Costume Specialties & more...

Costume Designer Theoni V. Aldredge

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:20:42 +0000

Born 8/22/28 – 1/21/11 Theoni V. Aldredge was one of the greatest designers of our era. She designed costumes fro hundreds of theatre productions. The Greek-American costume designer trained at the American School in Athens and at Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Her first job on Broadway was in 1959 for “Sweet Bird of Youth”. For 20 years Theoni designed musicals for Michael Bennett and was Joseph Papp’s principal designer.

Her fabulous creations were in over 300 stage and film productions. Some of her work was the following:

Follies (2001 revival)
Annie, Three Sisters (both 1997 revival)
The School of Scandal (1995 revival)
Nick and Nora, The Secret Garden (1991)
Oh, Kay! (1990 revival)
Gypsy (1989 revival)
Chess (1988)
Dreamgirls (1987 revival)
The Rink (1984)
La Cage aux Folles (1983)
Private Lives (1983 revival)
Dreamgirls, Onward Victoria, Woman of the Year (1981)
42nd Street, Barnum (1980)
Ballroom, The Grand Tour (1979)
Annie (1977)
Threepenny Opera (1977 revival)
The Belle of Amherst (1976)
A Chorus Line (1975)
That Championship Season (1972)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Incomparable Max (1971)
The Only Game in Town, I Never Sang for My Father (1968)
You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running, Little Murders, Illya Darling (1967)
A Delicate Balance (1966)
Cactus Flower (1965)
Luv, Anyone can Whistle (1964)
I Can Get it for You Wholesale (1962)
The Best Man (1960)

She also did a number of costume designs for the following films:

The Mirror has Two Faces, The First Wives Club, Mrs. Winterbourne (all 1996)
Adams Family Values (1993)
Moonstruck (1987)
Ghost Busters (1984)
Annie (1982)
Can’t Stop the Music, Loving Couples (1980)
The Rose (1979)
Eyes of Laura Mars, The Cheap Detective (1978)
Network (1976)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
The Great Gatsby (1974)
I Never Sang For My Father (1970)
Last Summer (1969)

Theoni received the following awards:

2002 Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award from the Theatre Development Fund
2001 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Follies, nominee)
1991 Tony Award Best Costume Design (The Secret Garden, nominee)
1990 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Gypsy, nominee)
1984 Tony Award Best Costume Design (La Cage aux Folles, winner)
1984 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (La Cage aux Folles, winner)
1982 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Dreamgirls, nominee)
1982 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Dreamgirls, nominee)
1981 Tony Award Best Costume Design (42nd Street, nominee)
1981 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (42nd Street, winner)
1981 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Onward Victoria, nominee)
1980 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Barnum, winner)
1979 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Ballroom, nominee)
1979 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Ballroom, nominee)
1977 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Annie, winner)
1977 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Threepenny Opera, nominee)
1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Annie, winner)
1976 Tony Award Best Costume Design (A Chorus Line, nominee)
1976 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Trelawny of the Wells, nominee)
1974 Tony Award Best Costume Design (The Au Pair Man, nominee)
1973 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Much Ado About Nothing, nominee)
1973 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Much Ado About Nothing, winner)
1972 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Two Gentlemen of Verona, nominee)
1972 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Two Gentlemen of Verona, winner)
1970 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Peer Gynt, winner)
1961 Tony Award Best Costume Design (The Devil’s Advocate, nominee)

Costumes for Every Possible Occasion

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 07:38:10 +0000

Costumes have always been an important part of celebrating special occasions. Although Halloween has been the main occasion of dressing up in different costumes to celebrate the occasion, costumes are becoming more and more common for many occasions. Some of them we are quite familiar with and some of them we are not. Among other festivals where costumes are gaining importance is St. Patrick’s Day, the great Brazil festival, 4th of July and Christmas. The various types of costumes that are being worn on these days are really worth mentioning.

Let us start with the most common festival, Halloween. Halloween is a time for costumes and the variations that you see during this time are huge. It is not only kids who love to dress up in costumes on this day but the adults seem to enjoy the day with the same spirit if not more. This is the reason why the variety of costumes worn in Halloween is uncountable and simply mesmerizing. We can start talking about the variety in Halloween costumes from the kids section and then move on to the adult section and even after segregating them in these two broad classes we will not be able to talk in detail about the variations in costumes worn in Halloween.

