Earlier I’d mentioned I would write up a guideline for
putting on a fashion show, in my case historical costume. Some of that has
already been written in a previous post but as I’ve gotten closer to the date
this next show is, I’m fine-tuning some of the details of how to put this
together. Some of this may be repetitive but at least it all in one place now.
And I included photos so you don’t feel like “oh my gosh, I’m back in school
again”. Since I don’t have any sewing to report on because of *real life* stuff
lately, this seems to be a good time to write this puppy up. *Oh wait, yesterday I started finishing those little girls Civil War dresses I started in March!
Finally broke through that wall.*
This will actually be the second show I’ve put on but the
first was a “show within a show”. That was my "One Hundred Years of Mourning
Fashion" that was the second half of the Riverside Dickens fashion show. It was
by no means a lesser scale of work though. I’ve been a backstage manager at the
same time as being a model so I have that experience under my belt too. I’ve
yet to be a narrator because I want to play dress-up with everyone else so I
have my favorite narrator, Nancy, to do that for me. J But she likes to play dress-up too, so along
with her husband Russell, they look awesome along with the rest of us. I also
want to give a shout-out to said Russell, our gentleman escort, who has so many
times helped us up and down stairs in our long skirts so we don’t fall flat on
our faces. We’ve come close a couple times though. I guess that fits into the cheer
of “Break a leg!” when you’re going on.
Second, you need a theme for your show. You may be asked to
do a specific type or time period by the requester. We seem to be asked just to
do a show and the theme is left up to us. The easiest is to do a time line
showing a progression of the changes in fashion. Or it can be a creative theme,
such as women’s /men’s recreational activities; famous authors and characters
from books; or famous people in history. You can do fun ones such as a couple
vignettes onstage, like a group of ladies sitting around a table having tea or
playing cards, and each one gets up to walk around in her dress. Then a lady’s dressing room or
dress/millinery shop, and showing different ladies being dressed or arriving to
shop or visit. Instead of just writing a description of what the model is
wearing, you can weave a story around it. One of the shows I’ve been in is in a
historical town and I thought having each of them walking down a well-known
street or visiting an historic building in the area might be interesting, and
adds some familiarity. The point is- you
don’t have to just walk out on stage. You can do things to make it
entertaining. So far is it sounding like YOU are doing the writing? Most
likely, yes you will.
Music isn’t necessary
but can enhance the show if you use it at the beginning. But keep it soft and
not when the narrator is speaking. Some sound systems don’t work very well and
you don’t want someone in the back yelling, I can’t hear you!
Third, you need some models and costumes. You can either put
out a general request to your costume group, or contact specific people and see
if they’d be interested. Make it clear what you’re looking for as to the dress,
and the date, times and location of the show. Keep a file with all emails
coming in for reference. I also cut and paste information given to me by
prospective models onto a document to work with.
You may have to be flexible so that if you lose a model or
they back out, you can smooth over that gap. In a chronological time
period-type show it wouldn’t hurt to have duplicates, like two 1880s, in case
one has to back out and you still have one for that spot. Smaller groups are
easier to work with when you’re just starting out because when you get to where
you have to wrangle 20 or more models, it becomes major work.
Fourth, if you’re unfamiliar with the location, and possibly
can, see if you can visit the location. See what the layout of the stage and
dressing rooms are, and how you will enter and exit, both on stage and
afterwards. Take photos if you can, and do sketches of possible routes of where
the models will walk. Check out bathroom locations and note them. Sometimes we
need to use those restrooms as our dressing rooms. Walk through yourself where
the models will enter the building when they arrive, and where they will enter
and exit the stage during the show. One of the stages I’ve been on in a church
has a big podium in the center so the models need to know that they should walk
to both ends of the stage so everyone can see them. And check out the parking situation for them.
Make note of all available areas that they can park. In some cases, this
pre-visit may not be possible, and you’re just going to have to wing it when
you arrive. But try arriving a little earlier to get the lay of the land so you can share it with your models when
they arrive.
Find out if the venue or event coordinator has any stage
decorations that can be used, such as greenery, flowers, trellis’, tables, chairs,
etc., or if they have their own stage decorator they’re using. Be sure not to distract from your models
though. They should be the centerpiece. You may be lucky and already have a
natural background you don’t need to mess with. But let me give you a
photographer’s tip I learned while taking my photography classes in college:
greenery brings out colors better in your photos. So if you can have plants,
etc., on stage, the dress colors will look brighter, and skin tones are greatly
enhanced by it. I always try to take photos of people outside next to plants or
trees. Look how bright and colorful we
all are after our show outside.
I still have four days until my show at the women’s club on
Saturday so I’m still finalizing all the narratives, floor plans, and programs.
As soon as those are done, I’ll write Part 2 for this, and it will probably be
much shorter than this was. Promise!
~~Val~~
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