Chorus Costumes

I was watching She Done Him Wrong (Mae West & Cary Grant, 1933) and had a crazy thought.  What if we had a chorus line in the next Rumpus Revue?  The chorus line in the film was dressed simply: swimsuit-style bodysuits, striped leg warmers, and really big hats.  I watched the film last Thursday and decided it was doable.  My plan was to buy three blue swimsuits and stick some rhinestones on them, buy three hat bases and leg warmers, then make the magic happen.

That's when it happened.  I had some downtime at work and needed to make something.  Idle hands and all that.  So I dug through my spare fabric and found this stuff that was given to me by Penny Starr, Jr. in a junk bag three years ago.  Sure, the fabric was red and black, but it was free.  I have a one-piece swimsuit pattern I copied from Evie.  Free time + free fabric + free pattern = three chorus costumes.  I cut them all yesterday, stitched the fronts last night and today, and ordered swimsuit cups and elastic today.  I'm fresh out of power net, so I'll have to pick up some of that.  I'm going to drop a few sequin appliques on the finished swimsuits to gussy them up.  Yes, I am spending some money on them, but I'm saving by using free things.

For the hats, I've decided to go the DIY route.  I have buckram.  I need some liquid starch and and some measurements (and guidance from the internet).  I'll spray paint the hats black, hand stitch some black bias tape around the brim, embellish with some red and black stuff I have in one of my two craft rooms, and voila!  I'm still going to have to buy stuff for leg warmers (or get them ready made), but the dancers can supply black fishnets and shoes easily.

Because of the color palette and simple style, these costumes can be used for more than one show.  They're not restricted to a particular theme.  I'll post photos when they're done.