Design a Costume for a Character from a Play

The play I have decided to design costumes for is Shakespeare is a Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play is involves a duke, a queen, Greek townspeople of Athens, a number of fairies, and a group of working men that are made to put on a play for Theseus’ marriage to Hippolyta. As I get to play the costume designer, I am imagining the setting during the European renaissance, as opposed to Greece. The play’s costumes, along with their make-up, should have a mythical, regal feel, and have the characters dressed to suit their personalities. I am going to address a few characters and their respective costumes:



Theseus and Hippolyta should both be dressed in a very kingly fashion, in renaissance attire, to suit their status.




They would both be very pompous, and look as though they are of a higher class than the others from the play.


The next costume I would like to address would be the outfit of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow. His costume would need to show off his mischievous personality, and the fact that he is a fairy. I would probably dress him in forest colors, so he could blend in to the period of the play.



He would have be dressed like this person, and have his hood up. I imagine him shorter and without the belly.


The next costume I would like to address would be that of Lysander and Demetrius, as I imagine their costumes would be relatively the same. They are both commoners, although prominent figures in the play. I would imagine them in earthy colors, as being commoners they probably would not have had access to dyes like purple or red.




Along with Lysander and Demetrius, I would also have to design costumes for Hermia and Helena. They are also commoners, and would be dressed in the same fashion as Lysander and Demetrius. Their outfit would be like the woman below, who is modeling.



The final character I would like to design for today would be that of Nick Bottom. His head had been turned into that of donkey by puck, and he lacks his common sense. It would be fun to design his costume, because not only he would have the head of a donkey, but because I imagine he would also have his outfit mismatched. The perfect movie that comes to mind for inspiration for Nick Bottom is Shrek, as it involves Donkey, Shrek, and other characters, such as Puss in Boots, from whom Nick might steal clothes.



Overall, being a costume designer would be a fun and rewarding job. It is an outlet for creativity, and it is rewarding through seeing your design on the big screen or a stage.