Yesterday I left my computer and headed for Milton Keynes theatre. I attended a talk there about the costume department. I was hoping to see lots of costumes, but it was more a talk about the workings of the dept. That said, it was still incredibly interesting and there were a few costumes and wigs to look at. I had no idea that so much goes on whilst we are all watching a production. A lovely lady called Rachel, who has the official title of "Dresser", spoke about the in's and out's of getting actors and dancers on stage at the right time, in the right outfit and then helping them if they have a costume change during the production. Some changes have to take less than 30 seconds! They also have to wash garments and get them ready for the next show, make any repairs and replace any damaged items.
There were lots of secrets revealed too, like how to remove stains on costumes (baby wipes or vodka are good stain removers), the fact that most costumes are fastened with Velcro and the amounts of padding, hooks and body odour that has to be endured!!! Yuk!
