WWardrobe talk at institute’s latest meeting
PRESTBURY WI kicked off its 2015 programme with a visit from some volunteers who work in the arts.
‘The trials and tribulations of being a wardrobe mistress’, saw a pair of dedicated ladies from Wilmslow’s Green Room come to talk to the group.
The Green Room Society was founded in 1924 and is one of the oldest amateur dramatic societies in the UK.
In 1989, a fundraising mission saw a Victorian cottage and an old shirt factory converted into the modern theatre that is still used today in Wilmslow.
Jacque Bilsborough and Pat Barrow are part of a team of eight ladies who help in its wardrobe department. Jacque has been a keen sewer for many years and puts her interest in the theatre down to her father who was a scenic stage designer. She told the group about the pressures the wardrobe department and what makes a good worker.
Jacque said: “To work as a volunteer for the society in the making of costumes you have to have a love of detail, be a lateral thinker and be prepared to be outrageous.
“Clothes for actors and actresses have to be designed to allow for movement, suit the mood of the play and be cost effective.
“When a producer wants to put on a play, they meet with the wardrobe ladies and the technical people to determine the nature of the set and to look at entrances and snags.”
Together the ladies explained that not all the costumes used for the plays are made by them as storage is limited and they do hire costumes from places such as The Royal Exchange or from Stratford upon Avon when necessary.
Pat said: “There is really nothing worse than designing and making a dress and then realising the actress or actor wearing it would not fit through a narrow door or entrance.”
Two rails of costumes were brought along to the evening, at Prestbury’s Village Hall, so the ladies of the WI could look at the creativity and detail that goes into making them.
As each costume was taken off the rail, both Pat and Jacque gave its history to the audience.
The president of Prestbury WI, Julie Cordingley, said: “I thank Pat and Jacque for a most enjoyable evening, we will look at costumes with different eyes in future.”