Period Costume for the Stage: A Practical Guide

by Tina Bicat

Period Costume for the Stage is an invaluable guide to using basic costumes and modern clothes to recreate the styles of the past. Each chapter offers a brief insight into the political or social movements that influenced the design ideas of a particular century or era; it then moves on to explore the ways in which the period can be represented in costume on the stage. Topics include principles of making basic costumes and adapting them for historical plays; clothing for men, women, and children; practical and simple ways to suggest the class and status of characters; ideas for using accessories to suggest the essential shape or form of a period costume; and simple but highly versatile patterns that can be adapted to create specific effects. Tina Bicât is a well-known costume designer for theater, film, and television; she has worked for The Royal National Theatre, the English National Opera, and The New York City Ballet.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina Bacat (author of many arts books) does a great job of going through each era in terms of dress, terminology, practicality, and all of the essentials of dress through medieval period to modern day.
Each section is categorized with each piece of clothing for men, women, and children and features pencil illustrations of historical looks.
She does also mention each gender's prominent hairstyles as well.