Costume Critique--Kai Langer on Ellen Degeneres

There are a couple of YouTube videos of an adorable Bruno Mars fan who comes on the Ellen Show and sings. He is a toddler, and he has some impeccable style for such a little kid. Ellen looks pretty good, too. Professional-looking menswear style. But this little kid looks pretty dope! And the fedora, he always has one, and the button up shirt and the vest--for some reason it is so cute to see little kids look like well-dressed adults. When my friend showed my one of the videos I thought it was so cute I nearly died, and then when I got home I looked up the rest of them and decided that it was worthy of a blog post.

 For designer...I am not certain but I am gonna say his mom dresses him. Is it right for the production?--absolutely!! Just look at him! The style is great for being on the show, and it seems like he is getting inspiration from his favorite singer, Bruno Mars. The clothes make him look cool and classy, while his personality makes him seem sweet and adorable. It's a pretty perfect mix. There is not a single out fit he wears that I don't like. I will remember this for someday when I have a little boy and will make him look as cute as this.



If you haven't seen the videos, I would suggest checking this one out--it is my favorite.

He got his first moment of fame from a video that his parents posted of him singing that went viral, and then the people on Ellen contacted them and invited Kai to come sing. Pretty cool!

He looks cute and very professional. And I just have to say that for a 4-5 year old kid he has a heck of a lot of confidence to be comfortable performing in front of such a large group of people, several times.

He actually got to sing with Bruno Mars, too. And it was very cool for them to work  it out that he would get to meet him. It really meant a lot to this little kid. And the outfit he wears when he sings with him is my favorite. He's a cool, well-dressed little kid.

 This is my favorite outfit of his because it is the most relaxed looking. He looks more casual in this--it's the denim jacket, I think--but still has that flair with his trademark fedora.

Alyssa's Lab Hours

Hi there!! So for Lab Hours this week I've been working on Miss Prism's costume! It went pretty well. I actually just finished it yesterday. The work I had to do on it was redo the waist on the skirt because it was WAY too big as it was, and add a snap to the back of it. The shirt she wears had a little issue of puckering, so I added some Velcro in between some of the buttons. Last week I put together the only piece of jewelry she wears, a cameo. It was broken so I had to hot glue a safety pin to the back. This was actually pretty fun because I got to be a little crafty with it. I also tried decorating her hat, but I ended up not liking the look, at least for her character, anyway. Sister Dooley suggested that I try baby's breath or something small, so I suppose I'll have to work on that. Overall, I am really happy to have all the big things done with this costume and get it over with. Miss Prism is a "dowdy" character, and her clothes match her personality. This costume wasn't as fun as some others that I have done, simply because there aren't as many fun fabrics or accessories.

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Mary Poppins: the wrap up

Overall I felt like I learned a lot from working on this play. And I had plenty of adventures, too. This was a great experience and I had so much fun getting to work with all of you!

I felt like my sewing skills and my confidence with sewing improved. This was from trial and error, as you see I broke the sewing machine so many times that I have lost count, but the final results have been worth it. And I am mostly saying that because it was Sister Dooley, not me, who fixed it almost every time. But I learned how to sew with thicker fabric, and I learned about making templates for when I have to cut and sew multiples of the same thing, and of course my adventure with plastic top hats. I really am thankful to have had this opportunity to work on this play.

SO many adventures. From exploring the costume shop, to creating costumes, to trying on funky hats, or even just singing Disney songs in class, this had been a great experience. Probably the most adventurous thing is going upstairs, though. You can always find something new. When I thought I had figured the place out I found the loft with petticoats and hoop skirts. Honestly, that place is always feeling new.

I am so thankful to have been able to play a part in creating such a wonderful play. And even though I didn't get to see all of it put together (I was sick that weekend and spent all my spare time resting), I know with all of the hard work everyone put in it had to have been completely fantastic. GO US!!


Also, I took some fun pictures on the camera that we had in the makeup room. That was really fun :)


What went well about this production?

