Dear Hamletmachine (Dress 168)

Dear Hamletmachine,

Your aesthetic is more capitalist signposts than the mechanical post-industrial feel I thought we were going for. This would have been a nice bridesmaid costume if that had been the case.

The cogs in the middle are real cogs, and the rectangles are open to the skin.

All my love,

IP

Dear Sean (Dress 91)

Dear Sean, I remember once we were talking in the bookshop (where we both work) and you were saying, in that almost unbelievable accent 'ah cant understand how the maek yer study Beckett in school. Yer children fer god's sake- what the hell do you know?'
And i think you're almost entirely right!
(Which did not make this evening, centre row seats less than 10m from the stage any less magnificent.)

Thank Beckett (and my boyfriend) for a wonderful night,

(Rope around the waist, rope 'piping' on the top, which is twisted into a 'noose knot' and then 'splits' into the shoulder. Cotton and a black applique bowler on the bottom.) 

All my love,

Dear TINHamlet (Dress 85)

Dear This Is Not Hamlet, What an experiance. A show I really enjoyed being a part of, making something beautiful with gorgeous people of amazing skill and sweetness.
In memory of Yorick, the wax skull Tess (Horatio) brought in, who in the process lost his teeth and got a great many dints:

All my love,

Dear Ophelia (Dress 62)

Dear Ophelia,
I'm playing you in a production at uni, it's a slightly surreal production (when is Hamlet not?) and I'm really enjoying the rehearsal process- we're on in a week, so I will be really proud of myself if I manage to keep up the daily uploads- I'll still be designing every day, but the show finishes at 9.30 or thereabouts, which means I'll be home really late- and uploading may not happen on the day... We'll see....
We're not using real flowers in my biggest scene, the logistics of winter/isolated performance venue make it impossible, but if we were I would like to make a dress like this one for that scene.

(Dress Specs: Stamped silk-cotton blend.)

All my love,

Dear Suzie (Dress 57)

Dearest Suzie,
Monash University Student Theatre has a yearly artistic development festival (ADDfest). However, being so busy means I have only been able to attend a select few of the offerings -something I really regret, I've missed out on so much more the festival had to offer...- The writing debut of a dear friend of mine Izzy Roberts-Orr, a brilliant professional actor's panel, and tonight a showcase of short performance pieces, new theatrical works written, directed and acted by students, standup comedy and a amazingly gutsy and skilful burlesque performance by one of my classmates. Her costume was so stunning, so seductive whilst covering everything (albeit briefly) to reveal beautiful luxury lingerie. I wanted to design something that balanced those elements. It didn't come out in the drawing so much- I want this to be the underdress (in very stiff fabric with satin fused on top), with a ruched overlay of very fine crushed silk all over (even the crisscross section).

(Better photo tomorrow)

All my love,

IP

Dear Homer C/O Aristotle (Dress 49)

Dear Homer,
We had the Iliad on tape when I was little- I think the language was somewhat altered for the sake of modern listeners, but the form and content (to my memory) were the same. The stories (for, as the 'stot tells us, Epic poems are but collections of stories... -can you tell i've been doing my theatre readings?-) captivated me, all passion and bloodlust and battle and honour and other such over-the-top sentiments.
What always stayed was the image of thousands of ships setting sail at the conclusion of the battle- bedraggled and exhausted, but nevertheless enthusastic to be on their way.

All my love

Dear Artaud (Dress 44)

Dear Antonin Artaud,
You really needed a hug, didn't you? That would have done the trick. A good hug and then maybe you wouldn't have written so much crazy (some moments of clarity and cleverness, but honestly, mostly crazy.)
Your life started so idyllic and lovely, and it was pretty much all downhill from there on.
In memory of industrial-era france:

This is; I have to say, one of my favourite dresses so far. Spraypainted double-layers of denim with small washers in the centre, on mesh (which is allowed to bunch and fold between the points of anchorage) with a cotton slip beneath.

All my love,

Dear Chekhov (Dress 16)

Dearest Chekhov,
You're REMARKABLY boring. It does not help that the lecturer looks like a marine biologist. Maybe next tuesday you'll get a dress with a turtle print or lizard scales or something. It would not surprise me: anything to distract myself from the brain-corroding boredom of this class.
I'm not particularly pleased with how today's dress turned out- it was meant to be more opulent and ridiculous, but I think i'm saving that for something Mcqueenesque and/or Baroque in the coming week.

Costume for one of his silly-girl characters. The upper portion of the flower is held in place with a choker-style ribbon tie. Muslin and Silk.

All my love,

Dear Bree (Dress 10)

Dear Bree,
You were wearing a lovely pinafore at uni the other day, and it got me thinking about that lovely cut, and a whole lot of vintage-thrifting-blog-reading got me thinking about oversized bakelite buttons...
Ta Da!

All my love,