[Mistress]

What has been your favourite and least favourite costumes that you've seen an actor or yourself or a friend, etc, wear in any production, musical or not?

My favourite costume was one I saw in a picture of 1970's production of Antony and Cleoppatra at Stratford on Ontario. It was worn by Cleopatra, Australian actress Zoe Caldwell. It was a beautiful outfit, all jeweled at the top with an absoulutely georgous headress, all colourful like, like something Elizabeth Taylor would have worn in the film, and not really tacky in any way. I can't find a picture of it right now, which really bugs me.

My least favourite was this odd contraption one of the characters (I forget his character and name at the moment) wore in last year's production of Merchant of Venice also at Stratford. The costumes were supposed to be a blend of Elizabethan and modern, so this guy was basically wearing a gold doublet thing with matching gold Addidas shoes and a grey hoodie, unzipped. It looked really odd.


What interesting and atrocious costumes haver you guys seen?

[disneybeauty]

My favorite costumes have been my Spanish Chocolate tutu from a production of the Nutcracker, and my replica Bolshoi tutu that was made for me while I was in college studying dance. I also loved my red slip that I wore during Too Darn Hot in Kiss Me,Kate. I was at m pro dancing weight and felt terrific in that little read costume.
My least favorite costume would have to be the gold dress I wore in the opening of Kiss Me Kate. It was sooo itchy, I couldn't get out of it fast enough. Anouther least favorite that I just remembered was from a modern piece I was in. They were supposed to look like old-fashioned bathing suits, but they ended up ooking like rejected bike-tards. Not pretty.

[PappyCat]

Most Favorite Costume - I loved my once Upon a Mattress costumes. I think my favorite was my Spanish Panic costume.




Least Favorite Costume - My least favorite was this one I wore in one scene of "A Lady Named Jo." It was a blouse, tucked into a skit. Fat girls with tucking = insta-unattractive. I looked around for a picture, but I'm pretty sure I didn't let anyone take any!

[disneybeauty]

I totally forgot one of my favorite costumes! I loved my Belle costume that I wore while I worked at Disneyland. I could be having the worst day, but being in that dress and seeing the kids' reaction would get me in a great mood. (Plus people telling you yo're pretty all the time didn't hurt )

My least favorite Disneyland costume had to be Winnie the Pooh: I got beat up twice that day by guests in the park.

[mizzie]

Costume from hell...

I'll only link...if you choose to look...that is your choice...

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v75/244/28/1650300002/s1650300002_1169_1018.jpg
A pink, ugly flamingo costume.

Pretty fabulous costumes...(also linked so I don't eat the page):

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v75/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_1303_3074.jpg
Pirate costume from Peter Pan.

http://photos-002.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v65/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_651_8389.jpg
Southern hick for Man Woman Flower.

http://photos-002.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v149/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_4116_316.jpg
My new Philosophy costume.

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v49/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_97_3719.jpg
Sparkly Cabaret costume.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v194/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_6260_8286.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v215/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_6315_4810.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v194/244/28/1650300002/n1650300002_6288_7041.jpg
Upcoming Dolly dresses.

I'll stop now.

[wicked_diva]

I loved all my costumes for Into the Woods (I was the Stepmother). I got to wear a corset, and bloomers, and like 2 petticoats, and a giant bonnet, and a ballgown, and some great skirts. I wish I had pictures of them...

I also loved my Silly Girl costume:


As far as worst goes, I hated my costume for Lysistrata, which kind of looked like a bright blue bag, belted around the middle, and the napkin head I had to wear sucked for Beauty and the Beast.

[wicked_boy]

I love Glinda's bubble dress and her Thank Goodness dress from Wicked.

I love my brown trouser in Annie.

I hated my fat belly in Wizard of Oz.

[Elphaba22]

I loved my dominique costume for Lucky Stiff, It was a silver poufy short skirt and a black corset top, a huge black boa, fishnet tights and a red garter and headdress with feathers and jewels all over them.
When I did circus, I loved my Spanish Web costume, it was a white sparkly jumpsuit thing, except the bottom cut off at mid-calf and there were no sleeves (like it was like a tank top at the top) and they had velvet thingys that hung off the costume. I was extremely skinny and fit then, so being in skin tight white material didn't bother me, and I loved circus performing, so i guess that's just a good memory.
I HATED my Mystery of Edwin Drood costume, it involved 3 floor-length skirts, and a long sleeved, tight, itchy, high necked victorian top.

[ChrisFitzpatrick]

...

I win.

[Amber]

^Ahem. You forgot the shoes.

[ChrisFitzpatrick]

[Amber]

haha, i think I forgot the right one and gave you two lefts, if my memory serves me correctly.

[MaryMag]

this costume is my favorite of all time because it did the most to boost my character on stage. it was perfect for my interpretation of midas' daughter in metamorphoses. all too often, costumes are thrown together on a low budget out of necessity so that actor is not naked instead. this was a rare occasion where the costume enhanced the role stupendously.



