Positions in Fashion

CostumeDesign1.html

Costume Designer's Goals

Costume design is the most personal aspect of design. The costume designer must create clothes for characters that, on the one hand, reflect the ideas and goals of the play, but, on the other hand should look like the character chose the clothing in the same way you choose yours every day. Similarly, because we all wear clothes but probably do not design houses, audiences and actors will make strong, personal associations with what a character is wearing on stage.

The costume designer's goals are similar to the set designer's goals. These goals can be broken into five categories: costumes should help establish tone and style, time and place, and character information, and costumes should aid the performer and coordinate with the director's and other designers' concepts.

Costumes give information on the tone and style of a play. They may look just like what we wear today, or they may look like what people really wore at the time in which the play is set. Both of these would be illusionistic costuming. On the other hand, costumes might be representative of an idea in the play; for example, actors costumed in robes or unitards of various colors will establish a theatrical style. A different, stylized approach to costuming might also use some period elements mixed with contemporary dress; this would give the audience a flavor of a historical period without trying to create a full, theatrical illusion of another time and place.

Costumes tell us a great deal about the time and place in which a play is set. Dresses with an empire waist made of light fabrics in light colors place us in the early 18th century, such as in Jane Austin's novels. Blue jeans with bell bottoms and painted or embroidered with many bright colors tell us a character belongs in the late 1960's.

Costumes give us information on individual characters, on the relationships among characters, and on groups of characters. First consider your own wardrobe, and what you would choose to wear on a job interview, on a big date, to wash the car, or to come to class. What you wear says a great deal about who you are and about what you are intending to do. The same is true on the stage, but on stage we make even more associations with a character's clothing because we know it is specifically chosen for the play. If we see a woman on stage in a bright red dress, we will make associations with the dress's cut and color. For example, we might decide that the character is dressed for a night on the town. We might associate either passion and love with the red color, or perhaps blood and violence, or perhaps images of the devil. If other characters on stage wear subdued tones or cool colors, then the character in red will contrast with the other characters. On the other hand, other characters in shades of red will be visually linked the character in the red dress. Similarly, characters will be visually linked on stage if they wear clothing with similar silhouettes or colors.

The costume designer works closely with actors. He designs costumes for that specific actor's body as much as for the role the actor is playing. For example, if a designer had planned the red dress mentioned above for the central female character in a play, but the director casts a woman with orange hair and freckles, the red dress will no longer have the intended effect when worn by that actress. A more complimentary color will be chosen. Similarly, costumes can be used to enhance an actor's height, girth, natural coloring or to draw attention to any part of the actor. In the end, the actor must be comfortable wearing her costume: the work of the actor and of the designer can be undermined if an actor is uncomfortable in the clothing or does not know how to wear it and move in it correctly. For example, actors today must practice walking around in full length, hooped skirts or in a top hat and tails so that the character can appear to the audience to be comfortable in such clothing.

Finally, the costume designer must support the director's concept and must work with the other designers to create a coordinated visual effect.

Costume Designer's Tools

Like the set designer, the costume designer has two sets of tools: the elements of visual design and the practical material needed to create costumes.

As discussed in the last chapter, the elements of visual design are line, mass, composition, space, color, and texture. The costume designer uses the design elements somewhate differently from a set designer. The first important element of a costume is its silhouette, which combines its line and mass. Silhouette is the fastest way to identify the time and place of a period costume. Silhouette also tells what parts of the body are emphasized, hidden, or displayed by the clothing. Contrast a Restoration woman's silhouette with a woman dressed to go out today: the Restoration woman wore an enormous skirt with underskirts and panniers to increase its mass yet wore a bodice with an extremely low, wide neckline; the woman today might wear a mini skirt, heels, and blouse emphasizing the length of her legs. The Restoration woman would never show her legs, while few contemporary women would dare wear a Restoration neckline.

A costume designer considers composition on several different levels. She composes a single costume, she creates a composition of a single character over the duration of the play, and she composes how the entire cast should look when on stage together at any moment of the play. Usually a central character will change radically through the play's action (Oedipus blinds himself, Nora in A Doll House decides to leave her husband) and the character's successive costumes should show the character's evolution. Factors that a costume designer considers when composing the costuming of the entire cast might include putting the leading characters in more noticable clothing, working within a restricted color pallette, or demonstrating relationships among characters through silhouette or color so that some look good and some silly together.

