Portfolio Randi

Introduction The topic of this independent study is costume designing. I made a costume for the character of Mrs. Peters from the play Trifles. This costume is set in the 1890’s. Trifles was written in the early 1900’s, but it still relevant today. A common theme seen throughout Trifles is the fact that women experience the same trials whether they come from the same background or not.

Trifles Synopsis Characters: County Attorney, Sheriff/Mr. Peters, Mrs. Peters, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale, Mr. Wright, Mrs. Wright Summary: Trifles is a mystery that resolves around Mrs. Wright and her husband, Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright is dead and Mrs. Wright is the only one who was around during the murder. Mr. Hale is the one who finds out about Mr. Wright being dead. The county attorney, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale are trying to find evidence in the Wrights’ home that would support the case that Mrs. Wright is the one who killed her husband. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are at the house to support their husbands. While the men are doing their job they the two women find some things that no one was expecting to find and they begin to see through the eyes of Mrs. Wright.

Susan Glaspell Born: 1-Jul-1882 Birthplace: Davenport, IA Died: 27-Jul-1948 Location of death: Provincetown, MA Cause of death: Pneumonia Remains: Buried, Snow Cemetery, Truro, MA1-Jul1882Davenport, IA27-Jul1948Provincetown, MAPneumonia With her husband Glaspell co- founded the Provincetown Players, an acting troupe, in 1915, a group instrumental in the success of America's best-known playwright, Eugene O'Neill. Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1931 for Alison's HousePulitzer Prize for Drama Picture of susan

Susan Glaspell cont.

Methods Buy: Go to different stores, most likely thrift stores or discounted stores, and buy different pieces of clothing that would be apart of the costume. Build: Create the pieces of clothing that were not bought. Build by using commercial patterns or flat patterns. Drafting: Drafting patterns that become the flat patterns mentioned above. Rent: Some costume stores allow you to rent costumes for certain period of time. You can rent costumes from any time period for any kind of show or event.

Resources Picture of book by costume historian: janet arnold The internet Reference books Primary resources: Photographs from the actual time period, extent garments Secondary resources: Drawings, historical patterns of a costume historian, paintings, statues

Research Power point I made before we began making the costume with the images from Google

Conclusion Before this project started, I was already working on costumes, but in a very limited way. I have never built a costume before, or used the many different methods that were available to use. During the time of this independent study, we explored so many different areas of costume designing. We looked at all the different methods of making costumes. I built most of the costume. We explored all the stages of making costumes, including doing the research, sketching the costume, and building the costume. From this point on, I will definitely continue to work on things I have learned including sketching and building costumes. I will take what I learn and use it in the costume club at my school to help us make costumes more efficiently. I am also considering costume designing as a possible career.

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