If you aren't a theatre person you might not know how all of this works. First, a lot of costumers have the actors wear the proper undergarments even though they might never be seen by the audience. That is because the underpropers are often responsible for the shape/silhouette of the costume. So it does make a big difference as to how the costume reads to the audience. Certainly the audience might not know the historical difference from one shape to another, but some costumers would say that it informs the performance of the actor and helps create a character. I am no costume designer, but I work in the costume shop as part of my graduate assistantship.
I do a lot of hemming and a lot of cleaning and organizing. Nothing amazing, but I do take a lot of pride in my work and really enjoy seeing things I have worked on grace the stage. And then... the show closes and there is the lovely strike of the set and costumes. Basically that means that the set gets taken/torn apart, some of it goes in to storage and some of it winds up in the trash. Costumes on the other hand get put into storage. But of course- they have to be cleaned first.
Lots of shows (especially modern/non-period pieces) go straight into the Costume Shop's washing machine and dryer. Some of the more elaborate and frufru costumes get dry cleaned- especially things like suits and coats and other stuff that you dry clean in real life. But then we have some specialty items. And for this show... that was the 20some corsets worn by the female members of this rather large cast.
And here now we have gotten to the root of this blog entry. I volunteered to clean, by hand, in a sink all of these corsets. Frankly I don't mind cleaning things, I hate hanging things back up in the storage (dust ball central) and kinda wanted the bragging rights of saying I tackled all of those corsets.
But as I was cleaning them and my hands were getting wrinkly and dried out I began thinking. As I switched between washbasins and rinsed each on individually I realized what I was doing was the same thing women did 200 years ago. There is no different or new way to wash a corset. Now certainly I had more modern soaps and water that came out of a tap and was warm automatically, but in the end, I was still standing bent over a basin in a dark basement-y room washing underpropers.
I have always been a person who wonders what has happened in "this place" sometime in history. The costume shop has its own history - at one point it was a dissection room for the science department- but I just thought of all the women who had washed corsets. What were they thinking, what was crossing their minds? Were they washing their own or were they too doing it to earn money.
Yes, before you get all negative nancy on me, yes I realize my cleaning corsets in 2011, in a heated building, at my graduate school, so I can pay for "fun" stuff is very different than women in times past. I know that. But it really just made me appreciate all of my opportunities and conveniences that I enjoy daily.
When I finished I placed them all in a large tub and walked outside into the 40 or so degree weather. It was sunny and bright out with very little wind but the air was crisp and cold. I twisted a line between some trees and began to hang these corsets on the line- Lord knows you don't put them in a dryer!
People were walking by because of the change of classes and as I put each on the line I saw the hot water turn into steam and evaporate off into the air. It was a really interesting and moving experience. I have taken Feminist Theory this semester and it has challenged my thinking in some ways. Combine that with my upcoming nuptials and I've had "womanhood" on my mind a lot lately.
I really want to seek a balance. I want to take care of my family and I also want to chase my dreams. I am blessed to have a partner who supports me and my desires, and a set of parents who have provided a great example.
But for about an hour it was kind of delightful to imagine the life I would have led 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 200 years ago. What Lauren would do if she was living in those times. How would I be different? Would I have ever gone to the theatre? How would I have ever met a man from Iowa? Shoot, would I have lived to see 23? Gasp- would I already have children by now? Would I have been a scholar? I really enjoyed imaginging.
Oh and I'm really thankful that I have to log off to go put jeans in the dryer. Even if it does mean having to put shoes on and walk 50 feet. I won't complain.