Space is less a factor for costume designers than set designers, because their canvas is always the human body. Color in costumes functions similarly to color in set design; it has its four properties, we associate certain colors with comedy versus tragedy or with other kinds of moods, and color must be used with less subtlety than in life to compensate for the distance between audience and actors.

Texture in costume is slightly different from set design. The first element of texture is in the fabric itself: satins are smooth and shiny while lace is light and highly textured and tweed is heavy and highly textured. On the stage, plastics, leathers, furs, feathers, and other materials may also be combined with fabric. Two dimensional texture is provided by the fabrics' patterns: paisley, plaid, and polka dots have a busy visual texture, for example. Many costumes are composed of multiple fabrics making up multiple articles of clothing plus accessories, making an elaborate visual texture.

Movement is an element of visual design only in art forms that move through time (video, film, theatre, kinetic sculpture) Costumes must move with an actor through space, and the amount of movement should reflect the character and action of the play. Light or loosely woven fabrics move more freely than heavy or tightly woven fabrics or than other costume materials like leather or plastic. Consider the Romantic ballerina's tea length tutu of gauze versus the armor worn in a Shakespearean history play.

Practical Tools

In a more practical sense, the tools of the costume designer are the fabrics or other materials out of which costumes may be created; the various methods of putting costumes together, such as sewing machines or hot glue guns; and the bodies of the actors themselves, because no costume will make it onto the stage without an actor in character in it.

Traditional Japanese Clothing and Accessories

Japan has a wide range of traditional clothing of which the kimono is the most well-known. The kimono is also labelled as the national costume of Japan and comes in many different types and accessories. Before WWII, most people in Japan wore kimonos and other traditional clothing every day, however, today you see them only on special occasions such as festivals, ceremonies, and weddings or in historical cities like Kyoto. There are various types of Japanese traditional clothing depending on the occupations, gender, and age of a person or occasions. In this article, we introduce Japanese traditional clothing and accessories.

Kimono

Kimono literally means a “thing to wear” in Japanese. Today, a kimono is worn only so often, mainly during special and formal occasions such as weddings, tea ceremonies, formal traditional events and funerals. There are many different types and styles of kimonos and appropriate style and color of kimono are chosen depending on the occasion and the person’s age and marital status.

The history of this traditional Japanese garment goes back to the Heian period (794-1192). Over time, people started wearing the kimono as everyday clothing and gradually layering came into fashion. By the Edo period (1603-1868), kimono making had become a specialized craft. During the Meiji Period (1868-1912), various foreign cultures heavily influenced the Japanese culture, clothes being also part of this. The Japanese government started to encourage people to adopt new (Western) clothing styles. Today Japanese people are wearing Western-style clothing and only wear the kimono for special occasions.

Components of a kimono

A kimono is traditionally crafted from handmade and hand-decorated fabrics, including linen, silk, and hemp. Materials such as polyester, cotton, and rayon are also often used nowadays. Decoration techniques include embroidery, painting and dyeing. Men’s kimonos usually have more subdued colors than a women’s kimonos, which is generally more colorful and has beautiful, rich patterns. A women’s kimono is accompanied by a wide belt called obi, which is often a piece of art in itself with gorgeous patterns and colors. There are various techniques for tying an obi and making a bow.

Kimonos were traditionally worn with 1 to 20 layers for fashion and warmth depending on the formality of the occasion, the social status of a person wearing the kimono and the season. These layers include a nagajuban, a simple robe that is worn under a kimono. People used to wear another layer of clothing between nagajuban and kimono called hiyoku for a formal occasion. Today, however, hiyoku is substituted by tsuke-hiyoku, which are partial double layers at the legs or collar that make it seem like you are wearing a hiyoku.

Types of kimono

There are many different types of kimono, especially for women, depending on occasions, the person’s age and marital status. The furisode or swinging sleeves is worn by unmarried women and girls, and has long sleeves. The furisode usually comes in bright colors and dramatic designs, and today most women wear it during the coming of age ceremony.

