Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2002 - 62

"smart" and their words "clever" regardless of
content. "All art is quite useless." Wilde said in
his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray,
and these characters seem fully determined
that, as Wilde said in his "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young," "One should
either be a work of art, or wear a work of art."
In our production of Earnest, the existential obligation, to self-create meaning in a
meaningless world, was key to the characters'
motives. Each main character self-creates an

(often given a surreal finish of silver or gold
leaf) that there is more hard, tooth-breaking
sugar coating on the outside than there is actual almond in the center.
I believe that the characters in Earnest
not only are this way, but take great pains to be
this way. Wilde said, "I sometimes think that
God in creating man somewhat overestimated
his ability." The characters in Earnest intend
to improve upon God's version of them by
wrapping themselves up in an ideal self.

male actors in their attempt to portray "ideal"
femininity. Clothing for these characters was
not merely disguise, but the essence of a reinvented self: You are "Earnest" if you claim to
be; Lady Bracknell is a Lady (not a man) because she dresses as one.
Our actors were wonderfully tolerant of
the costumes' many layers, and of uncomfortable items like period corsets, hard plastic
collars, and hot plastic garments. Uniformly
they put up with these items that restricted

My central metaphor for the costumes in this play was that of a wedding favor...
wrapped in a combination of fluffy bridal illusion, cellophane and/or lace...
often trimmed with white silk flowers, or decorated with objects like
plastic doves holding rings in their beaks, plastic glass slippers and lacy hearts.
ideal, and then attempts to live up to that ideal,
no matter what common sense obstacles intrude.
They are all very like a bride, so enamored of the ideal of love and marriage, that she
agrees to marry the first man who offers, and
then concentrates all her energy and purpose
on having the perfect wedding. A perfect dress
is made, a perfect selection of music is chosen,
perfect decorations are put up, and a perfect
cake sits amidst the guests at a perfect reception. Everyone cries sentimental tears.
Anatoly Antohin, the director of this production, said that he wanted everyone (except
the servants) in summer white, à la Fanny and
Alexander, as if at the very beginning of the
play everyone was ready for a wedding. Plot
complications ensue for three acts, and when
reality is tamed and forced to conform to
everyone's wishes by the Act III curtain, the
weddings can go on.
My central metaphor for the costumes,
therefore, was wedding favors. A wedding favor is a small object, usually a group of three
to five Jordan Almonds, wrapped in a combination of fluffy bridal illusion (fine net), cellophane and/or lace. They are often trimmed
with white silk flowers, or decorated with objects like plastic doves holding rings in their
beaks, plastic glass slippers, lacy hearts, or
some over-blown combination of all of these.
They are given to guests at the reception, and
as any child will tell you, after you unwrap
them, the contents seem either disappointing,
or inedible. Even when you think you get to the
core, you discover upon biting into the candy

Our costumes in Earnest took the basic
forms of upper class English dress of the era
1895-1900. However, to "push" this metaphor
we constructed them rather oddly. Firstly, everything was in shades of white. (The servant
characters were styled realistically after servants' dress c. 1895.) In general, the outermost layer of the costumes was translucent
net, lace, plastic or chiffon, so that all the complex inner layers were revealed. However, with
the sheer quantity of decoration and layers, no
skin showed other than the face. One's impression was of clothing, on top of clothing, on top
of clothing, excess piled on excess, until one
might imagine that unwrapping the character
might make the person disappear altogether.
The wrappings, in each layer, were also excessive; There were silk flowers on lace on ruffles
on clear plastic, with even much of the hair
(wigs) being made of cellophane, ribbons and
roses. In the case of Algy, his hair was simply
painted on his head in white and violet
makeup.
When Jack enters in the middle of Act II
dressed in mourning black, he sticks out like a
sore thumb (even with a translucent organza
black tailcoat). Everyone asks him to change,
as though his variance from the excessively romantic cheerfulness of bridal white is an offence or social blunder.
Gender too, was treated as a matter of
clothing. Two of our female characters- Miss
Prism and Lady Bracknell-were male actors
(as was a scene-changing maid). The clear
costume parts showed the "bust improvers"
and bustles that assisted both our male and fe-

their movements, and were stiff and hot to
wear, because, they said, the garments helped
them transform into people who prized style
over substance. Rarely have I put actors into
such torturous outfits; and rarely have I received so few complaints.
The translucency and shine of the costumes (aided by lots of cheap plastic) gave us
a cellophane wrapped look that made the
clothing, hats and hair seem insubstantial,
even somewhat ghostlike. As if to say these
people were brought to life by Wilde in 1895,
and they continue to live, like airy spirits, as
long as people wish to believe in "Ladies" and
"Gentlemen," in "Love" and "Ideals," as long
as wit is prized, and romantic novels have the
"good end happily, and the bad, unhappily." ❖

Tara Maginnis, Ph.D., is the costume
designer and chair of the theatre
department at the University of Alaska,
Fairbanks. She also writes and maintains
the costume mega-site, "The Costumer's
Manifesto" (www.costumes.org). More
images of the Theatre UAF production of
The Importance of Being Earnest are
available at www.costumes.org/pages/
Earnest1.htm.

WORKS CITED
Veblen, Thorstein. 1994. The Theory of the
Leisure Class (reprint edition). New
York: Penguin Classics.

TD & T

S P R I N G

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http://www.costumes.org http://www.costumes.org/pages/

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