You are what you wear

The Words of Wisdom this week are You are what you wear. Often when you are going to appear in a production you will be called for a costume fitting, so that you may be kitted out with whatever you are going to wear in the performance. This call serves a dual purpose. Firstly, obviously, to make sure that the clothes fit you properly. But secondly, so that you have the experience of what it feels like to wear the costume. Our clothes give out strong signals about ourselves and what we are like and conversely, when we are acting, they tell us a lot about the character that is wearing them. The fitting gives us an opportunity to feel how the clothes hang and how we move in them. Once you consign that knowledge to your sense memory, you can draw in it again in rehearsal, even though you may not then be wearing the costume. Imagine the effect of wearing a variety of different clothing: a military uniform, a crinoline, surgeons' scrubs, white tie and tails, a peasant's smock, a wetsuit, a tight corset, high heeled shoes. I once had to wear the vestments of a Roman Catholic priest. I felt quite sanctified! You are what you wear.