Girls wearing a furisode at the Coming of age ceremony

Yukata

The yukata is a casual version of the kimono popularly worn at ryokan and during summer festivals by both men and women. A yukata is traditionally made of cotton, and today sometimes it is also made of polyester. Because a yukata is worn without undergarments, it is lighter than other types of kimono. Though it is the most informal, the yukata is the most popular among Japanese kimono types, and you can see people wearing yukata not only during festivals but also in historical cities like Kyoto. Being a much cheaper alternative to the traditional kimono, a yukata is also a popular souvenir among tourists!

Yukata

The price of a kimono

The price of a kimono can vary greatly depending on the material used and decorations, the typical fee for a basic kimono starts at ¥20,000, with silk kimonos priced somewhere between ¥380,000 to ¥10 million. Luxurious silk kimonos with rich embroidery and/or painting can easily cost up to millions of yen. This is part of the reason why good quality kimonos are passed down from generation to generation. Today, many people also rent a kimono to wear at weddings or other formal ceremonies. Yukata prices range between ¥3,000 and ¥10,000 and are widely available. Many souvenir shops sell them, but also mainstream shops such as UNIQLO sell the traditional Japanese summer wear.

Haori & Hakama

Haori and hakama are, when worn together, a formal outfit for men typically worn by a groom during wedding, coming of age ceremony, and other big life events.

A haori is an overcoat worn on top of a kimono. In the past, haori were worn by men in battles to protect them against the cold. However, in modern Japan, haori are also used as a work uniform of those working in classical Japanese theater, or as an overcoat to be worn over yukata in ryokan. Women can also use haori over kimono.

Haori & hakama

Hakama

The hakama is a skirt-like pants worn with a kimono. The Japanese hakama were originally worn only by men such as samurai and people participating Shinto rituals. However, in the modern era women also wear them on certain occasions including a university graduation ceremony. A hakama is also worn by people working at a shrine, or when doing kendo (Japanese swordsmanship), kyudo (Japanese archery), aikido and other martial arts.

Happi & Hanten

A hanten is a short winter coat with cotton padding for warmth and a tailored collar. It was originally worn over a kimono or other garments for both women and men. It is similar to haori, however, in the Edo period wearing haori was restricted to certain social classes, while hanten were available to all.

Hanten

Happi

A happi is also a short coat but much more casual than the haori or hanten. Happi were originally worn by house servants as the family crest representatives. In the past, firefighters also used to wear a happi, the symbol on their backs would refer to the group to which they belonged to. A happi comes usually in plain colors, typically blue, with white, red, and black. Nowadays a happi is worn mainly during festivals, with the kanji for matsuri (festival in Japanese), printed on the back, and it often comes with a matching headband.

Fundoshi

The fundoshi is a comfortable and very traditional Japanese male undergarment, made from a length of cotton. Until WWII, a fundoshi was mainstream underwear among men in Japan, and there were several different types which were worn for different events, situations, and among different people. Nowadays, you probably only see fundoshi being worn at traditional festivals. Sumo wrestlers also wear a type of fundoshi called mawashi.

Fundoshi

Mawashi

Samue and Jinbei

Samue and jinbei are traditional relaxing clothes made from cotton or hemp, and are typically dyed with a solid color such as indigo, blue or green. They both come in a matching set of a top and trousers.

Jinbei

Samue

A samue was originally worn by Buddhist monks when they work, while the jinbei was used by townspeople for everyday use. Samue are often worn by farmers when working in the garden.

The samue and junbei look very similar to each other, but the crucial difference between the two is the pants. The trousers of the samue are long trousers up to the ankle, and Jinbei are shorts under the knee. The second major difference is that many of jinbei are knitted with yarn about the shoulder parts for better ventilation. The samue is worn regardless of the season, but jinbei is basically summer clothing.

Japanese traditional accessories

Kanzashi

When women wear kimono, they usually use kanzashi, hair ornaments, to complement their traditional Japanese hairstyles. The kanzashi has a long history and is still worn by many in modern times. When attending a formal event, many women will wear a kanzashi in their hair.

