This week I decided to focus on the art portion of my senior projects. I spent some hours carefully reading books on historical fashions throughout different eras. I also decided that for the art portion of my project I would be designing different Shakespeare productions because Shakespeare plays are commonly set in different eras then they were written for. I decided to choose a selection of Shakespeare plays and set each one in a different era. I did some research online and the first major period of Shakespeare revivals happened in the 18th century because a man from London named David Garrick started to produce lots of Shakespeare productions. So I read certain chapters on dresses from the 1700s, my favorite type were the French ones. So I worked on designing a dress that a socialite might wear. Then I thought about what play I could design for that era. I decided on Love’s Labors Lost, because of the importance of masks in that play. I thought it would be fun to design costumes for the masquerade ball that influences the plot so much in that play. The first attempt was very frustrating, I had a lot of fun designing the costume but struggled with the technical artistic technique and accuracy.

Also from the beginning, I knew I wanted to set one of the plays in medieval England, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to use one of the Histories that is already set in that period or set Midsummer Night’s Dream in that period, but I decided, either way, I could briefly practice different types of fashions. I spent time researching and reading about medieval fashion, which was super fun. I practiced sketching which helped me feel more confident and I am excited to put more effort into the productions.