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When I began researching I had a set idea and plan, I needed to know the 1920s fashion. What was trendy, what fabric they used, what was new and what followed through from the previous era, this information is really useful for me to research because it helps me create designs and begin a theme for my ideas and creative vision which all collectively helps me with the success of the production.

My research was useful to me because I was able to learn about the era and how fashion turned out the way that it did, I found that in my research the 20s in America saw a huge economic boom which meant there was money to go around and more money to be spent, this lead to fast consumerism and fast fashion. Fabric started to change it was suddenly lighter than their older counterparts and colour was finally being accepted into everyday wear. As well as this women was more widely accepted to be more freeing for example the flapper girl era began, women were beginning to have more rights for their body and in the work place, progression was starting!

Knowing all this research about the era was extremely useful I could use this information and create accurate designs for characters that represent this new boom in colour, light weight and fast fashion in the 1920s this skill really aided me and my designs came out amazing because of this, the directors saw the hard work and approved the designs.

I also began researching possible costumes and items we could buy online, I created a list of where we could find these items, who they could be used for and how much it would cost, this was really useful information that would help me during the production and before it. Because the information was gathered before hand it meant I didn't need to waste time researching and finding these items later on when time would be scarce.

I used my skills to be able to pick out the best possible deals from the best sites, a skill that I learn't from other productions when we had even less budget than we did in this production, being able to save as much budget as possible by simply being able to spot good deals is really important and useful because it means I'm saving budget for contingency plans and for other costumes.

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https://padlet.com/hollie90naylor/g6opkzqpyaql4yn9

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https://padlet.com/hollie90naylor/4bfgq99t0uvsxxy2

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When we held meetings they had a very specific purpose, these meetings were to have briefs, to understand the theme of the production, to discuss requests and update on any progress and express dislikes and likes. We often had targets we had to hit because of these meetings, these targets were things like getting tasks done on time, researching anything the director wanted and we weren't sure about or to get any evidence ready for the following meetings like designs.

In our first few meetings we were given a few targets to work towards and that was producing designs, this target was the first and it had to be done within a week of being told ready for the next meeting, being able to hit this target was important so we could move on fast to the next parts of the production as well as this they're a good way to show progress and get any feedback from. When we were able to hit the target within the one week time limit we were able to show our designs to the directors which they approved with no further feedback.

From the notes we had taken and our designs we were able to set targets from the meetings on what costumes the director wanted us to either create or find, these notes were things like an Army costume for young Gatsby and party dresses that were flexible. These targets were really useful because even though we had our designs improved it gave us a better understanding of other costumes the director was looking for and what they need to be like for example we found out the dresses needed to be flexible.

In the next meetings after we had obtained the costumes we began showing some of the finished costumes to the director so she could approve and give any feedback to them, she approved majority of the costumes giving Alex the second costume manager some feedback on how short she wanted a particular green dress to be and she wanted George Wilsons costume to be dirtier. This was important to do as it show our progress and it was also useful because we knew the director loved what we had created and found and she was able to give us some feedback.

At the very end of the production in the last meetings I had let the director know that the actors needed to bring in their own shirts and trousers as well as shoes as we didn't have the supply or the budget, Danielle the director said that was fine but asks us to set a target that was to create a spreadsheet detailing all the costumes we had for every person, item by item and what those actors had to bring in for themselves, we agreed and I created it that same night.

We also had an unplanned meeting with just me, Alex and the director after the costume parade were we discussed the progress on costumes and the costumes Danielle would bring in from her costume hire shop that she knew about, this was incredibly useful as we knew exactly what costumes she would bring in to finish the gaps that we had left that we just couldn't get costumes for, this made it really feel like a team effort and it taught me that I always have other people I can rely on.

Because we were able to hold meetings to review progress and set targets from our evidence and ideas we were always on top of everything and able to be in front, this was incredibly useful because it meant we were never behind schedule and could always focus on the next job instead of being caught up. Without these meetings it would of been hard to move on and know what we had done was okay.

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The costume parade was the biggest part of the production before the production week began, its where we were given the most feedback that identified issues and improvements we could do to fix those issues.

