THESIS: Turandot Master’s Report ;

The University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film, & Television

Over Winter Break 2019, I was assigned Part I of a two-part thesis project. This project required Graduate Students to source and budget a show, hire a costume shop team, and also create two fully functional mock-ups.

We presented our final paperwork and pieces in January 2020. Below, you can see the process and some of the source pictures for this project.

Female Build

This is the process for the flags and the flagpole harness. I went through several different ideas before arriving at this one. The flagpole holder is removable and the backpack-looking piece is washable and adjustable. You can see in the finale picture how I draped over this piece to make the rest of the look.

Here you can see the draping process for some of the differently shaped pieces I was asked to construct. The sleeve was a very trial-and-error process, and I ended up having to cut a very full bishop-style sleeve in order to create the shape in the rendering. I also used a partlet pattern for the top armor-looking piece, and all the armor pieces are constructed using felt-backed vinyl that was painted silver with leather paint.

Male Build

This is the full process for the male look. You can see the progression from basic block to fully finished mock-up. The mock-up is lined with a slightly stiffer tafetta in order to preserve the structure. The sleeve is a set-in dolman style sleeve that is billowing and has good movement. And the Chinese jacket overlaps and ties under the front layer, and closes with frog closures.