Construction

Costume with Textiles BA (Hons)

For my Final Major Project I chose 'Around the World in 80 Days' by Jules Verne and designed it for a theatre production. I concentrated on the theme of travel that led me to be inspired by Victorian stamps and artifacts from around the world. I used traditional Victorian silhouettes and gave them a twist by adding shaped edgings inspired by the patterns found in the stamps. The stamps also informed the colour palette, and alongside the artifacts inspired the print.

I chose to make Phileas Fogg because I loved the eccentricity of his character and it enabled me to make a tailored costume. While I chose Princess Aouda to make because she is an Indian Princess, as well as the only woman in the story, which allowed me to do some beautiful detailed prints. Making these two characters gave me the opportunity to explore both skills of construction and print in more depth.

The shape of the Sari end piece and Choli are both inspired by the shaping found in old Indian stamps. While the shaping on his lapel, pockets and cuffs are inspired by shaping found in British Victorian stamps.

Phileas Fogg Costume	Princess Aouda Costume	Princess Aouda and Phileas Fogg
Princess Aouda	Princess Aouda	Phileas Fogg and Princess Aouda
Phileas Fogg	Phileas Fogg	Frock Coat Cuff I used Hainsworth wool for the Frock coat, Light Blue Pilot Cloth for the main part of the coat and AAC Blue Doeskin for the trim. The buttons are made out of silk satin that I dyed and printed.
Frock Coat Back	Quilted Chest Padding Inside Coat In period coats it was common for the richer classes to have decorative quilting inside. Therefore I decided to do some inside Fogg's Frock Coat. I designed my own quilted pattern from the stamps that inspired the costume.	Frock Coat
Underside of Collar and Lapel	Waistcoat	Waistcoat
Choli Front After bagging out and sewing the choli together I felt something was missing. Therefore I decided to sew the beads around the edge. This gave it the finishing touch I was after.	Choli Back	Choli Sleeve Detail
Sari To make the Sari suitable for theatre and dressing I stitched the pleats in place and added poppers all around the waistband that correlated with the poppers on the petticoat. This made the Sari secure and stay in place. I also added a hook and eye on the shoulder to prevent it from dropping.	Fuchsia Costume This is my second year costume for Fuchsia from the play of Gormenghast. It was inspired by Gustav Klimt paintings and Christian Dior Couture. The fabric I used was a polyester taffeta and I hand painted it with Disperse dyes to get the ombre effect. Plactazote was used to create the structure of the skirt and bows around the top.	Fuchsia Costume
Fuchsia Costume