The first issues we came across was the suits trousers didn't fit, the top half of the suits were perfect but the trousers were really big, the simple fix was to take in the trousers at the sides but this didn't work for everyone and we had to come up with something else this something else was Danielle, our director said that anything that didn't work would be fine as she was able to go to her own local costume hire to get missing costumes. This was really useful as it meant we didn't need to have a melt down on getting costumes we didn't known how to get, with the trousers that could get taken in, Danielle approved it and they came out fine.

Danielle spotted that some of the dresses straps kept failing down, I said I could easily sew the straps to the girls bras to keep them up, an old solution but it worked and Danielle was happy with that.

Danielle also spotted that Gatsby's white costume was covered in stains, she asked that they be washed but I said I couldn't risk the washer destroying the costume as it was a hire costume, she suggested that she took the costume home to her mother but I didn't feel comfortable with that either. I took the costume home to hand wash and scrub the stains out with great success, Danielle was really pleased with me being able to fix this issue and we didn't need to find a new white suit.

Danielle also requested that I get a bigger overall suit for George Wilson because the one I had brought out fitted too perfectly and the character is suppose to be dirty and to not be bothered about his appearance, as well as this she wanted the costume to be dirty. I said I would do this but actually forgot...it work out well that I forgot because she wasn't happy with the size of the overalls anyway, I was able to get bigger overalls the next day and make them dirty, fixing this issue and improving the costume easily.

Everything after that was minor feedback, jobs that were things like sewing hook and eyes to dresses that had open backs that made the actors uncomfortable, hooks and eyes are the easiest to sew and fix those issues which is why I suggested it as an improvement, taking in costumes like a waist coat that looked too baggy, this was an easy improvement as I just needed to sew a dart in the side to make the costume look more fitted, all I needed to do was take the actors measurements and sew a triangle dart shape in the sides, after that Danielle wanted other accessories like army hats, police jumpers, glasses and shoes, this was an easy fix as I got all these items from the costume storage with ease. The last issue that Danielle wanted us to improve was basic laundry jobs such as ironing shirts and sorting the rail out ready for the production week.

With all these glaring issues out in the open, we were able to take notes throughout the parade and then afterwards I took all the notes and compiled them into a very easy to look at checklist, this list was really useful as I was able to complete these jobs the very next day and fix all these issues and respond to the feedback Danielle gave us.

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The only legal document that I was in charge of was creating a risk assessment, this risk assessment was really important and if I didn't create one and someone had an accident with something basic like tripping I could get in serious trouble for not creating an assessment that has precautions and preventions for something that could of been avoided, an assessment also allows me to have a greater understanding of dangers that are posed by costumes and allows me to know what to look for and what to prevent, without doing this assessment I might not know what to look for.

In my assessment I went over: Covid, fire dangers, tripping hazards and sewing equipment. I chose these dangers as they're most common and because I didn't have any special stunts in the production I felt that there wasn't anything special to write about and the basic categories are pretty important too.

I wrote about Covid as it's still a threat especially when working with a lot of people in a small space, despite restrictions being greatly pulled back, it's still important to write about all the precautions and how I could prevent a Covid out break. Because Covid is so likely I felt that I needed to go into detail to ensure that I know the risks. This was useful and I was able to make sure everyone was safe in the production, I think an actor did end up getting covid but was swiftly replaced in the show and they were told to stay at home, my assessment was a success and it made sure we as a department wasn't liable.

Fire hazards are no joke, we work with equipment that can cause a fire everyday in this department and because we work with those machines an costumes are highly flammable (fabric) I needed to make sure that I wrote all the precautions and how to prevent a fire; such as fire exists or proper fire training, this means I know what to do when a fire does happen and how to help others like being able to direct others to a fire exit.

When working with sewing equipment we are posed with multiple threats that involve tripping hazards and possible bodily harm (I should know as my finger went under a sewing machine needle last year), I wrote about sewing equipment and tripping hazards separately as they're both big problems on their own but do go hand in hand with another, because we work with sewing equipment on a daily it's a pretty obvious and prominent danger that's very likely as well as tripping hazards. This ensures I know how to handle and act around the machinery and what to watch out on the floor.

