Theatre Design - Costumes

Course

How is a stage costume born? What are the characteristics of a costume for a ballet, a prose show or an opera? From the design of the sketch to the tailoring, the course helps to discover the techniques for the representation of a dress, from the most traditional to the most innovative. The student will also be allowed to understand the complex technique of making a pattern, not only with traditional methods but by taking a look at the most innovative technological systems that support its activity. The modern laboratory of the Politecnico will also allow to create one’s own costume but the path will be enriched by visits to theatrical tailors, companies that supply theaters, film productions and the most important fashion houses with precious fabrics. Professionals will meet who will explain the production phases of a costume, from cost estimates to fabric sampling up to the choice of accessories, then hats, shoes, jewels or wigs, who makes for the entertainment world and with what materials. Students will be able to attend scheduled shows and talk to those who have always practiced the tailoring profession with passion, to discover the secrets of an artisan world that approaches and refers to the industrial world of design and fashion, as the history of costume teaches over the centuries.

Some numbers

Didactics

Attendance

Course attendance is 80% obligatory.

Training objectives

Tailoring is not the only aspect of costumes for the show that should be considered, as it is actually only one of the components that make up the costumes. The course aims to introduce the accessories that make up the total costume such as wigs, jewellery, makeup, footwear, headwear and their development as well as aesthetic, functional and cost aspects that must certainly be considered in the design and production phases.

Direct contact with companies gives students insight into the steps that enable the idea drawn by the costume designer, director or choreographer to be implemented for each component of the costume. They will observe directly how the various production departments interact and what techniques and costs are used to “produce” an idea. Starting from a vintage pattern, course participants will also produce a costume in the workshops provided by the Politecnico di Milano that will later be further creatively developed through painting techniques, decoration, embroidery, dyeing or the application of handmade jewelry.

Didactic Modules

Introduction to the sewing machine

• Costume in history
• How a fabric is born, from thread to print
• Footwear for the show, from the pattern to production
• From an idea to the staging
• Opera in the World
• Preserving the costumes of Cerratelli’s theatrical tailoring
• How a wig is born for television, cinema, theater
• Realizing a theatrical costume from the pattern to the packaging
• The scene machine of Teatro alla Scala
• Decorative techniques for the costume and the realization of applications for the decoration of the costume
• Fabric sampling
• Graphic representation between tradition and technology
• Costume Accessories
• Software for fashion
• Visit to the companies
• Vision of shows with introduction by the protagonists

Title Released

At the end of the course will be awarded a certificate of attendance and Open Badge at the Course in Design for the Theatre – Costumes.

Admission

Requirements

The courses are aimed at graduates and non-graduates who have a basic knowledge of artistic techniques and / or technical drawing with interest in the world of theatre, music and dance. Admission to the course is limited to a select number of participants and is subject to a selection process that will be carried out via a direct interview with the teachers who will run the course.

Price

The course Theatre Design – Costumes costs € 1250 + VAT (22%).

Faculty

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