"I do wander every where, swifter than the moone’s sphere;"

We had a workshop last Saturday for the fairies. We discussed the costuming, makeup, personalities, and more. It was a great success!! As we've discussed before, the morning cast and afternoon cast are costuming for different effects, with the morning cast going for a more mystic and whimsy interpretation of the fairies, while the afternoon cast is portraying the fairies as earthen beings who are one with nature.

We saw some neat ideas for the fairies of the morning cast, one of which were the skirts. By layering various segments of skirts, you could get a very dynamic feeling from the costumes. You don't have to do anything fancy; all you need to do is stack!!

It was commonly suggested to start with a base skirt of sorts; something fairly long and fairly simple. Pastel colors seemed to look best, but don't be afraid to experiment!! On top of this, you can layer and tie whatever you want to make your costume more unique!!

Although creating multiple layers sounds intimidating, it's actually not all that tough. You don't even have to know how to sew; you can even manage with a forty inch square piece of fabric with a hole cut in the middle!! By slipping this on top of our base skirt, you have a secondary layer!!

To add a bit more to the costume, why not add a sash or tassel to the skirt? A simple slip of fabric you can add a piece running across the skirt. Hanging any sort of decoration from it can add all sorts of neat detail to your costume!!

And with just that, you have the lower half of your costume as a fairy!! For those of you who are doubling as courtiers or peasants during other parts of the play, be sure to keep your costumes looking nice but still working simple; if you have too much to put on or take off, it can get difficult to change quickly backstage!!

But this is all just the beginning...!! We discussed a lot of different aspects for the costuming of the fairies, at least for the morning cast, and we came up with all sorts of neat ideas. Attaching opaque pieces of cloth from the back to the wrist can make great wings, adding any sort of flowers or ribbons can really add to any costume, and maintaining a colorscheme for your costume can really make your character pop on the stage. We'll try our best to continue posting ideas on our blog, so keep following us up to the week of Shakespeare Camp!! Thanks!!