All's Well That Ends Well

Parolles

• The play was written in the early 17th century, so the directors and I decided to set it around that same time period.

• Lord Lafew's line "Why dost thou appear in this fashion? Dost make pantaloons of thy sleeves?" inspired the Marie sleeves on Parolles' shirt.

• The character of Parolles is a bit of a clotheshorse, something that other characters bring up throughout the play, so his costume needed to be more over-the-top than the rest of the characters.

• Being in the cast meant that I sat in on all rehearsals, which gave me the opportunity to watch the way the actors portrayed their characters, which influenced my design.

• Most notably, Cole Barnes' portrayal of Lord Lafew was melodramatic and 'zesty,' which led to the decision to give him a one-shoulder cape.

• I used Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion for my primary research.

• Secondhand fabrics served as inspiration for some of the main garments, such as Bertram's blue doublet and Diana's pink dress.

• Diana wears pink and Helena wears red because they are both involved with Bertram throughout the course of the story, but Diana is a peasant while Helena is the ward of the countess, and historically speaking, dyeing a garment pink would have been easier and more affordable.

• After speaking with the directors and our props designer, some of the hose (pants) required pockets for props, as well as loops of fabric on the side of the waistband for the actors to wear their swords.

• I developed my own patterns for all of the costumes that I built, as well as the costume for the Fool. 

• Evadne Pond patterned and built the costume for the Countess, and I provided the sketch and fabric. She also built the costume for the Fool from my pattern.

• Trinity White-Folstad served as cutter for the hose.

• The hose are all the same size, with different elastic lengths in the waistband. They can be easily altered to fit other actors in the future.

• Modern garments from the actors' wardrobes include tights and footwear, as well as some of the white shirts. Helena's red corset and white underdress are from the actress's own closet.