I played her as very innocent, like with big blue eyes that could break your heart, so the white was perfect. Also, Midas is rich, and the dress is nice and poofy and actually looks like a prima ballerina outfit for a 4 year old, so it looked perfect- like Midas thinks he can love his daughter by giving her expensive clothes and toys. But I rolled around in it and blew my nose in it and that demonstrated that I didn't pay attention at all to the nice things he bought me, I just wanted him. That costumer was brilliant in all her metamorphoses stuff.


worst costume ever was as fritzie in cabaret. there's not even a picture of it. cuz the director abhorred them and all the kit kat girls had to run out and find their own costumes the week the show opened. so we ended up with old lingerie from goodwill, which was FAR better than the neon crap (that covered me ankle to neck like I was Amish) that the costumer originally intended for me.

[ConverseSneaker]

The worst costume piece ever? Definately my Oil Can Hat from Beauty and the Beast. I was an Oil can for Be Our Guest and Human Again and while the costume idea rocked (a simple gold dress with beauty pagent tie thing that said Oil) the hat was made of styofoam and covered by a grey cloth. It was tied to my head with elastic and choked me when I tried to sing.

The best....I don't think I've had that perfect costume yet. My Silly Girl dress was pretty nice...it was the first costume I've had made for me exactly and I loved the petticoat and the dress I wore for Little Red was perfect for her. It was a knee length dress with a full, swingy skirt, dark green calico with red strips in the skirt.

[NoOneMournsTheWicked]

My 'West Side Story' costumes were pretty nice- mainly because they were raided from my mom's closet...





...unlike the costume I had to wear for our 'Joseph...' scene in the musical revue I was in, which came from the school costume closet. (Guy in the picture is my BF, long before we were dating)

[shakalakababy]

Haha i usually hate my costumes, but i've had a few good ones


i liked my urinetown one, but i generally like those tattered sort of costumes, they're just fun to wear heh. And I like wearing two different converse (Little Becky Two Shoes), most didn't notice them though.




Antigone, leather jacket, toga, and some fierce boots? What else could one need.


My baby with the bathwater one was pretty bad but i was supposed to be a homeless crazy lady so i guess it worked.




All my bad ones were mostly from when i was little. I remember in this summer camp show all the little kids had to wear these horrible brightly colored lacy jump suits, mine was bright blue.

I also got some pretty bad ones in ballet, this was my chinese dancer outfit from when i was a kid in the nutcracker, we all hated these more then anything. And yeah i was a chubby kid, lol

[EponineMNFF]

I think my favorite costume ever was my Our Town costumes. They were really period and really helped me get into character. Plus, they made me feel really pretty. ^^

My Brooker costume for Nicholas Nickleby was also fantastic. I had all of these layers--shirts, vests, coats, hats, etc. but it wasn't hot at all. It looked really great and really helped me get into character.

I don't know what to think about my Seussical one. I'm proud of it, but it's pretty horrendous. Then again, that's kind of the point. I think it fit the show--and it was definitely the best in the show. They said we can either search their supply for a good costume or make it ourselves. Being the nerd I am, I made mine myself.



My costume for Bat Boy was kind of ugly. The sweater completely clashed with the dress, but that was a choice the director and the costumer made, and I really liked it. I ended up adoring that costume. [I'm second from the left]



I think my least favorite costume of all time was for the second time we did The Little Prince. We had these black dyed pants that we all had to wear, except they were kind of see through, so we had to wear our own leggings under them. And then we had to wear turtle neck shirts or leotards on top. Awful. Oh, and we had to have black gloves for ensemble times when they wanted us to blend into the background. Oh and we had these little scarf things that went over our faces. The worst part of those costumes was the smell. We ran the show for two weeks in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer and were given a tiny bag to put all of our accessories in. So imagine keeping your jazz shoes and your gloves, pants, shirt and flashlights that we kept in our pants (long story) in a tiny plastic bag for two weeks. AWFUL SMELL. Awful. I was gagging by the end of the fun!

[Beagle On Stage]

I had a love/hate relationship with my Cogsworth costume in "Beauty and the Beast."

It sucked because I was built into this stupid corset fitted with plywood that created the clock shape, and it had this brown thing accented with white English lace that went over it. And it was really difficult to change out of when I turned back into a human. (It seems like you have time, but really Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumiere only have about two and a half minutes to completely transform. Babette and the Wardrobe get another 45 seconds. Even with a dresser, it was always a push.) The whole thing was so frumpy and uncomfortable, and it limited motion insanely. I couldn't bend my knees because of the plywood, so I spent the whole show on my feet. We all faced that limitation of course, but even the wardrobe could fall straight back on a couch to rest her legs. The best I could do was leaning a shoulder against a wall. Also, the 28-inch swinging pendulum behind my door looked like a penis!

At the same time, it looked wonderful onstage, and obviously such a huge part of the show is seeing the characters dressed as teapots, clocks, etc. So it's a necessary evil that is totally worth it. But I despised that thing.

Same thing with when I was Matthias in the "Redwall" operetta. It was very magical and I looked just like he does in all the merchandise...but it's a very physically demanding role, and there were several times when I wished I wasn't dressed in faux fur, complete with paws and ears, from head to foot, with a homespun habit over it. On top of all of that, I had to fly, so I had the harness underneath, which can really be rough on your balls.