Designing costumes for The Seafarer has been great fun – all the characters are very distinct and colorful! Now it is time to bring the “vision to life”, which means finding what I rendered in reality…
The play takes place in current day Ireland. The characters live from paycheck to paycheck and pretty much spend their money on booze. They stay up all night drinking and often sleep in their clothes. The costumes thus should look worn and timeless. You can imagine that these folks are not the most stylish.
The thrift store is the perfect place to find clothes that are a bit out of date and already have that “lived-in” look. The garments are inexpensive which makes a lot of costumers who work on a tight budget happy. One can buy two or three choices instead of being limited to one option in fittings. It can be very frustrating when you are looking to find that one specific item. You will find it, but it’s not the right size. You will find it but it’s not the right color. You will find it but it is not the right fabric. And on it goes until suddenly, after thrift store number seven you happen to glance it out of the corner of your eye.
Costume Designer Tatjana Longerot Shopping the Thrift Store
This moment of great joy is what every costume designer lives for: The second-hand god has approved your vision and you will live on to design another day.
The thrift store gods smile upon Tatjana!
Love the Blog! Love the website and all the pics! Very much looking forward to The Seafarer. Two of my favorite things in one..poker and Ireland!
Break-a-leg!