Costumes for theatrical productions. Theatrical costume: history, types, features

Theatrical costume plays an important role in shaping the positive image of the theater among its target audience.

Theatrical costume is a broad concept and includes everything that artificially changes the appearance of a person, holding on to his body - this is a whole complex of things: hairstyle, makeup, shoes, headdress and the dress itself. The semantic meaning of a costume as a bodily mask is also confirmed by the lexical meaning of the word "costume": "the word is borrowed from the Italian "costume", which means "custom", "custom", "habit", and in the plural - "mores" Kokuashvili N.B. Clothing as a phenomenon of culture // Signs of everyday life. - Rostov-on-D., 2001. - P. 38-44 ..

Theatrical costume always reflects the era in which the performance takes place. To create a theatrical costume, decorators use various sources of information: frescoes, sculptures, paintings, written sources.

Theatrical costume is the only system capable of artificially changing the appearance of a person, emphasizing or destroying the harmonious unity of the body, or certain parts of it, and creating an artistic image. Let's assume such a real situation: when we see a girl in a dress that gives her figure a shape close to the ideal, we can exclaim "What a beautiful girl!", Which will mean that this costume has fulfilled its "aesthetic function", he made a person beautiful. Numerous non-functional details, for example, a pattern, a fabric pattern, its color, texture, lace, ruffles, decorative buttons, embroidery, appliqués, false flowers, etc., at first glance, are only decorating elements of the costume details, however, upon careful analysis, it turns out , they help shape the image, and figurative perfection is one of the powerful sources of beauty. In this case, one aesthetic aspect of the theatrical costume imperceptibly passes into another, which can be called the artistic function of the costume, designed to create an individual image, style.

Without compiling a typology of theatrical costume, it is impossible to study its role in shaping the image of the theater. The variety of theatrical costume can be compared with the variety of life situations or human characters that are embodied through this costume on stage. The main way to understand its essence is typology, division into classes, groups, species, etc. in various planes.

There are no completed studies on this subject. Although it is worth noting that every author who begins to study theatrical costume and costume in general classifies it according to some criterion. Much of the literature on costume is historical and ethnographic research, and hence the costume is divided on geographic or temporal grounds. In the literature devoted to the issues of the appearance of elements of clothing, their development, methods of image formation, a suit is usually divided in relation to the body, construction and functions.

Each type of classification opens up new areas for research, reveals unexpected problems and new aspects of the costume.

We have already said that a theatrical costume should be understood as everything that artificially changes the appearance of a person, holding on to his body, this includes clothing, headdress, shoes, hairstyle, jewelry, accessories, makeup. The definition already contains the first and main classification - the subsystems of the suit are listed.

The main planes of the typology:

1. Anthropological

a) in relation to the body

The basis of the classification is the degree of proximity to the body, and as a result, the degree of influence on the body.

We list them from the closest to the farthest: body coloring (tattoo, makeup, makeup), clothes, shoes, hats, jewelry, accessories (they also have a different effect: for example, glasses are closer than a handbag).

Many systems, such as clothing, also have differences within themselves (underwear and outerwear).

This reason must be taken into account when creating and consuming a theatrical costume, because the human body can only accept certain materials, textures, substances. The entire history of costume production is developing in the direction of creating the most comfortable and safe materials and substances for health (make-up, make-up).

b) in relation to parts of the body (types of clothing, hats, shoes, etc.)

We have already met this classification in the definition and therefore it can be called decisive in a systematic approach to the study of costume. Let's build a complete hierarchy of systems and subsystems of theatrical costume.

Cloth. According to the method of fastening on the body, clothing is divided into waist (skirts, trousers, shorts, underpants, etc.) and shoulder (shirts, dresses, sundresses, raincoats, coats, fur coats, jackets, T-shirts, sweaters, etc.) The configuration and plasticity of the body dictate the differences in the elements of the costume. Clothing is placed on three parts of the body - torso, arms and legs.

All clothes are also divided into three layers: underwear, underwear and outerwear.

Linen. Manufacturers divide underwear into three types: everyday (practical, made of dense natural or mixed materials, smooth), festive (smart, with all kinds of decorations, to match clothes for special occasions) intimate underwear (open, transparent, with all kinds of decorations, overhead details (frills, bows, lace, beads), often with a hint of a joke.

In the XII century, elegant intimate home clothes appeared (usually for morning toilets): negligee, polonaise, negligee, shmiz, which still exist. In Europe in the 19th century, thanks to travel to the tropics, pajamas became known.

Underwear. This is the most numerous section of clothing, it is difficult and impractical to list all its types, this entire array is located between underwear and outerwear. However, one should pay attention to the following feature, which depends on the climate. In hot countries, underwear and underwear are often combined to form fairly revealing clothing worn every day in order to minimize materials present on the body. Whereas the clothing of the northerners is multi-layered, which increases the number of types of clothing.

Jacket section: blazer, jumper, jacket, vest, jacket, sweater, tuxedo, tailcoat, suit ("two", "three", with a skirt or trousers), shirt (blouse).

Foot wear: trousers, shorts, socks, stockings, tights.

Separately, we highlight the dress (sundress) and the skirt.

Outerwear. The variety of types of outerwear is not so great, the division is based, first of all, on the seasons and, of course, on the design and material. We list the main types of outerwear: sheepskin coat, fur coat, coat, jacket, coat, raincoat.

Costume historians distinguish about seventeen types of coats.

You should also pay special attention to certain elements of clothing, which, as a rule, have a special symbolic power - collars, cuffs, ties (scarves, scarves), socks (stockings), belts (belts), gloves (mittens). These minor details can completely change the information load of the suit as a whole.

Shoes are divided into: sewn, cut and attached to the leg with various bandages, wicker.

By design, shoes are divided into sandals and clogs, shoes, boots and boots.

Hats. The headdress has always been associated with the head, so it has a strong symbolic meaning. In works of art, a headdress could serve as a replacement for the head.

The whole variety of jewelry according to its purpose is divided into: clothes (brooches, cufflinks, buckles, clasps, pins), underwear (earrings, necklaces, chains, pendants, rings, bracelets) and hair jewelry (hairpins, tiaras, etc.).

According to the method of attachment, the world of jewelry consists of the following subsystems: neck (chains, pendants, necklaces, necklaces, ribbons, pendants, beads, medallions); ear (earrings, clips, studs); bracelets (on arms and legs); finger (rings, rings); hair ornaments (hairpins, overlays, wreaths, tiaras, temporal rings, ribbons, etc.).

Hairstyle - decoration of the head, in many ways symbolizes the structure of its internal content, the worldview of each person and the era as a whole.