With Harry Potter increasing in popularity and various superheroes returning to screen, you can very well imagine the scope of superhero costumes and Harry potter costumes during Halloween. Very recently with movies like Transformers being aired the kids are also opting for costumes that resemble the robot characters of the comic strip now “transformed” in to movie. The most common superhero costume that is quite famous with kids is the Spiderman costume. However, the traditional kid’s costume consisting of the witch, fairy and other fairytale characters are also quite famous. In recent times the zombie costumes are also becoming quite popular.

Among adult costumes you will find that pirate costumes have become very popular after the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. Other adult movie costumes include the Star Trek and the Star Wars costumes which have remained an all time favorite of many. Among these two, the Star Wars costumes have been more popular. Among adults the most popular superhero costume seems to be the Batman costume. This costume has been more popular among adults than any other superhero costumes. Couples costumes are also quite common among adults where you can get a couples butler and maid costume or a warrior couple costume. All these costumes are quite attractive and popular among adult couples. After the release of the movie “300”, the Spartan warrior costume has also become famous.

Apart from Halloween you also have other special events like the St. Patrick’s Day, where you need to dress up in something green. You have variations of green suits to green skirts and other variations of green dresses that make this day simply awesome. The green Leperchaun costume is the most common St. Patrick’s Day costume among both men and women. The adult female Leperchaun dress is quite appealing and bold in nature with themes of Leperchaun fairy and maids.

Another festival that boasts of colorful costumes is the great Brazilian carnival. In this carnival you would get to see the combination of vibrant colors as well as use of lots of feathers in the costumes. The female costumes used in this carnival consists of a use of lot of colorful feathers that makes it seem as if large colorful birds are moving down the street. Apart from the use of feathers, you will also find the use of skin tight dresses as costumes. The most common among them are the use of white and golden tights that the men usually wear during this carnival.

Christmas is another event that has become more and more colorful over the years with carol singers dressing up like elves. Moreover, we must also remember that this is time of the year when many dress up like Santa Claus not only to bring joy to kids but also for fun. This trend of dressing up like Santa Claus has increased over the years where you would find even kids dressing up like Santa to enjoy the essence of the festive season.

Apart from all the different festivals you also have several types of parties which are theme oriented, encouraging many to dress up in fancy costumes. Birthday parties are becoming theme oriented and it is a great entertainer for kids to dress up in their favorite superhero or cartoon character costume for a special birthday party. This increase in the popularity of fancy dress birthday parties have aught up very recently with most parents creating a special theme for their kid’s birthday. Whereas some of these are simple go as you like parties, some are specific like Harry Potter birthday theme or Spiderman birthday theme or Winnie the Pooh birthday theme.

Even adult parties have started using this idea of fancy costume parties where the invitees are required to attend the party in a special themed costume. These can range from fairytales to the Zorro theme. Vampire themes have also become quite common among the adult party themes. High school proms too are nowadays theme oriented where the students are encouraged to dress up as famous characters that they admire or like. This increases the fun quotient of a party by many times over.

Dressing up in fancy costumes is not only fun for kids but also fun for adults, and with the increases in the number of options that you now have for your parties the possibilities seem endless. This has increased the creativity of many artists and has also given a boost to the costume industry. With everyone aiming for perfection in what they are trying to create through their dresses the professionals of the costume industry is having a blast. The ideas seem endless in this sector and the costumes always seem to surprise and entertain everyone.

Thriller Costume

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:32:18 +0000

Let me just go on the record by saying, I have little doubt that Michael Jackson will be the #1 Halloween costume of the year 2009. To me, it’s a no brainer.

The passing of this immense talent was a shocker in some ways and in some ways not. THAT does not change the impact he made while he was here. Transcending to say the least.

A brilliant marketer if I do say so for “him”. He will forever be a Halloween Holiday. The Thriller video was nothing short of theatrical and engaging. A true masterpiece. After all he did get Vincent Price to do the voice narration.

Here is just one of many costumes we found online.
Thriller Halloween