‘An Ideal Husband’ & How to Clothe One...

By Sara Curnock Cook

When Molly asked if I would take on the costume aspect of this marvellous play by Oscar Wilde, I leapt at the chance. Her vision was “Period with a twist”, fine. “A cast of 14”, okay and a budget of “X”... whaaaat?!

A tiny budget, a large cast and many a scene change. Well, isn’t that what creativity is all about? I love a challenge, and this one has a capital ’C’.

As a group, we have little storage, so everything has to be sourced from scratch. ‘Beg, steal and borrow’ is the starting point, moving on to online sites. Sadly, London Charity Shops are often pricey. This is a period production, therefore I also researched hiring as 1894 attire is quite specific and a genuine sense of elegance and quality is deserved.

The National Theatre is a wonderful Aladdin’s cave of the most exquisite garments, but we are talking £85 a pop... minimum. Then we discovered ‘Lantern Arts’ in Raynes Park (thank you so much, Rob). Why was I not aware of this treasure trove before? What a discovery! It is all tea and biscuits with a lovely group of ladies who either made or performed in the costumes for hire.

They have an intimate knowledge of their stock, are incredibly enthusiastic and are delightful to spend time with. And here we are talking about £16 a frock!

At the outset of a project, a shared and agreed vision with the director and any other production creatives is paramount and continual dialogue is necessary. In my mind, the set, the lighting, and even the props deserve a visual cohesion. The picture has to be a whole, with continuity; otherwise, the audience can be jarred back into real time.

Ideas, however, are conceptual; they morph along the way, sometimes turn sharply and now and again, need to be questioned, but then that is the beauty of taking a blank canvas, drawing a picture and adding colour. One is always guided by the original vision, but during the process of immersion, sometimes by fluke, sometimes by design and occasionally due to necessity, that vision evolves. This is a wonderful, healthy and very exciting part of the creative process!

I am passionate about what I do and I’m very keen on a holistic approach... Underwear, hair styles, facial hair, makeup, jewellery, and indeed, perfume! As an example, the Ball scene is all fans and petticoats, white bow ties and bluster, but if the actor immerses themselves in every aspect of their ‘costume’, their character comes alive, deportment changes, their counterparts react differently, and the audience believes.

These details, to me, are at the heart of good costume design. Collaboration with the actors, too, is key. Sometimes they might need a little persuasion, occasionally a touch of blackmail, but they should always be listened to.

They also need to believe.

See Sara's costumes live on stage from 29th Oct - 01 Nov. Tickets for 'An Ideal Husband' are available here >