The hair on the head, since it covers the upper part of the human body, symbolizes spiritual forces, higher powers, embodies the spiritual state of a person. Body hair is associated with the influence of irrational, lower forces, biological instincts. Hair also means fertility. In Hindu symbolism, they mean the "lines of force" of the Universe. Thick hair is the embodiment of a vital impulse, being associated with the desire to succeed. Hair color is important. Dark hair has dark, earthly symbolism, while light (gold) hair is associated with the sun's rays, purity and goodness, and all positive mythological and fairy-tale heroes had blond hair (Snow White, Snow Maiden, Goldilocks). Copper-red hair indicates a demonic character and is associated with Venus. For centuries, there has been an idea that a witch should be red, and that such people are always lucky. Many witchcraft rituals are associated with hair, as a person's spiritual energy. When we lose our hair, we lose strength like the biblical Samson. The flip side of hair loss is willing sacrifice. All who reject earthly life, in order to embark on the path of absolute asceticism, are obliged to cut their hair (monastic tonsure). People have been paying great attention to hairstyles for a long time. According to Diderot, a hairstyle makes a woman more attractive, and a man emphasizes his character traits.

Makeup. Through make-up, an actor can change his face, give it such an expressive form that will help the actor most fully and comprehensively reveal the essence of the image and convey it to the viewer in the most visual way. But make-up matters not only as an external drawing of the character of the character portrayed by the actor. Even in the creative process of working on a role, make-up is a certain impetus and incentive for the actor to further reveal the image.

The original forms of theatrical make-up arose on the basis of magical body painting and a ritual mask, directly related to the magical and animistic-religious ideas of primitive man.

2. Demographic

There is an obvious division into male and female elements of the costume, colors, textures, materials.

Men's - restrained shades, as a rule, dark, with a predominance of black, strict contrasts are often found, textures are hard, fabrics are dense, heavy, opaque, patterns and textures are geometric, technical.

Women's - pastel shades, the whole pink palette, light, soft textures, easily draped, transparent, with sparkles, embroideries, guipure, floral, plant motifs, polka dots and soft lines in textures and patterns, pearls and mother-of-pearl - material for accessories and jewelry.

Theatrical costume can differ by gender either in minor details (for example: the side of the clasp), or in general in the whole form. So, in the 17th century, men widely used chic lace, but now it is the prerogative of ladies, one of the symbols of femininity. Signs of femininity and masculinity, of course, changed among different peoples and in different eras, but they were always present. The exception, perhaps, is the end of the 20th century, with its unisex idea.

For a long time there have been differences between children's and adult costumes. Within these groups there are gradations: small children, adolescents, youth, people of mature age, the elderly, the elderly. The costume contains special details for the older generation and special ones for the younger ones. Here are some examples: a bow or a bib is always a symbol of childhood for us, a scarf tied around a woman's head is usually associated with old age, only young people can wear a costume with obvious signs of eroticism. Such stereotyped symbols are firmly entrenched in culture.

As in the case of gender, the division into children's and adult drawings, colors, textures and materials is accepted.

The concept of a children's costume as an independent group arose only in the second half of the 18th century in England. Until that time, children's clothing was only a smaller copy of the adult. This separation is largely due to the dramatic complication of the costume, which made it too uncomfortable for children.

The main environmental planes of theatrical costume.

1. Historical (temporal) - eras, centuries, periods, years ...

This classification, applied to the costume, is the most common in historical science. With this approach, the history of things and phenomena is studied from the point of view of their belonging to a particular time. The most generally recognized major gradations are: primitiveness, antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The development of the costume in this case is considered as a linear process, the focus is on the signs that distinguish one era from another. The researcher's attention is focused on the stylistic features of the costume common to all architectonic arts of each period.

Within each era, it is customary to single out smaller periods, their names are well known.

2. Natural.

Spatial-geographical. Here the most striking division occurs into two poles - east-west. Of course, the differences go far beyond geography. The problem of "East-West" is devoted to many works, and all the problems discussed in them are reflected in one way or another in the costume. Further division occurs in a simple pattern: continents, countries, regions, cities, villages, city blocks.

Climatic. Due to the fact that one of the first functions of the suit was to protect the body from natural influences, the suit, first of all, began to differ in adaptability to various climatic and natural conditions.

Of course, in reality, the planes intersect, forming a wide range of natural conditions that require a special suit. Winter night in the southern forest and summer day in the northern mountains, northern and southern sun, rain and wind in the steppe and in the forest, etc. largely determine the variety of costumes of the peoples inhabiting our planet.

With the development of human activity and industry, new suits are constantly appearing, specially adapted for staying in extreme natural conditions, which allows people to make their way into the most inaccessible corners of the Earth and unexplored environments. Mankind has developed equipment for conquering mountain peaks, sea depths, impenetrable rainforests, deserts and poles.

3. Ethnographic - ethnic groups, peoples, tribes (rites, customs). This is one of the most common classifications of theatrical costume. The bulk of all literature on costume is ethnographic works containing detailed descriptions of the costumes of various ethnic communities and the customs and rituals associated with them. According to such studies, it is good to study such a phenomenon as a national costume.

4. Separate ceremonies of certain ethnic communities.

Many works devoted to the theatrical costume of a particular era are based on a division into classes. Clothing of various classes is initially determined by their inherent way of life, its fixed form works as a sign indicating one or another layer of society. The leader stood out among his fellow tribesmen, he was revered as a special person. The cut and details of the costume speak of the status in society, tribal traditions, etc. And in the modern world, this function of the suit exists (for example, in a business suit - the thinner the strip, the higher the status of its owner). Mistakes here have always been highly unwelcome and could offend. People were very sensitive to their position in society and always tried to somehow emphasize it in a suit. Often different classes have different ethical, aesthetic, etc. norms, which is also reflected in the costume. In a class society, external signs are simply necessary that establish the nature of relations and communication.

During the transition from a subsistence economy to a market economy, with its division of labor and commodity exchange, each business had its own professionals, and as a result, the same type of suit. Its form largely depended on the specifics of the activity and contained elements that united people of the same profession into a kind of corporation, thereby emphasizing the commonality of occupations that left an imprint on their character, worldview, and attitude towards others. We even characterize groups of people by naming signs or elements of their clothing, for example: "people in white coats", "people in uniform", "white collars" and immediately everyone understands who they are talking about.

The following professions have the most well-defined and easily distinguishable costumes: military, medical workers, employees of transport companies, catering, etc.

Confession. This typology involves the study of the costume of representatives of various religions, as well as their branches and heretical movements. Each religion establishes and conditions certain forms of costume, special cut, silhouette, colors, accessories and details.

Depending on the degree of influence of religion on the life of society in a given period, these features in one way or another affect all forms and types of costume.

