OK... I signed on to costume Forever Plaid.   I have not yet read the play or ever seen it.  I do know that the four boys get plaid jackets at the end of the play, and in looking online at other productions it appears they appear in white coats and ruffled shirts most of the rest of the play.  I did run across one picture though that has them in very outlandish outfits... do the boys do some kind of kooky review in coconut bras and Valkirie helmets? 

am I in over my head already?

I am a fair seamstress... would it be advantageous to build the plaids and rent them out to other shows?  Anyone elses experience costuming this play would be appreciated

thanks

I have directed Plaid twice. For costumes I rented tuxes with white dinner jackets for the four Plaids and classic tuxes for the piano player and the bass player.(Actually, we exchanged for ad space and just paid the cleaning fee. It was a great deal.) You are going to need to have, along with the plaid jackets, plaid bow ties, plaid cumberbunds, plaid pocket squares, and plaid sashes. We bought a whole bolt fabric so it would all be the same and we had enough left for extra touches like a piano shawl.The kooky costumes you are talking about are part of the Ed Sullivan sequence. They fall more under the catagory of props then costumes. I would say that the costumes are easy if you can construct jackets. There are quite a few props in the show, but it is not too bad.  Really it is all about the voices and the personalities.

As far as renting out the costumes after, it hasn't worked for us. We have lent our props out, but not the jackets. The chances that you are going to have four guys all they same size in two different shows is slim and the jackets have their names embroidered on the inside and they really should match.

L.

Linda  Thanks so much... That really helps a great deal.  I think I could make the jackets and such... the cost of renting those has seemed prohibitive to me and perhaps we could use plaid jackets again in something else.

My only hope is that she doesn't cast any gigantic boys   :)

I had one Plaid 6'3" and 140 lbs. Gorgeous voice, but it was like dressing a toothpick!

L.