Overview

The Fabric of Performance: The Role and History of Textiles in Costume for Theatre and Film provides an overview of the narrative properties of textiles and how they have been utilised in the design and construction of costume for dramatic performance in Britain. The book explores how textiles can be used as a semiotic tool in the realisation of performance costume, subconsciously transmitting codified signs to the audience through the colour, pattern, weight, drape, texture and embellishment of the character’s clothing. The main body of the book encompasses a history of the design and implementation of textiles within costume for theatrical production, from medieval mystery plays, Stuart court masques and Shakespearean theatre, through to the work of innovative and significant practitioners who have created seminal costumes for twenty-first century performance. This is followed by a summary of the development of textiles in costume for film and television across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The final chapter documents the journey of the design and making of a costume from the perspective of the textiles used in its creation, investigating the work of the costume designer, costume supervisor, costume maker and textiles artist. Drawing on a broad range of visual, physical and literary sources, this text provides an original perspective and unique insight into the historical and contemporary role of textiles in costume for both live and filmed productions. The Fabric of Performance will be of interest to costume, textile, theatre and fashion historians, costume researchers, costume design and construction students and industry costume practitioners.

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9781032125374

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Author Information

Toni Bate is programme leader for the MA Costume Design & Making programme at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). Prior to this, she was costume construction lecturer on the Costume with Textiles degree at the University of Huddersfield and has experience of teaching costume at several other institutions. Toni’s previous publications have investigated the allegorical costumes of the court masque and morality plays, the contribution of the costume maker to the reconstruction of historical performance costume, the social history of costume making, the concept of the costume store as a living archive and the implications of using surviving historical dress as costume. Since graduating from Liverpool’s prestigious Mabel Fletcher course in 1994, Toni has also worked as a costume maker, tailor and wardrobe supervisor for theatre, film and television.

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