5. Aesthetic - style hierarchy, fashion change, etc.

A rather extensive layer of literature devoted to theatrical costume is based on precisely this classification. The history of theatrical costume, as a rule, is built on the consideration of various styles of costume and fashion that have replaced each other throughout the existence of mankind. Researchers of modernity also actively use this hierarchy in their work, considering the palette of styles that are both present in our time and underlying the image sciences. In this regard, it should be noted that the study of costume style is based on two directions: historical styles and modern ones. The concept of "modern" includes not only the styles that emerged in the last decades of the current century, but all the variety of costume styles that our contemporaries have at their disposal, as well as the very attitude to style as a tool. This is due to the fact that at the present stage of human development, the style of the current era can be defined as polyvariance, i.e. it cannot be defined unambiguously, it depends on many reasons and easily changes depending on the situation, mood, etc. Therefore, we will list the main historical styles that were formed in a particular era, and then the main styles in which a modern person can express himself. Of course, many modern styles are based on certain historical styles.

We list the main historical styles:

Antique. The body was seen as a mirror, supposed to reflect the perfection of the world. The costume obeyed the laws of logic and harmony. Antique style is the image of the "Greek column", striving to the heights to light and perfection. The use of fabrics of a certain width in accordance with the size of the loom, the clothes are not cut, but gathered in vertical folds, the outfit is designed in accordance with the structure of the human figure, shoes are almost one sole.

Romanesque. Carried the heritage of antiquity, but with certain excesses. A simple, non-contiguous dress (sewn from two parts) was trimmed with a wide border.

Gothic. It was at this time that the cut appeared, which became unusually complex and virtuoso. Clothes are tailored to fit. The costume of that era is akin to Gothic architecture. The predominance of vertical lines and pointed details.

Renaissance. The desire for harmony, expressed in symmetry and lack of frills. In everything - only natural proportions. Contemporaries tried to create a rich and elegant costume that could emphasize the dignity of a person. For the first time, women's dress is divided into a long skirt and bodice. Clothing is distinguished by the use of expensive fabrics, complex ornaments, unusual design of sleeves, a combination of two colors and materials.

Baroque. The emergence of new materials, the most popular are velvet and metal. The pursuit of luxury and eccentricity. The formality, stiffness of heavy outfits.

Rococo. Dresses become more graceful, huge outfits are reduced to more human sizes. The abundance of folds and connections with the use of satin, the richest underwear. The predominance of pastel colors in outfits and an abundance of accessories.

Empire. Followed in the footsteps of ancient fashion (this only applied to women's costume). Characteristic features: simplicity of lines, vertical folds, shift of the waist line under the chest, puffed sleeves, deep neckline. A dark tailcoat appears in the wardrobe of men, which was worn with a tie, a patterned waistcoat and a top hat.

Dandy. At the beginning of the 19th century, a type of modestly but perfectly dressed gentleman was created - a dandy. The main feature is the external simplicity of the costume, combined with its high cost and perfect cut. The increased role of a tie, which becomes the only eye-catching decoration on a snow-white shirt.

Romanticism. This style is most clearly manifested in a women's suit, the distinctive features of which are a fitted bodice, wide sleeves, many flounces, ruffles and bows, light color shades, which creates a feeling of airiness and tenderness.

Modern. The ego is characterized by the rejection of all old norms in costume. Art Nouveau is distinguished by an S-shaped silhouette of a ladies' suit, loose translucent dresses, decorativeness and extravagance combined with fantastic images.

Today, some styles develop in a suit, others are born and die, it is simply impossible to describe all of them. But still, several of them can be distinguished, having characteristic features and steadily existing in a modern costume. Let's consider each of them and along the way explain what psychological characteristics we can get with a suit of a certain style.

Business style. Often fits the definition of "classic", and also wears many elements of sports style. The main characteristics are businesslike, solid, serious, self-confident, decent, inspiring confidence, strictly elegant, comfortable. This style is distinguished by strict silhouettes, mostly dark or light restrained, muted colors, plain materials (only non-contrasting checks and stripes are allowed). The main role is played by a business suit in combination with a skillfully selected shirt (blouse), often white. Knowledge workers are called "white collars" for a reason. Particular attention is paid to the quality of materials and workmanship. The severity of lines and muted blue-gray-brown gamma is present in all accessories and other costume systems (hairstyle, make-up). It personifies and emphasizes rationality, logic, will, purposefulness, restraint.

Style for every day - for work, business visits, official trips.

Romantic. It can be called the complete opposite of business style, being the personification of emotionality, sensitivity, dreaminess, tenderness, sentimentality. Of course, it is most common among women. We can say that he is the personification of femininity, emphasizing all the advantages of the female figure. The lines of the silhouette are soft, smooth, an abundance of draperies, a variety of characteristic finishes (ruffles, bows, frills, frills, lace, molds, frills, embroidery. The colors are delicate, soft, all shades of pink and blue. Patterns and textures - floral, vegetable, peas , gentle fantasy.Accessories, hairstyle and make-up are refined, refined, graceful.

Style for dating, leisure, evening, cafe, theater, etc.

Sports. Different sports have given the world different types of costume - shorts, T-shirts, baseball caps, leggings. Another source of sporty style was clothing for military operations (warm comfortable jackets, overalls, helmets, metal fittings, patch pockets, raglan sleeves). The silhouettes of this style are straight, trapezoidal, less often semi-adjacent and fitted.

A rich color palette, frequent contrasts in color and texture, an abundance of accessories, stripes, emblems, stitched patch details. The main characteristics of the style: convenience, functionality, looseness, dynamism.

Varieties of style - "safari", jeans, marine.

Style for trips, recreation outside the city, at home, for active, dynamic people who appreciate practicality and convenience in a suit.

Folklore. Formed on the basis of folk costume. The main psychological characteristics are a clear connection with a certain people, traditionalism, folk wisdom, tranquility, associations with eternal values. Silhouettes, as a rule, are simple, with expressive details of folk costumes. Natural materials and colors, the most common pattern is geometric, which blends well with the structure of the fabric. The use of such finishes as embroidery, hemstitch, lace, weaving, appliqué, patchwork technique, fringe, beads, metal details.

The style is applicable for recreation, theatrical and concert events, with friendly communication with foreigners.

"Country". In many ways, it is close to the folklore style, although it does not clearly express the signs of one or another national costume. This style is more of a fantasy, a variation on the theme of rural life, in which the features of many folk costumes are sometimes guessed. In terms of psychological impact, this style is similar to pastoral, radiating ease, pleasant relaxation, carelessness, dreaminess, innocence, a romantic idea of life and nature. Colors, drawings and materials are natural: canvas, straw, cambric, flowers, pastel colors, cheerful flower drawings, bright check, mostly gray-brown colors.

6. Production.

First of all, artificial and natural materials should be distinguished, which have different processing methods and consumer qualities.

In most cases, the material radically affects the overall direction and nature of shaping. Here, the basis is the physical properties of the material, which predetermine the structural-spatial and plastic solution of the thing. The variety of forms increases dramatically when different materials are combined.

