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Portfolio
The Matchmaker
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Final
Irene Molloy
Being the witty businesswoman she is, Irene Molloy had to be put in something classy, yet elegant. Because she stays in one costume for the entirety of the show, I looked for a dress that could double as a walking/business dress as well as a dinner dress. I decided on blue because it reflects her character's willingness, yet confidence towards the world and adds a sense of maturity to the look. She also needed a High collar small jacket over her dress, to remind the audience that she is professional. Lastly, I opted to add pink detail to her hat in order to reflect her openness to love and liven the outfit.
concept
Dolly Levi
Dolly’s character is very confident and mature. This prompted Me to choose bolder colors for her with more details and a higher collar while staying true to the jewel tones which were more popular during the period of the play. I also added a more sophisticated feathered headpiece to express a higher status and make her outfit seem more lively in accordance with her personality.
Concept
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Horace Vandergelder
Out of all costumes in The Matchmaker, Horace Vandergelder was by far the most complex. He appears in Act I in his white dress shirt and pants, as well as his black shoes. Shortly after though, he changes into his lodge uniform, which consists of a band jacket, band hat, and navy pants with gold stripes down the sides. He also sports a sword in rouge and gold sash as described by Thorton Wilder. In Act II, Horace looks quite different, and much more colorful. He is in a plaid green pant suit with a bright purple bowler hat. Thornton Wilder describes his suit to be "too bright", so I knew I had a lot of creative liberty with the suit. Thornton Wilder gave room for imagination for Mr. Vandergelder, but we did not want to ruin his ideal vision of the show, so we followed the suit descriptions as best as we could.
Cornelius Hackle
As a lower-class male in his thirties, I felt that Cornelius’s clothes should resemble his status as well as his personality. in Act I I stayed true to the period based on what a person of his class in his line of work would typically wear. For the remainder of the show, I believed an outfit which seemed put together with details left undone would be fitting. I chose a suit with a more mature pattern and color suitable for his age. I opted to leave the suitcoat slightly oversized and leave pieces of the outfit undone, such as the bowtie, to correspond with his status and “Free and easy” personality. These mis matched items were also fitting considering his naïve view of the world therefore making him naïve to the flaws in his presentation connecting his costume with the comedic aspect of the play.
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Malachi Stack
For Malachi's costume design, I took into account his flexible morals. As very complex character, Malachi Stack was perfect for a mixed patterned suit and vest as well as an accent tie. Overall, I was going for a costume that appeared to look as though he "threw it on" while still matching to express an attempt to look presentable.
Flora VanHuysen
Mrs. Van Huyssen is a sophisticated yet eccentric, hopeless romantic. Given her dramatic and extravagant personality as well as her status, I had initially intended to put Ms. Van Huysen in a darker green dress to express maturity with a high collar, poofy sleeves, and dramatic feathers to add a dramatic effect. after getting to know the character and discussing with the director, I opted to put her in a light pink as it is associated with Romance. The lace and floral detail soften the look while adding a touch of maturity. These lace details and the puffed up sleeves also allude to the extravagant and detailed décor in her house which resembles her unique and quirky personality.
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Final
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Concept
Minnie Fae
As a young, naive female, I felt Minnie's character would be best reflected by a shorter pink dress to express youth and innocence. I also felt that the ruffles on the dress would add an element of innocence to the look. I knew Minnie Needed to be put in a hat but felt that a larger more detailed hat would be inappropriate considering her age and status, so I chose a pink hat with minimal accents to compliment her dress.
As costume designers, we were focusing on two main aspects of play, The Matchmaker, by Thornton Wilder: The author's image and character reflection. During the design process, we took great care to choose colors and styles for each unique character, as well as referencing the time period and making sure all features were accurate to the era. While we took many creative liberties when designing The Matchmaker, there were a few important guidelines in the script we respectfully followed. An example of this would be Horace Vandergelder’s lodge uniform in Act I. Wilder states that he “puts on a scarlet sash, a sword, and a bright colored coat.” When designing using such specific details, we took them all into consideration while adding our own touches as well.
The process of designing the costumes for the matchmaker was challenging as I collaborated with my co-designer, Reaghan Genest, attempting to stay true to the period and Thornton Wilder’s vision while simultaneously expressing the character through their clothing and accessories. Throughout the process we were able to get to know the characters and learned how aspects of clothing may represent certain aspects of the character and the show as a whole. We were also able to express our creativity during the process of adding and altering details such as the handmade details on Mrs. Molloy’s hat. The matchmaker is an exciting yet meaningful play which was a pleasure to design and taught us the importance of detail and the relationship between the character and the costume.
Costume Plot
assembly
Process
production meetings
Measurements