All of the costumes looked extremely nice put together. Generally it was pretty easy to costume people, as most of the actors were men and they only required to be dressed in blacks/browns for sweeps and customers. There were some issues with the variety of sizes of people that we costumed, but it went quite well overall. It was also great to be able to put a bit of creativity into the women's costume. I think that women, aside from Bert, had more interesting/unique roles than men in this play.

Some of the artwork actors made backstage :)

What could have been done better?

We had some issues with organization. Although it wasn't as bad as it could have been, there is still room for improvement. We had some items go missing/get lost. Sometimes I had an item and I wasn't really sure what to do with it. I think having a clear place to put things would help eliminate some confusion. The racks are messy and hard to maintain. Keeping things organized in lockers as much as and as soon as possible might be the best situation for this. That way anything that is not in a locker is clearly separated from items that have already been assigned to someone.

Alyssa Asplund, My second overdue blog post

Here we go again!

For my lab hours I made these cool funky hats. They were originally just thin plastic top hats. The problems with them were that they were too shiny, and that looked really weird, and that if they got dented at all then it would be completely obvious. After thinking about it a couple of different ways, it became clear that the only effective solution would be to cover them with fabric. To do this I used black cotton and glue. I poked a hole in the center at the top of the hat and glued an oval of fabric down, and then clipped the overhanging fabric so that it could lay down neatly. Then I cut out some fabric for the sides of the hat and glued the ends to the side of the hat. It stayed pretty well. Then for the brim I realized that the glue took away some of the shine, and left a textured brush stroke where it dried. I thought this was interesting but not distracting, and I really didn't want to cover the brim because that would be more difficult, so I just went with the glue. I spent an entire class period on this plus a little lab time, for four hats, and boy was I glad when it was done! However, they weren' even used in the play anyway, so it was kind of a flop.

I also removed the buttons from the constable's coat and added on some fancy new silver ones. That was boring, and easy, and overall uneventful... And also took more time than I had anticipated. And apparently I didn't even do that great because one of them ended up falling off anyway. OOOPPS!

And sadly, I forgot to take pictures this week, so this post is picture-less. :( So much disappointment, I'm sorry.

WAY overdue blog post #1

Um, I don't exactly remember what I did the first week of the month... Yes that is how overdue this is and I am so sorry... Ok lets's see

I remember working on the dresses for Mrs. Corry's daughters, and I got a good start on those. I didn't actually finish them until later, and I had to redo one of them several times because I just couldn't get it right. But I finally did!

 I think Lauren and I started costuming Tapua, but then he had to leave early so we didn't actually finish.

Ummmmm.... At some point I was working on the neckerchiefs that the sweeps wore. I don't know if I mentioned that already or not.

I FINISH finished--as in actually finally completed--the costume for Ms. Lark. I was really happy with it overall, it looked fantastic if I do say so myself! I love how the overcoat laid over the bustle in the back like a fan. It was actually a simple adjustment, but had a great result. Of all the costumes I did, this one was my favorite.

And now it's picture time!!

Oh yeah, the feathers were an awesome piece in the costumes, and totally fun to play with, too :) As you can tell, by Taylor being so fabulous. And sister Dooley in the background like 'what are they doing....',

 And because I couldn't resist trying on the Mary Poppins hat, here we go! Honestly, I think everyone tried it on at some point, although I don't know if anyone else took a selfie... I just couldn't resist, ok?

So that about wraps it up for this post. Sorry for it being late and kinda scatter-brained, you can just get a taste of the randomness that this costume shop really is.

Costume Shop

The costume shop is a fun, messy, crowded place with lots of happy, interesting and exciting items. It is a unique environment with exciting and random people. And Disney references. What would the world be without Disney references?

Things that go on in the costume shop are always interesting.

Sometimes you find yourself stuck in the costume closet upstairs for who knows how long. Time is like a vacuum there. You forget what sunlight is. You forget what fresh air tastes like. If you're there more than an hour you risk forgetting who you are. Which is what nearly happened when we put away two whole racks of 'go backs'. I later had to revisit that place to search for *gasp* a hoop skirt. The worst part was I had to go back alone. I'm (mostly) just kidding. But I did get in and out as fast as I could carrying a hoop skirt.

