About the project Contacts Costume design Venues Concept to completion

COSTUMES Costumes for the play were based on the clothing of the Middle Ages.  As far as possible, the aim was to use fabrics of appropriate colour, weight and drape and there was fascinating information on costume of this period which assisted us in pattern cutting, fabric selection And construction. There was an enormous list of things we needed to make or acquire!  Besides the garments, we needed boots and shoes, purses, hats, belts and girdles, masks, banners, Crowns and jewellery. Garments included tunics, gowns, cloaks, surcotes, head-dresses and gloves. There was tremendous scope for anyone wanting to help to exercise their skill and ingenuity, and we wanted the project above all, to be fun, not a chore!  Couture standards were not required! The costume designer were involved in cutting patterns and sourcing materials and they were available constantly for advice and help with construction.  THE PLAY The play was set in 1280 and costumes reflects clothing from about 1260 to the early 1300s. The later period was the source for the younger characters, underling the difference in fashion between the older generation and the younger. THE CUT OF CLOTHING At that time was quite simple, covering thebody well, garments being draped during the earlier period, and fitted gently to the figure later. There was little superficial adornment.                    Men of all classes wore variations of the tunic, such as the GARDCORP, COTTE and CYCLAS, and a CLOKE. Women wore GOWNS such as the COTEHARDIE, with MANTLES or SURCOTES. Headwear included the COIF and HEADRAIL for women and the HOOD and CAP for men. Gloves were both functional and fashionable. FABRICS were of wool and linen for the poorer classes, often lined with fur for warmth. The nobility wore silk, velvet (a recent import from Italy) and expensive furs and sable (reddish), vair (siberian grey squirrel),and miniver (white). Fabrics were not printed during this period of English costume - any pattern was woven into the cloth or embroidered onto it, and fragments remain of exquisite silk damasks.       Cloth of gold silk woven with incredibly fine threads of gold was also worn by the wealthy. Cotton was grown and spun in Italy during the medieval period and was a luxury fabric. Ornamentation consisted of embroidery and decorative borders around the edges of tunics, gowns and mantles. Knitting is an ancient art, and amongst the lower classes items would have been knitted from home-spun wool. The word KNIT comes from the Anglo-Saxon word CNYTAN. JEWELLERY was worked in gold and silver and gemstones, which were not faceted like modern stones but remained in a more natural rounded form. COLOURS of fabrics depended on the use of natural dyes, usually (but not always) from plants. Dyeing was a filthy and smelly business involving the use of substances such as urine to enable the cloth to take up and fix the dye. Common plant dyes such as madder root (red), weld (yellow) and woad (blue) were available to all. Beautiful rich and vibrant colours were obtained by overdying cloth in a succession of different vats. Other dyestuffs included onion skins, which gave orange, privet (gold), walnut shells (brown) and lichens, which gave a range of grey, so were used as mordants for dark neutrals and black. Colours were often known by French names, reflecting the Norman influence following the conquest: brun (brown), cendre (dark grey), cramoisy (crimson), jaune (bright yellow), paonce (peacock), ynde (indigo), mezeron (rose purple) and per (deep blue) amongst others. THE CHARACTERS The play contained a wonderful assortment of characters, some of whom are based on real historical figures, such as Henry III, his son Edward (known as Longshanks because of his stature) who subsequently became Edward I, and Eleanor of Castille. There were also devils, a dragon, a fool, various scholars, monks, nobles, a beautiful girl from Fressingfield and some jolly rustics! Costumes were very varied, and were made from gorgeous fabrics for the nobles and rougher more homely fabrics for the poorer characters. Henry III and Edward were Plantagenets, the English royal line and a branch of the Angevin dynasty which arrived with Henry II and continued until the death of Richard III at the hands of Henry Tudor's men at the battle of Bosworth. The name Plantagenett comes from 'planta genista', the shrub we know as broom, which was used as the motif on his badge by Geoffrey of Anjou, father of Henry II. In the play Edward married Eleanor of Castille and this is based in historical fact. The Spanish influence Eleanor brought with her transformed royal apartments by bringing wall tapestries, along with Moorish and Persian carpets and items of incredible luxury. The marriage of Edward and Eleanor was by all accounts a loving one. She bore him fifteen children, giving birth to the very first Prince of Wales, born in 1284, whilst resident at  Caenarvon. When she died Edward, who had survived the Crusades and an assassination attempt, and had fought ruthlessly in war, was devastated. To mark her last journey he erected nine crosses at places along the route, and in London 'chere reine' (beloved queen) cross became the Charing Cross we know today. England was at this time a great producer of woolen cloth, the making of which had been perfected by the Anglo-Saxons. English woolens were held in high regard on the continent, bringing in much wealth, and East Anglia was a huge producer of wool and a centre for weaving. Later, during the fourteenth century, Flemish weavers settled in East Anglia, particularly in Norwich, and even today there remains evidence of the weaving industry in the few remaining weaving houses, recognizable by the very wide windows on the upper floor, designed to admit the maximum amount of light. Edward formed the Guild of Merchant Tailors and Linen Armourers to protect and develop the industry.