Jagged Little Pill

One of my goals from Part 3 of my honors project (based on Old Times) was to arrange my work so that I wasn’t as stressed at the end of the process.  While I wasn’t able to front-load my work as much as I would have liked, due to my fabric order being delayed by a week, I did manage to work on the dress substantially in the days leading up to the project.  This allowed me to focus on the final details on the project due date and ultimately lead to a better final product.  The overall process of this section was a lot of “hurry up and stop”, meaning that when I had ideas and materials I spent a lot of hours working, but I also had gaps within the process where I ran out of inspiration or didn’t have the materials I needed to continue forward.  The hardest part of the process was actually creating the final rendering, as I kept changing my mind about the different details I wanted.  It led to the final rendering being done much later than initially anticipated, but it was worth it.  The final rendering is the best rendering I’ve ever made, and goes to show how this project has significantly increased my costume design skills.  My favorite part of the project was when I first put on the full dress and walked onto the stage to take photos.  It was magical to finally see all of the hard work pay off, and to get to take photos with the fabulous scenic design.

When I first began working on this design, I didn’t know how to approach the some of heavier themes of the show.  It’s a fantastic show with beautiful, heart-wrenching lyrics that display the pain, addiction, racism, trauma, and sexual assault that happens day in and day out in our country, but it also shows the hope, healing, and strength that we can find in our faith and in those around us.  I wanted to create a design that addressed both the good and the bad, the hidden secrets and the truths that are then revealed.

The main dress is a red satin fit-n-flare, which draws inspiration from contemporary prom dresses and highlights the youth of many characters within the show.  The top of the bodice includes red beading with a cross in the center, as the show leans heavily into Catholic and Christian themes.  The red beading circling the arms is purposefully not tacked down to any materials, so that the wearer has to constantly adjust them, like how people (especially teenagers) are constantly shifting and adjusting to the world around them.  The bottom of the fit-n-flare contains gold vinyl quotes of the show.  These are the quotes that have stood out to me as the secrets that each character holds and the reality of what each character wants.

The black organza hood and overskirt, then, hide the reality that the show quotes on the fit-n-flare reveal.  They represent the lies that each character tells to protect themselves from reality, to hide who they really are inside.  The hood hides one’s face, where emotions could be easily read if it wasn’t hidden, and the skirt hides the words that would otherwise be easily understood. But these lies are fragile, as they are sheer and see through.  Within the show, everything comes crashing down when MJ goes to the hospital for an overdose and the family is forced to confront each other and accept who they really are.  This leads to my favorite part of the design: the hood and overskirt are fully removable, so the wearer of the dress can choose to shed the lies and deception to reveal the beautiful truth on the red fit-n-flare underneath.  This design, and show, are a testament to how vulnerability and faith can lead to something stunning.