Taking fabric and creating one quality garment is a challenge, but producing an entire cast’s wardrobe in four to six weeks is a task the university’s Costume Shop completes with technical excellence. 
                ”It is amazing how much goes into a garment,” Katrina Despain, a grad student in acting, said. “It gives you an appreciation for the clothes we wear on a daily basis.” 
                The Costume Shop is responsible for constructing and creating the costumes for all of the Music and Dramatic Arts School’s and Swine Palace’s productions. 
                The Costume Shop is currently working on the attire for the first production, “Design for Living,” of the Swine Palace season and Corey Globke, Assistant Professor of Costume Design, is the designer of its costumes.  Andrea Washington-Brown is the shop manager and her duties are to ensure costumes are being completed in a timely manner, to solve trouble-shooting problems and assist Globke in “helping his vision come to life,” Washington-Brown said. 
Preparation for the costumes for this play began the first day of the 2010 fall semester.  The costume crew consists of work study students, MFA (graduate) students and theatre practicum students. 
Planning for the outfits launches with productions meetings with the artistic staff where Globke and Washington-Brown learn of the play’s time period and background information.  As the designer, it is Globke’s job to perform historical research and get an accurate sense of the artistic path of the play in order to fabricate precise designs.  For this play, Globke drafted 25 costume sketches. 
                ”It is interpreting history in a theatrical context,” Globke said. 
                Measurements ensue once the actors and actresses have been cast.  In order to increase productivity, the costume crew pulls costumes from their stored stock to adapt some of them to work for a current play.  More menswear is pulled than women’s because of the available selection of crafted suits that can be altered for the present actor.
                Women’s wear typically needs to be built because of the intricacy of each piece.  Most of women’s wear have difficult dresses that need to but cut on a bias, which means the fabric must be cut diagonally and against its grain. 
                Pattern drafting quickly follows and one to two mock fittings take place with a costume made of muslin cloth to not use the fabric intended for the final product in case the design or construction needs altering.  Overall, there can be three to five fittings depending on the complexity of the costume. 
                Most of the ornate fabric is purchase online and occasional trips to Hancock Fabrics.  As a last resort, a trip is made to Houston which is where the nearest high end fabric store is located. 
                Accessories are pertinent to any outfit and costumes are not any different. 
                ”For accessories, we try to do as much local shopping in Baton Rouge as possible,” Globke said. “It is good for the community and saves time.” 
Cutting, draping, flat patterning, wig styling and make-up design are additional tasks set for the costume crew. 
After an estimated four weeks of ongoing work, Globke, Washington-Brown and the crew saw their work come to life on stage. 
“It is very gratifying to see the end result because we know all of the work that went into the costume, from conception to the garment on stage,” Washington-Brown said. 
 
Sources:
Corey Globke- Assistant Professor of Costume Design
Andrea Washington-Brown – Assistant Professor of Costume Technology and Design 
Katrina Despain – graduate student who is stationed to work in the costume shop
 
Links:
http://www.wix.com/swinepalace/sp-test
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148575591844244&ref=mf
http://www.theatre.lsu.edu/index.html
 
Contact Information:
Claire Caillier
337-280-9198
[email protected]