The Costumer's Handbook: How to Make All Kinds of Costumes

Where would you turn for quick and easy ideas on constructing a stage costume appropriate for a Greek goddess, an Elizabethan courtier, a twentieth-century businessman? Whether you're a professional costume technician or a costume designer for an amateur theatre group, The Costumer's Handbook can help you design and construct an endless variety of stage costumes that are aesthetically pleasing, practical, and historically accurate. With detailed illustrations and step-by-step instructions, the authors show how to design, prepare, and alter original patterns and how to fit, shape, and construct stage costumes that are both attractive and versatile. Filled with time-saving theatrical sewing tips, this book reveals budget-stretching ways to make period and style alterations, demonstrates such techniques as fabric dyeing and printing, and offers valuable tips on using glue, clay, and papier mache in the costume-making process. With easy-to-follow directions for constructing a variety of costume accessories from hats, wigs, and jewelry to footwear, hosiery and armor, The Costumer's Handbook is your complete guide to developing stage costumes that are personally distinctive and artistically expressive.