Valerie L. Cavooris

I ventured out into the world of costume design on my own (no other designers or mentors!) with The Glass Menagerie.  I performed research, garment selection, and alterations.  Thankfully, I had student crew members to help with the process since there was not much time between the beginning of the rehearsal process and tech weekend.  Special thanks to my student costume assistant Samantha Aurandt.

As is stated in the text, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play.  With this in mind, I kept the costumes simple and minimal, the way one might remember a person in their favorite outfit.  Laura and Tom live in one color family, muted blues and tans, while Amanda lives in a whole other color palette, bright reds, creams, and brighter blues.  Her bright colors speak to the extravagance of her character compared to the demure Laura and the working man Tom.  Amanda's clothes also appear a bit outdated for the 1930's, as she lives in the past in the golden days of her youth.  In the Gentleman Caller scene, Amanda wears an extravagant white gown from her catillion ball.  Laura also wears a simple white dress, a symbol that Amanda is trying to make her a version of herself.  Despite her limp, I put Laura in high heels for this scene, as I believe that Amanda would have forced her to learn to walk in them for the sake of the Gentleman caller.  The Gentleman Caller, Jim O'Connor, has a color palette all his own with yellows, oranges, and browns.