I was extremely happy to finish my project of working on Miss Lark's costume, and it looks quite fabulous, if I do say so myself! However, I put the costume away before I remembered to take a picture of it, so instead, I give you the classy and sassy INGRID!!

Ingrid, the sassy constable. Don't mess with her.

For my next project, I worked on the dress for one of Ms. Corry's daughters. I might have made a slight mistake with it, and I might have broken a needle (again), but I blame everyone else for letting me sew, really it's their fault. So the dress is not done, I will probably have to fix it up next class period, but that's all right! Anyway, here it is!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Safe Haven Costume Critique

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So I kinda might've used this assignment as an excuse to watch a good chic flick, but why not? It was actually my first time seeing it all the way through, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic!

Anyway, on to the costumes.

First, let's start with the bad guy Kevin.

Yup, this not-so-charming rascal... Throughout the movie he wears black and gray and dark things. Overall, this really washes him out, as you can see. It helps to convey that there is something off about him, which isn't outright explained for a while, but the viewer is able to get a sense of this, and I believe that the costuming helps to contribute to his "offness". Even when we still know him as just a cop, he wears a gray shirt with his suit, adding to the dark motif, and something is always undone--his shirt is untucked, or his tie is missing, just SOMETHING.

And now my favorite character, Jo. Right off the bat something about her intrigued me. She talked about loving where she was, but I still got this sense that she wanted to get away, or that she really did not belong. One of the first things I noticed was that she wore a necklace, the only character in the whole movie to have a piece of jewelry, and she ALWAYS wore it. Another was that she dressed just slightly fancier than the other people of the town, despite professing to love having a simple lifestyle. Just all these little things that said she didn't belong, I was able to find reflected in her clothing. Turns out I was right and she didn't belong! But that's all I will say because I don't want to spoil anything.

Alex dresses comfortably and casually, usually jeans and a t shirt with rolled sleeves or a short sleeve t shirt. Lots of soft, light colors that reflect his easy-going nature.

Katie, the protagonist, goes through a costume change in the story. In flashbacks we see her in a tight knee length dress, and long dark hair. However, as you can see in the movie picture I posted above, she has short blonde hair. Clearly, it shows how she wants to cut off her old life, just as she did her hair, and feel light and clean. Also her style is much different. Instead of a tight, long, business-like dress, she wears loose shorts and comfortable shirts. Overall much more casual. This is reflective of her new, simple lifestyle. She doesn't wear much color, just neutrals, which I didn't like, but that doesn't match her very fun and upbeat personality.

My favorite outfit in this movie is the rare time that Katie does wear color, the red dress. She only wears it on the Fourth of July, and not even the whole day, but it is really cute.
I couldn't find a great pic of it, but luckily they put it on one of the movie posters.

See? Super cute.

Oh, and I almost forgot, to mention, the costume designer of this movie was Leigh Leverett, and the production designer was Kara Lindstrom.

Introducing the fabulous Alyssa Asplund!

Hello, I am Alyssa, and I am extremely excited to be working on costume design with you lovely ladies. Design in general is something I am very interested in, as I am a graphic design major (so far I am really loving it!), and I also really like fashion so I feel that this class will be extremely fun for me.

I adore Mary Poppins, always one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I saw Saving Mr. Banks, which brought me to tears. To be working on costumes for this amazing story makes me extremely excited, and I can't wait to spend time with you all and get to work!

I have some experience with sewing, as I took the sewing class last semester, and I thought I might share my final project with you (to the right). It was a lot of work, and took SO much time, but I was extremely relieved to have it done.

Some of my hobbies are reading, hiking, photography, and dancing (awkwardly and in an uncoordinated way). Now you've gotten to know me a bit, and I can't wait to get to know you better throughout the semester.