorporated some of Katie's Pinterest collection.  

Corsets:  

Since I was able to see the stages of making a corset on my last trip to the costume shop, I asked Katie more about what are the characteristics of the corsets in the early 19th century.  She said that for one, it raises the bust line so that the bust is in a higher range.  The style also has slightly less rigid boning and is a longer length, covering the hips instead of just stopping at the top of the hips.  The effect of this style of corset is the way it creates a sense of formality because of how straight the corsets makes the wearer stand.  For the female performers in Emma, the corsets ended up really helping the performer create a certain movement and almost enforce a particular way they will have to hold their bodies and move around.  

Colors in the Shows:  

In order to give insights into each character, the main characters all have their own color palette.  I loved this idea because whenever I read a book, I think about what color I would associate with this person.  Here are some examples:

• Emma wears pink and lavender 
• Mrs. Elton wears stripes and jarring colors (to match her personality).  
• Harriet ends up wearing costumes in cotton since she isn't as wealthy as the other characters.  The cotton makes her clothes lay a little differently which will also show her difference in status.  

My favorite pairing, though, is one that I wouldn't have thought of, but that made perfect sense.  For Jane Fairfax, the costumers put her in blues because she has been a little depressed.  

Funny Tidbit:  

One thing that Katie found in her research is that men would wear flats during dances.  However, that style of flats is really hard to find in men's shoes.  So, most of the flats in the show are just really large sizes of women's shoes.

Coming up in a couple of weeks, Emma Gruhl is doing a podcast interview with the head costume designer, Janice.  So, stay tuned to hear about what insights she gives into the costumes.