Theater Costumes: Alice in Wonderland

A costume design project I had to finish off my foundation year. I chose to design a costume for a gender-bent Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland". I took inspiration from the Tim Burton rendition of the story as well as several illustrations from the original "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carrol. I liked the slightly creepy and magical aspect of the Tim Burton movie, encapsulating the wonder, yet dangerous allure of the unknown. I also took historical inspiration from victorian-style dresses and combined them with outfits from the movie I liked to give the designs a modern look.

The project also involved sewing a garment and creating a background to display the garment on. I decided to sew a dress shirt with tiered puffed sleeves and a patchwork bodice. The garment was made with a slight unfinished look in mind to replicate the craziness of the Mad Hatter, but also his character's obsession with time. I used varying fabrics in a striped pattern to emulate the Mad Hatter's stripes on his jacket. I also liked how the different fabrics reminded me of the frequent mood swings that the Mad Hatter would have throughout the movie. The colorful fabrics really brought the magical, surreal world of Alice in Wonderland to life!

The background was made to look like a tea party table, decorated with teapots and cups overflowing with flowers. I wanted this background to exude the mystical feel of the Tim Burton movie, using foliage from the movie as inspiration for the colors and flowers. The background was made by painting the background, teapot, cup, and flowers separately and then arranging them altogether in Photoshop. This allowed me to play with the composition of the background.