By technology.

The processing of the material also predetermines the form. Constantly improving technologies allow us to do extraordinary miracles at the present stage. But there were times when the design and dimensions of the suit were determined by the width of the loom. In the history of mankind for research purposes, three major periods can be distinguished: manual, machine and information production methods.

With given materials and technologies, the location of the material in space (construction) also predetermines the variety of forms.

The above classifications intersect, forming a complex network. But they do not reveal the essence of objects - the deep principles of their creation, functioning and evaluation.

Each type of costume creation implies its own goals, its own understanding of the perfection and beauty of things, relies on its own measure and system of principles. If at the pole of practical utility rational calculation and reliance on the objective laws of nature completely dominate, then at the opposite, artistic pole, the irrational principle dominates - intuition, subjective associations, the subconscious, conditional representations, etc.

Each of these beginnings can play a different role, from domination to complete submission. Depending on the location of the costume forms on this axis, six main types of object creativity are distinguished, and, accordingly, six types of costume formation.

1. Rational-utilitarian. Here the practical function of the suit as a useful thing is embodied to the maximum. With this approach, one goal is pursued - providing protection from external influences, ease of use. Here we include waders, helmets, soldier's uniform, etc.

2. Rational-aesthetic. Here, along with the previous function, there is a mood for the beauty of a thing, understood as a consequence of its all-round practical perfection. Here we can include work clothes, many types of casual clothes, etc.

3. Holistic. This type of creativity is aimed at creating a form that harmoniously combines extremes, giving things an artistic and practical integrity. Most types of costume belong to this type, which at the same time equally acts as a perfect thing and as a sign.

In the following types, the artistic principle in theatrical costume takes on a leading role.

4. Styling. In this type, the expressive form of an object often loses its connection with its practical basis. In the fifth type, the objects of creativity are no longer useful practically-materially, but spiritually. Beauty in a decorative costume is no longer directly related to the practical beginning. With the help of the form of known styles, things are given the features of the prototype, the halo of associations associated with it. This type of costume mainly acts as a set of signs that forms the image of the wearer. We also often use such clothes in everyday life, using different styles of costume depending on the situation and fashion.

5. Decorative. The costume largely loses its practical significance, and its form is subject to some artistic idea, for the embodiment of which various pictorial means are involved. This includes primarily carnival and ritual costumes.

6. Artistic. The latter type penetrates into the very core of the illusory world of figurative models of reality. Practical moments appear only in the production of a work in order to ensure its existence. This type is a manifestation of "high art", where beauty can give way to other aesthetic relations. The costume acts as a work of art and performs all the functions inherent in art, especially in merging with the person who dressed it. This type includes stage costumes, collections of famous couturiers. They are concentrations of ideas and images, and their creators are called costume designers.

As the analysis showed, the classification of theatrical costume can be made in a variety of planes. The choice of the plane of consideration each time depends on the objectives of the study.

Our time is characterized by a rapid change of fashion cycles. A sign of the development of fashion is their seasonal turnover: spring - summer and autumn - winter. In this regard, we are witnessing a rapid change in fashion trends, the formation of new forms of clothing. The source of knowledge about the change in forms and structures is, first of all, the historical costume, which has been formed and approved for centuries. Folk costume is an invaluable integral property of the culture of the people, accumulated over the centuries. Clothing, which has come a long way in its development, is closely connected with the history and aesthetic views of the creators. The art of modern costume cannot develop in isolation from folk, national traditions. Without a deep study of traditions, the progressive development of any type and genre of contemporary art is impossible.

Folk costume is not only a bright original element of culture, but also a synthesis of various types of decorative art, which, up to the middle of the 20th century, brought traditional elements of cut, ornament, use of materials and decorations characteristic of Russian clothing in the past.

The formation of the composition, cut, ornamentation features of the Russian costume was influenced by the geographical environment and climatic conditions, the economic structure and the level of development of the productive forces. Important factors were the historical and social processes that contributed to the creation of special forms of clothing, the role of local cultural traditions was significant.

The shirt is rightfully considered the most ancient type of clothing. Already in the VI century. in the costume of our ancestors - the Slavs - she occupied a leading place, and sometimes was the only piece of clothing. The women's shirt differed from the men's, in fact, only in length and richer trim.

The shirt, apparently, comes from the word "rub", which in the language of the ancestors meant a piece, a piece of fabric, but at the same time served as the name of the whole complex. A peasant, a city dweller and a nobleman wore the same shirt in cut, the difference was only in the quality of the fabric.

The most common material to this day remains linen. In the Old Russian language, there were two terms: "hlast" - "canvas", "tlstyna" - unbleached fabric and "charge" - bleached canvas to designate the main material. Since ancient times, women have been engaged in spinning and weaving of linen. They believed that only good female hands that did not hold weapons could be entrusted with the manufacture of clothes, the first defender of man. Almost all women in rural families, and at first in urban families, owned this craft.

The most ancient shirts were sewn from one long linen folded in half on the shoulders. Wedge-shaped inserts, obtained by cutting a rectangle diagonally, were sewn into the sides, expanding the hem. Then they cut the slit of the gate and, in the center of the chest. Thus, after the end of the cut, there was not a single extra shred left.

The procedure for decorating a shirt also developed in pagan times and is still strictly observed in folk costume. In ancient Rus', pearls, fragments with semi-precious stones and colored glasses, expensive braids and cords served as decoration for the clothes of the nobility. The clothes of the main part of the population were traditionally decorated with hand embroidery or patterned weaving. Ornamental stripes, and at a later time, ribbons, braids, appliqués from purchased fabrics, colored lace were necessarily located along the hem, the edges of the sleeves, on the shoulders, along the collar and along the incision on the chest. Such a peculiar system of protective lines, combined with a belt, which was obligatory to gird any shirt, according to ancient beliefs, protected the vital parts of the body. At the same time, the ornaments located along the edges of the clothes also protected the exposed parts of the body from evil spirits.

Festive and ceremonial shirts worn on certain days were especially heavily decorated. So, on the first day of harvesting the grasses, it was supposed to go out in a "mowing" with a wide patterned stripe on the hem. On the feast day of the harvest, they dressed up in a "harvest" shirt. In the last week before the wedding, the girls wore a shirt with 1 very long sleeves, called the “killer”. In it, the bride was supposed to cry for fear of the coming family life in a strange house. But the wedding shirt was rightfully considered the most beautiful. It was embroidered with multi-color patterns, where the main place was occupied by red. The young wife put it on for several more years on major holidays, and then carefully kept it.

In the Russian national costume, as in the costumes of other nationalities, for many centuries there has been an unwritten rule: to pay more attention to women's clothing, since it is primarily designed to protect the health of the progenitor of the family.

