the turn of the screw
May 2024
Module StageLab Textile Design Studies HSLU
In collaboration with HSLU Music, we designed the costumes for the opera The Turn of the Screw as part of this module. We were allowed to do everything ourselves, from the concept to the production. Together with Anja Rüssli, I designed the costumes for the roles of the prologue and the governess.
Image by: Pia Leisner & Paula Pucher
prolog
We have received a description from the director in advance of how they imagine the prologue:
trouser role
elegant
distanced
dandyish
indefinable
cool
We then drew up a sketch of the costume idea, taking into account materials that we had obtained from our private fabric collections or from second-hand shops and thrift stores. After a discussion with the director, we made small adjustments and started making the costume.
We found the pinstripe trousers in a thrift store and adjusted them to the right measurements.
We designed and knitted the knitted part of the top ourselves. We also constructed the pattern for the shirt made of blue organza ourselves and finally sewed everything together.
Photos by: Pia Leisner & Paula Pucher
Governess
Here, too, we received a description of the role in advance from the director:
The governess comes from a humble background and is increasingly open to the tasks on Bly. But at a certain point she has to make a decision and fight. She protects herself, figuratively "dresses up warmly" to fight against the ghosts.
Our idea was to give the governess a costume that changes throughout the play. It should show her gradual opening up by shedding items of clothing during the process. When she needs to "dress up warm", she puts the previously discarded items back on, but this time different and "wrong" to represent her increasing madness.
The origin of the costume was the lace that we found in a thrift store and a yellow curtain that we used as a skirt. Starting from the lace, we created two screen-printed patterns: the smaller one for the top and the larger one for the lower part of the skirt. To cover the lace at the beginning, we sewed a kind of bib. As a "travel dress", we knitted a poncho.
Photos by: Pia Leisner & Paula Pucher