Waltzing with Sugarplums

Last month I signed on as wardrobe assistant for December production of the W11 School of Dance. I saw it as a way to keep me busy once classes ended, and a great step back into Theatre. It was brilliant! Plus a great way to get my early Christmas fix, and what better way than the Nutcracker? 

And bonus: they asked me to customize the top worn by the Nutcracker himself! It was great, knowing my work would be seen by a live audience at the Bloomsbury theatre. They gave me a basic aqua blue top to work from. At first, going with the theme of the ballet being set in the 1920’s, I originally planned something more avant garde. It was a race against time to finish the final piece before the dress rehearsal (like I said, the past two weeks I’ve had no life).

The trick with ballet costumes is that they’re so grounded with traditional, but then again they have to be functional. Because the Prince and Clara did a lot of lifts during the second Act, I had to consider any trimmings could be pulled off. We wanted something regal, noble, and complimenting Clara’s white costume. So we went with a brilliant trim, and some white gems I found to give it that extra glitz. I was really flattered that the dancer, who’d brought the top he’d worn at the National Ballet when playing the role, chose my jacket over his own to wear for the performance! And though the costumer inside me would have gone to town on this project, sometimes it’s better to stick to the basics. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right?

Another interesting task of my duties-sewing the prima dancers into their tutus. For every performance, I had to hand stitch these girls into their tutus to hide the clasps, then cut them out and sew them back in again during the interval. And oddest thing-I used dental floss! Yep, dental floss actually made the stiff bodices of the tutus hold together with a simple herring bone stitch than thread. Plus it made my fingers a lovely minty smell!

The whole week backstage was lovely-the children were sooooo adorable! By the end, I was already offering for any upcoming productions. 

Front Row at Peter Jensen at the V&A

First, gotta apologize for keeping such a low-profile the past couple of weeks. But to say my life had taken a mad turn would be an understatement. I’ve been holding down three jobs-which was good, since it provides distraction to me mourning the end of my styling course. But seriously, this is the first free day I’ve had in two weeks. 

To keep up the aura of my busy fusion into the industry, thought I’d do an entry on attending an actual fashion show. Heck, I even had front row seats! Though I had the weird feeling something was missing-like I should have been wearing some shades or holding a munchkin sized dog.

The V&A is an amazing location for fashion shows in the vast galley! But Peter Jensen certainly clashed in the setting surrounded by old tapestries with his bubbly summer collection. the backdrop for the show looked like a wacky mix of collage and nostalgia. His designs were whimsy and playful-even the models seemed to be playing dressup, wearing obvious wigs over their hair, more like hats than substitutes. Me and Lea were flashing away the whole time. We even had front row seats-and yes, I know-will never be the same again! 

I have a lot of ideas, though, for future projects. Ever since the Britpop shoot, I'm intrigued by the idea of fusion, of mixing clashing themes together-hot and cold, childish and sexy, natural and machine. 

My favorite design was a lilac dress with a bias hemline for a gathered skirt. The way the model carried herself, it just demanded attention.