In the southern regions, the straight cut of shirts was more complex, it was carried out with the help of the so-called poliks - cut details connecting the front and back along the shoulder line. Poliks could be straight and oblique. Rectangular poliki connected four panels of canvas 32-42 cm wide each. Oblique poliks (in the form of a trapezoid) were connected by a wide base with a sleeve, a narrow one - with a neck lining. Both constructive solutions were emphasized decoratively.

Sarafan (Persian serapa, Turkic-Tatar "from head to toe") is the national costume of Russian women. It is worn over a shirt with puffy sleeves. If this is done through the head, then a number of decorative buttons are sewn onto the chest. The sundress can also be unbuttoned in front.

Several different types of sarafan are known, the formation of the cut of which and the decoration were influenced by the features of the area.

Its most ancient form is oblique on armholes or wide straps. The front and back panels of this sundress were connected on the sides with additional wedges. The front straight panel did not have a middle seam. In the Tver province, he was called "kostolan", in the northern regions - "hunchback".

The sundress in the northwestern provinces (Novgorod, Olonets, Pskov, etc.) had a different cut. He was more closed, and therefore he was nicknamed "shushun" or "capercaillie". Old Believers wore such sundresses.

This sundress was sewn from a cloth bent over the shoulders, with beveled wedges on the sides. Long, often fake sleeves were sewn on from the back.

A slanted dress with a slit at the front with buttons and loops.

It was distributed in the 19th century in all provinces of Central Russia. In the Yaroslavl and Tver provinces, he was called "feryaz", in Moscow - "Sayan", Smolensk - "sorokoklin". There were also such names - "kumashnik", "blue". This sundress was sewn as follows: two front panels and one back panel were straight, strongly beveled wedges were sewn to them, which expanded the clothes. The incision in the front was decorated with a red lace, braid, fringe, etc. Sometimes the front incision was sewn up, and the buttons and loops were left as decoration. Sometimes young girls sewed such sundresses with straps.

A straight, or round, sundress was sewn from several straight fabrics (from 4 to 7), the excess fabric was collected on top in a small assembly and closed with a narrow ribbon or trim. Narrow short straps on the back were sewn together, and in front - separately. Decorations in the form of decorative embroidery, braid, etc. were made along the bottom and top of the sundress. In the Moscow and Vladimir provinces, he was called a fur coat. Such a sundress was worn by both young and elderly women. The only difference was in color: the young ones sewed sundresses from light fabrics, the older ones used dark colors.

A sundress with a fitted bodice appeared in the late 19th - early 20th century. and was a kind of half-dress. Its barrels were cut along an oblique thread.

Wedding sundresses were especially different. In the Ryazan province, for example, the bride was married in a black sundress with a white scarf on her head, which was usually worn during mourning. On the very first day of their life together, the young woman appeared in her best sundress - most often it was of various shades of red. In the Vologda and Kostroma provinces, blue-pink, crimson sundresses were sewn from expensive fabrics. They were decorated with spun gold, braid, pearls.

Conditions of historical development, starting from the XII - XIII centuries. determined the most characteristic division of the forms of the Russian costume into northern and southern. In the XIII - XV centuries. the northern regions (Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Veliky Ustyug, Novgorod, Vladimir, etc.), unlike the southern ones, were not devastated by nomad raids. Artistic crafts intensively developed here, foreign trade flourished.

Starting from the XVIII century. The North turned out to be aloof from developing industrial centers and therefore preserved the integrity of folk life and culture. That is why in the Russian costume of the North, national features are deeply reflected and do not experience foreign influences.

The southern Russian costume (Ryazan, Tula, Tambov, Voronezh, Penza, Orel, Kursk, Kaluga, etc.) is much more diverse in terms of clothing. Multiple migrations of residents due to raids by nomads, and then during the formation of the Muscovite state, the influence of neighboring peoples (Ukrainians, Belarusians, peoples of the Volga region) led to a more frequent change of clothing and the diversity of its types.

In the South Russian costume, instead of a sundress, poneva was more widely used - belt clothes made of woolen fabric, sometimes lined with canvas. The fabric used for poneva is most often dark blue, black, red, with a checkered or striped (with a transverse stripe) pattern. Everyday ponevs got off modestly: woolen homespun patterned braid (belt) on the bottom. Festive ponevs were richly decorated with embroidery, patterned braid, inserts of calico, dyeing, tinsel lace, and sparkles. A wide horizontal stripe of the hem was combined with seams, vertical color inserts. The color scheme of the ponies was especially bright and colorful due to their dark background.

Poneva, in fact, is also a skirt, only its floors, as a rule, were not sewn. It was called a rastopolka, that is, swinging. The poneva was held on the throttle (belt, rope, cord, braid).

Made, as a rule, from checkered homespun wool, they were “kind”, “holy”, “dedicated” and “last”. And the ponevs were divided into bruises (solid blue) and reds (red) with a pattern. Poneva is most reminiscent of our straight skirts.

Apron

The most decorative and richly decorated part of both the northern and southern women's costume was the apron, or curtain, covering the female figure from the front. The apron was usually made of canvas and decorated with embroidery, woven patterns, colored trim inserts, and silk patterned ribbons. The edge of the apron was decorated with teeth, white or colored lace, a fringe of silk or woolen threads, and a frill of different widths.

soul-warming

In the clothes of the Russian North, from the ancient Russian costume, "epanechki" and dushegrey, short fur coats, quilted on wadding, with sleeves are preserved. Dushegreya - sleeveless women's chest clothing made of expensive factory fabrics. In these places, dushegrei were sewn from brocade. And it is cut in such a way that the fabric lays down in large folds at the back, and in front the shelves had a trapezoidal shape. When cutting, the brocade was strengthened (glued) with a coarse canvas fabric, sometimes it was lined with a newspaper, in order to keep the straight shape of the shelves, there were folds on the back. On narrow straps - a narrow galloon or lace. The shower warmer was fastened only with a brooch, which was pinned at the top or tied to a bow of wide ribbons. This indicates that it was previously worn with a sundress.

The layering of the costume, which had different lengths of simultaneously worn shirts, poneva, apron, bib, created a horizontal articulation of the silhouette, visually expanding the figure.

Hats

In the Russian folk costume, ancient headdresses and the very custom for a married woman to hide her hair, for a girl - to leave it uncovered, are preserved. This custom is due to the form of a female headdress in the form of a closed cap, a girl's - in the form of a hoop or bandage. Kokoshniks, "magpies", various bandages and crowns are widespread.

From jewelry used pearl, beaded, amber, coral necklaces, pendants, beads, earrings.

Fabrics, color, ornament

The main fabrics used for folk peasant clothing were homespun canvas and wool of simple linen weave, and from the middle of the 19th century. - factory-made silk, satin, brocade with an ornament of lush flower garlands and bouquets, calico, chintz, satin, colored cashmere.

