Student Resources
Teacher Resources


What to Wear?

Costumes for the Stage

 

Research Scenario

You have been asked to costume your school's upcoming Theatre production. As the costume designer, you will have the opportunity to choose a time period prior to the 1990's for the staging of this production. Once you have chosen a time period it is important to create costumes that appear to be authentic. Therefore, you will research the clothing of the time period for people of various genders, ages, occupations etc. before costuming the characters.

How do costume designers select the wardrobe for productions in order to reflect the play's time period?

Task and Product

You will create a costume plot for at least four characters with a color drawing, a PowerPoint or Scrapbook with sketches, photographs and clip art of the clothing for each character. You will also need to include all accessories (e.g. belts, shoes, handbags, jewelry) and describe the hair style for each character.

 

Assessments

 
The following scoring tools may be used or adapted by your Teacher to evaluate your research process and your final product and presentation.
Research Process Assessments:

Final Product Assessments: 

Questions

 Essential Question:

How do costume designers select the wardrobe for productions in order to reflect the play's time period?

Subsidiary Questions:

  • What was the "style" during your chosen time period? (middle ages, 1950's)
  • Where does the play take place? (America, Europe)
  • How did politics make an impact on the type of dress during the time period you selected? (The Depression, hippie movement)
  • What accessories where used? (gloves, hats, shoes, jewelry)
  • What is the socioeconomic status of your characters?(wealthy, educated)
  • What was the hair style? (bee-hives, wigs)

Gather and Sort

Use a variety of resources for gathering information about Costumes.

Sort your research findings using a graphic organizer or note cards.

Be sure to avoid plagiarism and remember to cite your references and keep track of your resources by using the Works Cited list.

Organize

~ Analyze your research notes to determine if you have adequate information on your selected style of costume.

  • Organize your notes according to subtopics corresponding to your subsidiary questions (Hairstyle, Accessories, etc.). Do you have sufficient details to completely answer all of your subsidiary questions?
  • Is there a subtopic for which you did not find enough information? If so, decide whether to continue searching for information about this subtopic or eliminate it.
  • Did you find interesting information on costumes which does not fit under any of your subtopics? If so, decide if this information would be useful to your audience, and identify a new subtopic for

~ Synthesize your findings by creating a rough draft of your illustrations.

  • What new insights have emerged about the costume style your chose?
  • Which facts would be most useful for members of the production in order to stage a performance using the time period and style of costume?
  • Which facts are unnecessary or irrelevant and could be eliminated?

~ Evaluate your research product by using the following questions:

  • Have you gathered enough information about your topic to create a product?
  • Are your details organized and sufficient?
  • Do you feel you are well-informed on your topic in order to present to the class?
  • Do a self-assessment by using the scoring tool for your product as a checklist to make sure that your work meets all the listed criteria

Conclusion

 

Presentation:

~Plan how you will present your final product to the class. Consider these options:

  • Practice giving an overview of your illustrations. Be prepared to answer questions.
  • Make arrangements with your Teacher to present your PowerPoint using an LCD projector.
  • Display your sketches in the gallery-walk area designated by your teacher.

~Present your product to your class. Use the scoring tool to peer-assess your classmates' work. Remember to take notes on the various costume styles as your classmates present their information.

Reflection: Think about a TV show, movie, or play that you have seen that depicts a particular time period. How authentic were the costumes used in this production? Use the information provided by your classmates and the information that you gathered during research to justify your response.

Be sure to support your BCR with details from the research presentations.

  • Which facts about other costumes that were presented by your classmates were most useful and interesting to you?