If costume design is not usually perceived as important an element in theater as direction or acting, it is nonetheless a critical component to any artistically successful production. Costume, in fact, and like the performers, must achieve a number of effects. To begin with, the costume must be functional in every sense of the word; the actor must be able to move in it, and it must be durable (Bowden). Then, and obviously, the design must work to enhance the identity of the character and simultaneously reflect the environment of the play or musical.
Certainly, period works require the designer to research the era and culture in question, to provide authenticity (AACT). This in itself provides a challenge, in that the designer must create in ways representing fabrics and styles of another age, while often using modern materials. Then, and while the designer usually works most closely with the actors and director, the nature of the design demands collaboration with set and lighting designers as well, in that all visual elements must work with one another to create a complete effect (Harvard). In short, costume design is a creative role that has as well many pragmatic challenges, but one that remains a vital and important facet of all theater.
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In a very real sense, the theatrical designer must walk a limited creative path. There are cases in the theater, and particularly in its past, when designers are given the freedom to dominate the show. This is typically true of spectacular musical revues, generally invented in America by Florenz Ziegfeld. There was no “character” for the designer to serve except a glorification of beauty, so Ziegfeld designers created lavish, larger-than-life gowns. It was ordinary in a Ziegfeld show for there to be 20 costumes changes for each girl (Hollander), and designers were encouraged to spare no expense or effort to generate a dazzling image.
This was design with a single purpose: overwhelm the audience with the most elaborate creations possible. This effect would be seen decades later in Florence Klotz’s extraordinary designs for 1971’s Follies; the media at the time, in fact, reported that the sheer extravagance of the costumes put the show over-budget. Showgirl gowns were literally adorned with musical instruments and towering headpieces with cherubs in them, and were so massive that special dressing areas were required backstage (Gans). Such excess, however, is not the norm, and the designer usually concentrates on representing the character through the design.
This focus on character nonetheless frees the designer’s creativity because, and once more reflecting acting, it is a matter of interpretation. Lucinda Ballard’s designs for the original A Streetcar Named Desire, for example, contrast the plainness of Stanley’s being, in his t-shirt and jeans, with Blanche’s idea of herself; Blanche “shimmers” in fabrics supporting her self-concept of Southern femininity and gentility (Barranger 254). At the same time, even a relatively minor aesthetic is important for designers and reinforces how their vision is unique as contributing to impact. Florence Klotz, for example, noted that there was always a “lady in red” in the shows she works on, from the short dancing dress for Alexis Smith in Follies to the hand-beaded gown on Glynnis Johns in 1973’s A Little Night Music. Her reasoning is basic; the eye always goes to red (Frommer, Frommer 228), so the female stars become all the more the object of attention.
This relates to the interesting account of producer Harold Prince regarding the original West Side Story of 1959. He had been upset that designer Irene Sharaff had created jeans for the dancers costing $75, when it seemed more sensible to just have them wear Levis. As Sharaff’s designs were gradually replaced by Levis, however, Prince realized that the originals, using multiple dyes and denims, had created an electric effect on stage that normal jeans did not, and the impact of the dancing was greatly lessened (Wells 37). This supports how the artistic contribution of the designer may have perspectives beyond those of the director. Ultimately, then, and even while focusing on serving the integrity of the play and the characters, the costume designer is very much an artistic force vital to the substance of any theater work.