Patterned weaving, embroidery, and prints were the main ways of ornamenting home textiles. Striped and checkered patterns are varied in shape and color. The technique of folk patterned weaving, as well as embroidery by counting the threads, led to rectilinear, geometric contours, the absence of rounded outlines in the pattern. The most common elements of the ornament: rhombuses, oblique crosses, octagonal stars, rosettes, Christmas trees, bushes, stylized figures of a woman, bird, horse, deer. Patterns, woven and embroidered, were made with linen, hemp, silk and woolen threads, dyed with vegetable dyes, giving muted shades. The range of colors is multicolor: white, red, blue, black, brown, yellow, green. Multicolor was decided, most often, on the basis of white, red and blue (or black) colors.

From the middle of the XIX century. homespun fabrics are replaced by factory-made fabrics with printed floral, checkered, striped patterns.

Folk traditions in modern clothes

Folk art remains a real storehouse of ideas for fashion designers and designers. In the 70s of the last century, in the collections of fashion designers, manifestations of the “national spirit” were valued, but not in the ethnographic sense, but in the context of the “international style”: Russian style, Asian style, etc.

21st century brought new national traditions to modern fashion design - the aesthetics of postmodernism. When creating a model of clothes, the "quotes" method is used. A "quote" can be a detail of a national costume, an element of decor, an enlarged or deformed ornamental motif, cut or color scheme. Combining different "quotes", mixing elements of costumes of different nations, the designer creates a new image, with a specific and recognizable creative source.

Teenage clothing is somewhat influenced by "adult" fashion, but it is not characterized by frequent changes and radical upheavals. It is more stable, which is associated with the peculiarities of the physique of the age groups of children. The main requirements for teenage clothing (simplicity of cut, the utmost expediency of forms, sonority and freshness of color schemes) are fully reflected in folk clothes, where beauty and functionality are inextricably linked.

color harmony

A necessary condition for the beauty of clothing is the harmony of color in it, that is, consistency, harmony in the combination of colors. To create a costume (this is the selection of fabric, finishing materials), we studied the harmony of color.

Color in clothes. A necessary condition for the beauty of clothing is the harmony of color in it, that is, consistency, harmony in the combination of colors.

To create a color harmony of a suit, it is important not only to know how colors are combined, to distinguish between compatible and incompatible colors, but also to be able to arrange the details of clothing according to color and color proportions into a single whole.

The foundations of color theory were laid by Newton, who was the first to try to systematize the world of colors by discovering the relationship between light refraction and color. He believed that white light, which before him was taken as homogeneous, decomposes after refraction in a prism into many different light waves. Newton circled the colors of his spectrum and added the missing magenta, which is obtained by mixing red and violet colors and is added to smoothly transition from violet to red. If the spectral colors (from red to purple) are arranged in sequence in a circle, then a chromatic circle is formed.

The whole variety of colors is divided into two groups - chromatic and achromatic.

Achromatic colors are white, black and all shades of gray - from white to black.

Chromatic colors are spectral colors and magenta.

There are three groups of colors by combination - related, related-contrasting and contrasting.

Related colors have at least one common (main) color in their composition. There are four groups of related colors - yellow-red, blue-green and green-yellow. Carefully selected related colors provide great opportunities for color composition solutions. For example, green and green-blue are related colors; they combine well in compositions with different sizes of color spots. A large number of spots of one color and a small amount of another is a good solution. When using related colors in a costume composition, one or both of them are usually used muted. Proper strength of colors is achieved by selecting related colors in such a way that they are not very bright. Yellow and yellow-green, green and green-blue, blue and purple, purple and red, red and orange, etc. are related colors.

In a tone composition, a strong effect is achieved through the different lightness of the colors used - by introducing light and dark tones in contrast. Harmonious combinations of related colors are reactive, calm, soft, especially if the colors are slightly saturated and close in lightness.

Related-contrasting colors. There are also groups of related-contrasting colors - yellow-red and red-blue, red-blue and blue-green, blue-green and green-yellow, green-yellow and yellow-red. The harmony of related-contrasting colors is more active and emotional in comparison with related ones.

Contrasting colors. These are yellow-red, blue-green, yellow-green and blue-red. The combination of harmonious contrasting colors is especially active, since the colors are doubly balanced by their opposite qualities. However, not all contrasting colors are harmonious. For example, yellow-red and green-bluish are inharmonious contrasting colors.

Achromatic colors are also involved in the creation of the composition of the costume: white, black, blue. Black and white alone or in combination are perceived brightly, as they are in contrast to the background. Both - black and white - look noble and advantageous. Gray looks spectacular in combination with black and white. Black color has a strong influence on chromatic, especially medium in lightness and highly saturated red and green colors: these chromatic colors brighten, their saturation increases, they seem to glow. White, especially the strokes of chromatic colors, give the composition a peculiar flavor: the colors become airy, pastel; white color gives elegance to the costume.

The harmonious color scheme of a suit depends not only on the combination of colors, but also on how many of these colors are taken, what is the texture of the fabric. However, the recommended color combinations cannot be taken as binding.

The choice of fabric for the suit.

For the stage costume “Sudarushka”, we chose white crepe-satin for the shirt, since the white color goes well in any color compositions, and in the old Russian costume the shirt was always white.

A saturated blue color was chosen for the sundress, and related colors for the main finishing works: blue and light blue.

For a more emotional perception of the costume, contrasting colors were added to the decoration: red and green. A little black will add saturation to the whole suit.

Selection and justification of the material.

Crepe, crepe satin. The collective name for all fabrics with a granular knotted surface, acquired due to crepe twisting of yarn, interlacing of threads, embossing of fabric.

Crepe satin: satin weave, medium wrinkle, good drape, breathable, low hygroscopicity, medium heat protection. Medium shedding resists, as it has strong slip, high thread expansion in the seams. When WTO, it is necessary to take into account the thermal regime, since the fabric is made of synthetic and artificial fibers, and also has a shiny smooth surface, on which stains remain after moistening.

Possesses a good coloristic coloring of fabric, has the expressed gloss, strong coloring.

Costume analysis.

After analyzing folk costumes, we examined shirts, sundresses, ponevs. They decided to leave the cut of the shirt old, but use modern materials for decoration. Wide sundresses, ponyovs have a voluminous shape, and we would not like to emphasize the girlish figure, we chose a sundress with undercut barrels.

Model selection

Shirt: shirt cut, long sleeves, lace trim.

Sundress: semi-adjacent silhouette, undercut barrels, finishing - appliqué, embroidered braid, satin ribbon, slanting inlay.

Product finishing

Shirt: along the lines of the armhole of the sleeve, the bottom of the sleeve, the neckline, finishing with blue, lace sewing.

