"Nine" Show Girls


We just got done putting on a production of Nine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Oh this show I was the costume technician and my responsibility was to construct the headdresses for the show girls. I was really excited about this job. I had just been to Vegas over the summer and had been able to see an authentic Vegas Showgirl show. The costumes were absolutely gorgeous and I have to say, I was quite ecstatic at the idea that I could possibly work in Vegas someday. Also, I love millinery. Making hats is one of the funnest things in the world for me, next to mask making. hehehe. Needless to say, I dived right in.

The costume designer, Jenni Gratton, gave me some research of Vaudeville and Vegas show girls and things. Along with her renderings and sketches I was able to figure out the shape the hats needed to be. And with Rene's help, I was able to create a shape that would support the weight and height of the feathers as well as stabily stay on the girls' heads.

In constructing the headdresses, I was able to use a material I have never used before, FaShape. It was a wonder working with and was much faster than working with Buckram and much more sturdy. The only disadvantage to it is that if you have more than one layer of the material, it's hard to sew through. But it still worked out beautifully.

I made three headdresses. Two were the same and the third was slightly different. It was the same base and feather stand but it had petal decorations, more sequins, and it's feathers spread out across the front of the headdress and not straight up. I worked several weeks on the headdresses but they looked fabulous.

Along with the headdresses I also constructed the Showgirls' tail feathers. Our Cutter/Draper, Rose, figured out how to construct them and devised a plan of attack. I simply took her method and made them. We did have problems though once it was time to attache the feather boas. They were too heavy and the wire structure underneath buckled and bent. So I had to figure out how to make it stronger. I simply added more wire and supports then to give it a little more kick and bounce, we decided to add a belt. The belt help keep them tops snug toward the body, giving them more fullness and height. All in all.. the girls looked awesome.