Noah Salviati: Costume Designer
Costume Design Artistic Statement: Me as a designer
Costumes, to me, are what makes the character. As an actor myself, I always feel the most in touch with my character when I wear their shirt, or their hat. I slowly become less and less myself and feel more like my character. Costumes not only shape the characters’ physical appearance, but they can fully change how the actor acts. The importance of costumes has been something I’ve focused on for the past three years. I’ve designed many shows and built and designed many costumes and I always feel the same excitement of seeing it up there on the stage every time. Every costume is important, from the lead to an ensemble member, every article of clothing should be just as detailed and just as fitting to each character type.
When I am designing the costumes in a show I like to think exactly who this character is. Their personality, their age, how they hold themselves, their backgrounds. All of this determines how I costume them. The first thing I do, every time, is assign a color or color scheme to each character. I use the information I stated previously to come up with the most fitting color for the character. Sometimes the color is based on an emotion the character gives off or sometimes it's as simple as what looks best on the actor playing the character. Color is very important to my design process. For example, I designed a modernized Commedia dell’Arte play called the Love of Three Oranges. The show took place primarily in the Kingdom of Hearts where most of the leads resided. I took that tiny detail and made every actors costume based on a deck of cards. Anyone who lived under the King of Hearts, Silvio, wore red and white only. Anyone under Fata Morgana, the evil witch of the show, wore black and white. These colors essentially symbolized the characters motives. If they were “good” or “bad”. A new character could introduce themselves and the audience would immediately know what to expect based simply on the color of their clothes. In any show, costumes is the first impression of a character. No matter what, the audience is already forming an opinion of the show based on seeing the character for the first time in whatever they are wearing. Aside from color, I focus on style. What style goes on what character. Is this character a very rebellious teen in the 1800s? Then her skirt might be hemmed a little shorter than the others, and her shoulders might be slightly exposed. Is the character flamboyant and loud, they might wear loud colors and have fun patterns. The style of costumes is one of the most important things to focus on when designing. Especially in period productions. One must make sure to keep the integrity of the show and the characters, and remain truthful to the time period and location. Style helps communicate the characters personality further and can say where a show takes place and when before it’s even stated. Costume design is one of the most rewarding design areas I’ve ever done. Being able to make a costume and see it on the stage is incredible. Or getting applause during a production for how amazed the audience is by your Fruma Sarah dress. The pride in grabbing fabric and turning it into a dress or a shirt is one of the greatest feelings. Every show I costume design expands my knowledge further into what a certain character type should wear, different styles of suits and skirts, different patterns, and so much more. Costumes, to me, say “This is my character.” |
Costumes, to me, are what makes the character.” |
*Please proceed through the gallery section which provides both professional, and self taken photos of my previous costume designs, and check out my individual show pages which go into depth with my design for each show, and explanation for designs concepts.* |
Professional photos taken by Steve Wiley. |
http://stevewyliephotography.com/f680997743 |