Sundress: mid-front line, bottom line - a blue stripe of blue crepe satin. The appliqué is symmetrical from the middle line to the bottom of the skirt. Contrasting trim with embroidered braid, bindweed braid, satin ribbon.

Construction

Construction of a drawing of the basis of a shoulder product with a one-piece sleeve.

Modeling, preparation of patterns for cutting

Sleeve: from point B2 along the line B2B5, measure the length of the shoulder + length of the sleeve, build a right angle from this point. Draw a parallel line from point G1 to the intersection.

Neck: set aside 2 cm from point B2, 6 cm from point B4, connect them with an arc.

Patterns: cut off the sleeve through points B1 and G2. Lines B1B6 midline and sleeve fold. We get three parts: back, shelf, sleeve.

Armhole: set aside 10 cm from point B2 (shoulder width). Connect the resulting point with a smooth line to the T point.

Neck: set aside 3 cm from point B2, 10 cm from point B4. Connect with a smooth line. Deepen the collar on the back by 2 cm.

On the line of the chest from the line of the middle of the pattern, set aside the measurement of the center of the chest. Draw a vertical line through the point from the shoulder line to the bottom line.

Patterns: front - middle part 1 piece, barrel - 2 pieces (cut along the oblique); back - middle part 1 part, barrel - 2 parts.

Expansion along the bottom line: expand the middle parts of the front and back along the bottom line from the waist line, expand the side details on both sides.

Manufacturing technology

Shirt: connect the shoulder seams of the back and front, connect them with the sleeves, making an insert of lace. Trim the bottom of the sleeve with gathered lace. Sew peplum for elastic band. Finish the neckline with gathered lace. Sew along the side line, process the bottom with a hem seam with a closed cut. Insert elastic band along the bottom line of the sleeve.

Sundress: before: connect the middle part with barrels, stitch a strip of finishing fabric along the line of the middle of the front. Run the appliqué on both sides with a finishing strip.

Back: connect the middle part with the barrels.

Connect the details of the product, process the armholes and the neck with a red oblique trim. Treat the bottom of the product with a strip of finishing fabric. Sew along the neck line along the cuts of the finishing strips with embroidered braid, a red satin ribbon.

economic calculation

Material Price Quantity Cost

crepe - satin 90 rub. 3m. 270 rub.

lace sewing 24 rub. 4m. 56 rubles

braid embroidered 8 rub. 5m. 40 rubles

satin ribbon 4 rub. 8m. 32 rub.

dublirin 50 rub. 1m. 50cm 75 rub.

threads (different colors) 10 rub. 6 coils 60 rub.

Total: 533 rubles.

We spent 533 rubles to make the costume. The table shows that the main costs were for the purchase of fabric. For the applique, a flap was used, which was left when sewing other products.

THEATER is a synthetic art form that allows us not only to hear, not only to imagine, but also to look, to see. The theater gives us the opportunity to be a witness to psychological dramas and a participant in historical deeds and events. The theater, the theatrical performance is created by the efforts of many artists, ranging from the director and actor to the production designer, because the performance is “a combination of different arts, each of which is transformed and acquires a new quality in this plan ...”

Theatrical costume is a component of the actor's stage image, these are the external signs and characteristics of the character being portrayed, which help the actor's reincarnation; means of artistic influence on the viewer. For an actor, a suit is matter, a form inspired by the meaning of the role.

Just as an actor in word and gesture, movement and timbre of his voice creates a new essence of the stage image, starting from what is given in the play, so the artist, guided by the same data of the play, embodies the image by means of his art.

Throughout the centuries-old history of theatrical art, scenery design has consistently undergone an evolutionary transformation, caused not only by the improvement of stage technology, but also by all the vicissitudes of styles and fashion of the corresponding times. It depended on the nature of the literary structure of the play, on the genre of dramaturgy, on the social composition of the audience, and on the level of stage technique.

Periods of stable architectural structures of antiquity gave way to the primitive stages of the Middle Ages, which in turn gave way to royal court theaters with self-sufficient luxury of performances. There were performances in cloth, in complex constructive scenery, only in lighting design, without decoration at all - on a bare stage, on a platform, just on a pavement.

The role of the costume as a "moving" scenery has always been dominant. The point of view on his "relationship" with the actor, time and history, and finally, with his immediate "partner" - the artistic design of the stage, changed.

In the process of the progressive development of the art of modern theater, the innovation of directing, the transformation of the method of artistic design, the role of the art of costume is not waning - on the contrary. With the growth of its younger and more flexible counterparts - cinema and television - the theater, undoubtedly, acquires in search and torment new forms of spectacular techniques, precisely those that would defend and define the position of the theater as the enduring value of an independent art form. The costume, as the most mobile element of theatrical scenery, is given first place in this search.

The high modern culture of theatrical art, the subtle and deep directorial work on the play and the performance, the talented acting of the actors require the artist who designs the performance to have a particularly thorough penetration into the dramaturgy of the performance, close contact with the direction. Modern design is not canonized by the rules. It is individual and concrete in each particular case. “The work of a director is inseparable from the work of an artist. First, the director must find his own answers to basic set design problems. The artist, in turn, must feel the tasks of setting and persistently seek expressive means ... "

Theatrical costume is first created by visual means, that is, a sketch.

THEATER COSTUME, performance element. In the history of the theater, three main types of theatrical costume are known: character, play and clothes of the character. These three main types of costume exist at all stages of performing arts - from ritual ritual and folklore pre-theatre to modern artistic practice.

