From Idea to the Fabric: Costume Making at the Opera and exchanges with other Parisian stages
Résumé
This article analyses the costume-making practices at the Opera during the 18th century and its relations to the practices at the other main stage for the opera productions in France – the royal court and its department of Menus-Plaisirs. Several steps of costume design and making are distinguished, from the initial idea (expressed e.g. in costume programs), via drawings towards the cutting, sewing and decorating of the garments. At the same time, various people who were involved in this process are identified, many of them mentioned in print for the very first time – librettists, designers, providers of materials, tailors and seamstresses, but also performers who had their own ideas about what they would like to wear on stage. This process required many people, high degree of planning, organization, and regulation, but it was not devoid of ruptures and conflicts.