Costume Development

In theory

Whilst I was writing my script, I found myself thinking about how my characters would look. I imagined:

- Charlotte in a larger dress, with bright colours such as red or blue, to show that she is a wealthy woman and wears what many woman of her status (upper class) would have worn within the period. I did consider her to have worn veils and gloves but I think she is too honest for such add-ons. I also think she would have a favourite dress and tries to remain simple.

- Tess in a muted coloured dress (beiges and creams) as she is not the main character and is slightly below Charlotte in terms of wealth. I also imagine her dress to be more slim and less large or full as Charlottes.

- Johnson in formal wear yet, seemingly, casual. This means no tailcoat or jacket – just a waistcoat and shirt to show that he is slightly unhinged (especially in the final scene). To be contextually relevant, though, I will have him wearing a cravat instead of a tie.

- James should have two different outfits. For Butler, he should be in a white shirt and black bow tie as this is the wear of an archetypal butler and the audience will get it immediately. For James, I would like him in a beige top and trousers to imply a sense of simplicity and austerity.

In practice:

In terms of my male characters, I had no problem sourcing their costumes as I simply found items of mine or friends clothing that fit the specification (such as 100% cotton shirts), so my male characters ending up looking how I described above (or close enough to).

As I do not have a costume budget, I went into my schools Drama departments stock to see what type of dresses I had to work with for the girl characters. These were my top selections:

It seemed instantly obvious to me that this dress (on the right - red and green) was the perfect dress for Charlotte to wear as it felt opulent yet humble enough for her to wear. I also felt that the dress was innocent, due to the floral pattern, yet strong due to the green paneling over the top. 







For Tess, though, I had more options: 

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As I wanted Tess to less opulent than Charlotte, and more hard working, I found that all of these options would be wearable. However, I very quickly discarded 1 and 2 as they were not complete dresses and were either broken or too short for the era. I also discarded 3 quickly as I felt it was rather peasant girl, and the early 18th Century didn't have many peasants and even the servants wore cleaner outfits with more detail. Eventually, I chose the beige patterned one (the one on the left) as I felt it was the most in keeping with my eras and characters modest tendencies. It was also not as colourful as 4, which means the dress isn't going to distract the viewer from the more important dress - Charlottes. 

I also found these two  black capes and covers: 

  

As I will be shooting outside, these capes will add to the effect of my characters being cared for and rural. The longer black cape would also be effective for Charlotte to wear when adventuring into the woods as it implies a sense of secrecy and mystery. She is, after all, committing a very serious crime within the period.