the rise of designers is very recent, with the simultaneous rise of directors. in the past, actors ordered their own costumes, in patterns just traditionally passed down and within the vocabulary of the stories and roles
a master says no costumes are entirely the same but many are similar, because actors would often order costumes by saying I want something like that and makers would just copy off the cuff a bit
the speaker on a specific production she worked on with a dance sequence that usually features handfans. to kick it up a notch, they had dancers gesture w their skirts, with the principal using an oversized fan of ostrich feathers, painted by hand to match the others' ombre skirts
speaker points out modern underlayers typically are two pieces so they can be adjusted for actors' heights, but one of the costumes on display has an underlayer one-piece because the actor would own it and it'd be custom made for them
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