Costume: Fanciful, Historical and TheatricalAria, Mrs. (Eliza Davis)
History
Costume: Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical
Aria, Mrs. (Eliza Davis)
Costume -- History
Miss Marie Tempest, exploiting to perfection the sartorial possibilities
of _Peg Woffington_, made her first appearance in that play in a dress
of daffodil yellow with pointed bodice outlined with sable, the skirt
trimmed with sable, and a lace cap fitting closely to her powdered head.
She was amazingly hooped and paniered, and looked her most gorgeous in
the second act, in a dress of white satin flounced with silver lace,
profusely ornamented with ruches and rosettes of pink chiffon. A scarf of
silver tissue was draped across the front of the skirt, a knot of black
velvet decked the low bodice, and a fascinating little black feather
nodded on one side of the head.
Again, as Becky Sharp, Miss Marie Tempest showed her nice sense of the
fitness of things, gracing the historic ball on the eve of Waterloo in
pink chiffon with clusters of roses, and choosing a Court gown of Empire
tendency, made with a white satin train lined with cloth of gold, and
embroidered in a leaf design of gold, which also appeared across the bust
and on the hem of the chiffon under-skirt.
Yet Miss Tempest avowedly does not believe that the actress should
subordinate her personality in any way to a general scheme. Discussing
the question, she said: "I think that designers of theatrical costume as
a rule are altogether oblivious of the special requirements of individual
faces and figures. To the designer, it seems to me, the actress is merely
a note of colour in his general scheme. Only that, and nothing more!
I would urge that exactly the same kind of costume cannot possibly be
becoming alike to tall, majestic women and a little insignificant _nez
retroussé_ person like me! I cannot afford to have two or three lines
going across my figure and cutting me up into slices; nor can I have my
neck muffled and ruffled up to the eyes, and my shoulders loaded with
heavy cloaks, without feeling perfectly swamped and overwhelmed--and
looking it, which is worse! I always think," she concluded, "that a
woman ought to have a large share in the designing and arranging of
stage-dresses, for she can understand what is becoming far better than a
man. Small matters of detail are carried out better by women than by men.
And women, of course, have more patience and more perseverance."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account