Stage Directions Magazine Interviews Period Corsets®

Period Corsets® was happy to be interviewed by Stage Directions magazine for the special costuming and makeup section of their November issue. The article was targeted to show how companies such as ours help out theater costume shops with their productions. Stage Directions was interested to know  how our clients use our corsets, petticoats,  skirt supports and underwear to best advantage when planning and building their period shows.   I've included an excerpt from the whole article with our interview.

The Proper Application
Written by Jacob Coakley

"The Starlight Theatre production of The King & I with costumes from Kansas City Costume Company.
Costume and makeup companies talk about making it work
Clothing makes the man—and doubly so on stage. Costumes and makeup help actors define character, let the audience know who they’re dealing with and can be a real pain if they’re not constructed or applied properly. Stage Directions spoke to a variety of costume and makeup companies to find out how they’re making life easier for everyone onstage, and what theatres can do to make it through a production without any wardrobe malfunctions.
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Period Corsets®
"Undergarments aren’t generally associated with speed and efficiency, but that’s exactly how Hilary Specht Coffey and the pros at Period Corsets approach their art. “We save the shop time and money by providing the underwear so they can get a jump on their build,” says Hilary.

Period Corsets has been dedicated to nothing but historical corsets and underwear since 1998, when Becky Kaufman and Susan Davis noticed they were getting calls almost exclusively for the garments. In the years since then they’ve added expert staff, including costume historians, distilling the style of various eras into an emblematic silhouette so the costume shop doesn’t have to. “When costumers buy our corsets they’re buying many, many hours of research and development.”

They offer 13 different styles of corsets in standard sizes, so they can replicate any look quickly—but they can also personalize to any design. With the rise of the Steampunk aesthetic they made a custom outfit based on their stock patterns. “It’s an example of how you can use our garments with other fabrics and create a whole new kind of look but still based in history,” says Hilary. “Whenever we see a trend we try to do one example of how our garments can look like that, to show that they can adapt. It’s almost like painting on canvas.”



For the complete interview click here.
http://www.stage-directions.com/current-issue/54-costumingmakeup/3733-the-proper-application.html

Stage Directions November 2011 Issue
Costuming/Makeup
The Proper Application
Written by Jacob Coakley
Wednesday, 02 November 2011 15:58