There are many types of kanzashi including Tama (ball) kanzashi, Hirauchi (flat) kanzashi, Yuremono (swinging) kanzashi, Musubi (knot) kanzashi, Tsumami (knob crafted) kanzashi, and Bachi gata (fan shaped) kanzashi. Hair combs can also be beautifully decorated and used as a hair ornament.

kanzashi

kazashi

Tabi

Tabi are traditional Japanese socks dating back to the 15th century. They are typically made of cotton and are worn by both women and men with footwear such as zori and sometimes geta when people wear kimono.

Tabi & Zori

Jika-tabi

They are a type of tabi but made of heavier, rougher material and often having rubber soles. While tabi are used as socks, jika-tabi are usually used as outer footwear like a pair of boots. They are used by construction workers, farmers, gardeners, rickshaw-pullers and other laborers.

Jika-tabi at the festival

Geta

Geta are traditional Japanese sandals that look like flip-flops. The most classic style of geta consists of one board of solid wooden base elevated with two smaller pegs. On the top of the shoe you will find the v-shaped strip of cloth known as the hanao. Oiran, high-ranking courtesans in the Edo period in Japan, wore tall, lacquered koma-geta or mitsu-ashi (literally “three legs”) when walking in a parade with their attendants.

Geta

Zori

Zori are traditional sandals that look similar to geta, and can be made of rice straw, cloth, lacquered wood, leather, or rubber. Women’s zori are always raised in the heel while men’s zori are always flat. Some beautifully decorated women’s zori are worn with kimono.

Women’s zori

Okobo

Okobo, also known as pokkuri, are the wooden platform sandals worn by young girls, women, and Maiko (apprentice geisha) in some regions of Japan. They are typically created from a solid block of wood, between 10 to 15 cm in size, and usually feature small bells tied to the underside of the shoe’s slope.

Okubo

Hachimaki

A hachimaki is a Japanese headband, usually made of red or white cloth. Japanese legend states that hachimaki strengthens the spirit and keeps you safe from evil spirits and demons. It is thought that the trend started with the samurai, who wore the headbands under their helmets to absorb sweat, and to keep the helmets in place during battle. Today they are worn as a symbol of effort or courage, especially by those in the military or by students in exam period, or at the festivals.

Hachimaki for Yosakoi Festival

Tenugui

The literal meaning of tenugui is hand wipe. A tenugui is a cotton towel that has been used by Japanese households since the 9th century. These multi-purpose cloths are used everyday as hand towels, dishcloths, and washcloths. They are typically about 35 by 90 centimeters in size, plain woven, and almost always dyed with some pattern, often they have such beautiful and colorful designs, people also use them as a headwrap or head band. They are sometimes even used as decorations and hung on the wall like tapestries.

Japanese traditional clothing and accessories are an important part of Japanese culture. Some of the traditions are already centuries old and people take great pride in wearing the appropriate attire for certain events. When you are in Japan, you will have opportunities to find people wearing the different items, especially when you visit the more traditional or touristic areas. You can also purchase at specialty shops, but be aware that these can be surprisingly expensive. When you are looking for a great souvenir or just for a option try on some of the traditional Japanese clothing, look for the many kimono rental shops. At the tourist spots like Kawagoe, Kamakura, Gion district in Kyoto or Asakusa in Tokyo, you will find many different options for kimono rental, some even including photoshoots or tea ceremonies!

Happy traveling!

Positions in Fashion

The general duties of an account manager include costing products, researching the market, negotiating prices and deliveries and briefing designers on the requirements of the customer. In addition to these tasks, an account manager is expected to have a good level of commercial awareness gained through competitive shop visits and keeping up to date with reading material, for example trade press, to develop the business.

Developing and maintaining a broad base of suppliers is essential in this role, as a successful relationship between supplier and account manager can be vital. Effective communication is essential to this relationship, as is a sharp eye for using the right supplier for the right product area. A good account manager should not be afraid, however, to continually explore new supplier opportunities to get the best result for their customer.

As an account manager, you will be expected to use negotiation effectively using your natural ability to influence internal and external parties. You will be able to work within a team, offering support where necessary, but also be able to work on your own initiative and prioritise your own workload. A successful account manager will be self motivated and able to motivate and inspire others as well as being highly driven and able to work under high pressure to meet deadlines.