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The fitting room took a little bit of planning and I took a lot of consideration in from last year, it's important that the fitting room is planned well and is tidy because the actors with spend a massive amount of time inside that room and anything unplanned could pose a risk to them, the costumes and ourselves. If the fitting room is handled with care everything else will be too.

The first part of the plan was to create a seating plan, this meant creating labels with the 34 actors names on and sticking them to the back of chairs, these chairs were then placed under desks and stacked up for the actors to use, these seating plans are really useful as it means we know everyone has a seat to use which is just a nice gesture and it means the room isn't crowed with people stood up. It makes the room look neater and less dangerous.

I also created signs with rules on them, these were basic rules instructing others to not touch things they weren't suppose to, to not eat and drink to keep the costumes safe, enter and do not enter signs for the dressing area and to just generally respect the staff by being silent and listening to us. These signs are important for us because it's basically backup and evidence so others can't say they forgot or didn't know about a rule.

We also ensure that the costume rail was organised and ready to go for the production, this means getting costume tags displaying the actors name and character and then having the costumes following the tag as well as this we had girls costumes on one side and boys on the other to make costumes easier to find and not jumbled up in on big mess.

The last things we prepared was the changing area that we created by using 2 big foldable screens, giving the actors plenty of room and also emergency sewing kits, these sewing kits are really important, they hold black and white thread with two needles, buttons, wipes, bobbles and clips and a pair of snips and unpickers. These sewing kits are really important because they hold everything we use during the production and without them it would cause serious issues and could hold up the show for example we always use thread to quickly fix costumes or sewing straps to bras to keep dresses up and subsequently we need the snips and unpickers to remove our quick tacking.

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Budget is a massive part of the beginning of the production, the budget allows me to begin buying, hiring or sourcing costumes. I have to create a budget proposal to my tutors that they have to approve before I could begin to buy anything at all.

My first online budget was a flop, it was way too expensive and wasn't what I wanted to go with at all, my second budget proposal was still out of budget but it was approved, it was out of budget because originally the director wanted the ensemble to wear trench coats which took a huge chunk out of the budget where we were already choking due to the sum that the hired costumes was going to take, luckily the director scratched this plan and the playhouse also let us know that the original price for the costumes would be in fact cheaper, this left us with a way bigger budget left over that I kept as a contingency plan.

I created these budget sheets on google spreadsheets as it has a really neat and professional layout to create a budget plan, It worked well with being able to present this budget to my tutors and I could refer back to it when asked about the budget or whenever I need to refresh my mind on the budget we have and what we're spending our budget on.

My budget sheets were all really successful, they did their job which was to communicate what the budget will be spent on and how much I need for the production they also worked really well as drafts, because each budget got lesser and lesser I made multiple budget plans, each one taught me a valuable lesson on what I could improve next time if I created another budget plan.

Without creating a budget plan I wouldn't be allowed to move on at all, it needed to be looked at and approved by a tutor to ensure that I knew exactly what I was buying and that it was all okay to get. If I didn't create a plan I wouldn't know if I would have any contingency or even how much everything would cost which would create a serious problem as I need to convince my tutors that my budget is reliable. This would all hinder my creative vision as I wouldn't be able to buy anything without proving my budget which would either make getting costumes slower or not having costumes at all.

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With scheduling we worked off of a paper schedule on the wall that showed us how close things were like costumes parade and production week, this helped us produce plans on what needed to be done each week to be able to be on time for the parade and then show week as well as this we create scheduled lists on the white board that were tasks that we were working on or going to work on throughout that week. Our schedules we never planned out as far as the one on the wall and the scheduled Wednesday meeting every week, we usually planned what we needed to do that week on the first Monday, this method worked well and we were always way ahead of all our jobs.

Our schedule on the whiteboard would present our names and then the tasks we were going to do that week, after we had finished that task we would tick it off and find something new to get on with, we would also have any upcoming events wrote down like going to a meeting, going to the Playhouse hire or the costume parade, this meant we didn't plan to work on something and get a shock when our schedule said otherwise if we had something more important, we were always well aware of what was going to happen that week and why. This was useful as it helped us work towards targets and deadlines because we always had a understanding on how close the production was or the next important event like going to the Playhouse (I call this an event as it took up the entire day).