����tv

If you enjoy watching Doctor Who, you probably have your own favourite villains – perhaps the Cybermen or the Daleks. Costumes like theirs make such a huge statement that they dominate the role and the actor becomes part of the machinery. Their voices are even changed electronically. It’s worth noting how these costumes affect and enhance the performance if appropriate. A Cyberman’s metallic costume would make it easy to move in a mechanical and non-human manner.

Another kind of fantasy costume are the pantomime dame’s dresses. These are likely to be exaggerated versions of fashions or styles with preposterous colour schemes. Do they make you smile just to see them? Are they designed to support certain comic routines?

Ordinary clothes

If you’re writing about actors performing in ordinary contemporary dress there will be phrases appropriate to their style:

• office wear
• casual clothes
• party clothes
• morning dress (for weddings and funerals)
• work clothes
• uniform

However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that there is nothing to say about ordinary clothes. A costume like this should be carefully chosen to create the right impression of the character. Think about where you go to buy your clothes. Does your friend go to the same place? Do your parents or grandparents? Just thinking about this should make you realise that clothes say very specific things about a person and they must be carefully chosen for a character and their situation. A vest top suitable for the beach would not be the right costume for a receptionist in a smart office. Costume reflects not only the personality of the character but also the era, style and ‘feel’ of the production.

Hats, shawls, canes and umbrellas

Are these costume or properties? They are possibly both. An item like a cane can complete a look as well as being used as a prop in the action, so don’t be afraid to describe something like a long-handled umbrella as part of a costume, if you feel that you should. Doctor Who wouldn’t be Doctor Who without his sonic screwdriver!