A character costume is a kind of figurative-plastic composition on the figure of the performer, set in motion by him and voiced (by pronouncing the text or singing), sometimes hiding his figure completely, similar to how the mask covered his face. Examples of character costume in rituals and ceremonies of different countries of the world. The bell-shaped silhouette of the Indian costume was a paraphrase of the Nagar Shakhara tower-tent temple and the sacred mountain Menu (the center and axis of the world in Hindu mythology). Chinese - with its shape, design, ornamentation and color expresses the ancient cosmological symbolism of the natural alternation of Light and Darkness, the merging of Heaven and Earth in the act of creating the world. The shaman costume of the peoples of the North embodies the images of a fantastic bird associated with the "upper world" and an animal (an inhabitant of the "lower world"). South Russian is a kind of model of the universe. In the traditional performances of the Peking Opera, the costume was the image of a formidable dragon, in the Japanese theater "No" - the motives of nature, and in the Baroque era of the 17th century. - Fair or World. If for ritual ritual and folklore performances, character costumes (like all other elements of scenography) were the fruit of the work of anonymous folk masters, then in the 20th century, from its very beginning, artists began to compose them: I. Bilibin - in the opera The Golden Cockerel N. Rimsky-Korsakov (1909), K. Frych - in bure W. Shakespeare (1913), V. Tatlin - in Tsar Maximilian, P. Filonov - in tragedy Vladimir Mayakovsky, finally, K.Malevich - in the project victory over the sun(all three productions in 1913). And then, at the end of the 1910s - the first half of the 1920s. a whole series of character costumes were created by the Italian futurists E. Prampolini, F. Depero and others, O. Schlemmer from the German Bauhaus, and in the ballet - by P. Picasso, who showed grotesque Managers in Parade E. Satie and F. Leger - Negro Deities in Creation of the world D. Millau. Finally, the cubist costume "architecture" of A. Vesnin acquired character significance in the performances of A. Tairov - in Annunciation, his Suprematist compositions on the figures of heroes Phaedra. On other scenes - Y. Annenkov's "shell suits" in the play Gas G. Kaiser and A. Petritsky - in Viy, as well as fantastic collages as character costumes for the performance auditor, which were created by the students of P. Filonov (N. Evgrafov, A. Landsberg and A. Sashin) on the topic of stamps, coats of arms, seals, envelopes, etc. - the character of the Postmaster, recipes, signatures, syringes, clysters, thermometers - the character of the Doctor, bottles , sausages, hams, watermelons, etc. - the character of the Man-Tavern. In the second half of the 20th century costumes as independent visual characters, shown separately from the actors, as an element of scenography, were created by M. Kitaev and S. Stavtseva, and as various kinds of compositions on the figures of actors - K. Shimanovskaya, D. Mataitene, Yu. Kharikov.

A game costume is a means of transforming the appearance of an actor and one of the elements of his game. In ritual and folklore performances, the transformation most often had a grotesque-parodic character, when men dressed up as women, women as men, young men as old men, beauties as witches, or when various animals were depicted. At the same time, everything that was at hand was used: a zhupan, a sheepskin coat, a casing, a sheepskin - always turned inside out, funnier and more amusing, as well as any other, somehow ridiculous, “inverted” clothing, for example, over-shortened pants, an unreasonably wide shirt, stockings with holes, all kinds of tatters, rags, rags, sacks, ropes; everything that nature gave was also used: grass, flowers, straw, leaves. Finally, various artificial decorations were also used for dressing: colored paper, birch bark, foil, glass, ribbons, mirrors, bells, feathers, etc. The techniques of grotesque masquerading passed both into the performances of ancient Greek comedies and into the traditional theater of the East, where they were combined with the actor’s varied play with elements of his costume: long sleeves and pheasant feathers - in the Peking Opera, trains, towels and fans - in the Japanese “But”. Performances of Italian commedia dell'arte, plays by Shakespeare and Lope de Vega were built on endless disguises and disguises. At the end of the 18th century Emma Hart (Lady Hamilton) built her famous dance on the game with a shawl, after which similar techniques (manipulating scarves, bedspreads, veils and other similar elements of the costume) were widely used in the ballet theater of the 19th century, reaching their highest artistic height in the work of L .Bakst, whose sketches of choreographic images included the dynamics of various flying fabrics, belts, scarves, skirts, scarves, raincoats, capes, pendants, garters. On the dramatic stage, the tradition of the costume, which plays along with the movements of the actor, was continued - by means of cubo-futuristic expressiveness - A. Exter in the performances of the Chamber Theater Salome O. Wilde and Romeo and Juliet W. Shakespeare, followed by her student P. Chelishchev and other masters of the early 1920s: V. Khodasevich and I. Nivinsky, I. Rabinovich and G. Yakulov, S. Eisenstein and G. Kozintsev, finally again on the ballet stage, in the productions of K. Goleizovsky - B. Erdman. If during this period play costumes constituted a whole trend in scenography, then in the second half of the 20th century. they were used by artists and directors also quite widely, but out of necessity, as an element of the "palette" of means of expression available to them. Among the authors of modern play costumes are Georgian artists Sameuli, G. Aleksi-Meskhishvili and N. Ignatov, examples of a similar kind can be found in theaters of other countries: in Poland, in the Czech Republic, in Germany, in Italy.

The costume, as the clothes of the character, being, often, the basis for composing the types of costume discussed above (character and game), in all periods of the historical development of the theater, to a greater or lesser extent, there is an embodiment on the stage of what people wore in a given period . So it was in ancient tragedy, and so it remains in the performances of our day. At the same time, the general evolution of this type of costume was characterized by a movement from the conventional forms of real clothing (in the era of baroque and classicism) to its ever greater historical, geographical, national reliability, accuracy and authenticity. In the theater of naturalism and psychological realism, the costume becomes fully adequate to the character of the character, expresses not only his social status, but also his state of mind. At the same time, both today and in past centuries, the costume remains the subject of special creativity of artists (among whom are the most outstanding masters of fine art and set design) and they compose it (even seemingly everyday everyday costumes, not to mention fantastic ), not only as a separate work, but as an essential component of the performance.

"The part of the set that is in the hands of the actors is his costume."
French Encyclopedia.

“The costume is the second shell of the actor, it is something inseparable from his being, it is the visible mask of his stage image, which must merge so integrally with him in order to become inseparable ...”
A. Ya. Tairov.

Theater is a synthetic art form that allows us not only to hear, not only to imagine, but also to look, to see. The theater gives us the opportunity to be a witness to psychological dramas and a participant in historical deeds and events. The theater, the theatrical performance is created by the efforts of many artists, ranging from the director and actor to the production designer, because the performance is "the conjugation of different arts, each of which is transformed and acquires a new quality in this plan ...".

Theatrical costume is a component of the actor's stage image, these are the external signs and characteristics of the character being portrayed, which help the actor's reincarnation; means of artistic influence on the viewer. For an actor, a costume is matter, a form inspired by the meaning of the role.

The role of the costume as a "moving" scenery has always been dominant. The point of view on his "relationship" with the actor, time and history, and finally, with his direct "partner" - the artistic design of the stage, changed.

In the process of the progressive development of the art of modern theater, the innovation of directing, the transformation of the method of artistic design, the role of the art of costume is not waning - on the contrary. With the growth of its younger and more flexible counterparts - cinema and television - the theater, undoubtedly, acquires in search and torment new forms of spectacular techniques, precisely those that would defend and define the theater's position as an enduring value of an independent art form. The costume, as the most mobile element of theatrical scenery, is given first place in this search.

The high modern culture of theatrical art, the subtle and deep directorial work on the play and performance, the talented acting of the actors require from the costume designer who designs the performance, especially careful penetration into the dramaturgy of the performance, close contact with the direction. Modern design is not canonized by the rules. It is individual and concrete in each particular case. “The work of a director is inseparable from the work of an artist. First, the director must find his own answers to basic set design problems. The artist, in turn, must feel the tasks of the setting and persistently seek expressive means ... ". Theatrical costume is first created by visual means, that is, a sketch.