The Shape Of It (Part 2) (Patreon)

“None of this is happening in an ideal order,” I remarked to Marika apologetically. 

With both of us fully vaxxed, generally anti-social these days, and occupying a similar position on the spectrum of conservative behaviour for COVID avoidance, we’d decided to have an (gasp) in-person meeting outside on her front porch.

“Ideally, I would have time to have worked on setting my choreo with Roberto and have a clearer idea of what we require of the costume," I continued. "But … we’re sort of needing to do everything at the same time.”

“Is what it is,” Marika said gamely, spreading out the tracer paper drawings she’d carefully drafted for the meeting. She’d drawn layer after layer of costume options so that we could explore the kinds of garments we might make out of latex, and play with the order that they would be removed in.

I don't have a copy of Marika's drawings to share with you right this second, but I had to draw up my own (bad) versions to show the Montréal costuming team what would be going beneath the pieces that they're responsible for. I can at least share those with you! Here’s what we ended up with ... loosely*:

[*I caution you against interpreting my illustrations at the bottom of this post too literally ;) ]

• The base layer will be a high cut pair of briefs over fishnet stockings, and a cone bra that Marika will cleverly fill out with silicone implants. The bra will come off easily with some small magnet attachments on the straps for the ‘final reveal’ moment of the act (the same time that my wig comes off), before the lights cut to black.
  
•  On top of that will be an underbust bodysuit with – as Marika calls it – a “drive-through zipper”.
  
  “What on earth is that?” I asked.
  
  Marika gave me a cheeky grin and mimed it out with her hands. “You know,” she said, giggling. “It goes from here–” she started her hand at chest height, lowering it down to where the crotch of the body suit would be, and continued around to the back of her body, all the way up the rear of the imaginary garment, “–to here!”
  
  “OH,” I said, laughing. “I like that! I could take that off with a leg scale trick,” I said, wheels turning.
  
  “I have no idea what you’re talking about but I’m sure it’s cool,” Marika replied.
  
•  On top of these two ‘layers’ of costume (the ‘underwear’ look of just the cone bra and bottoms, and the ‘bodysuit’ look that still has my midsection covered), Marika had drawn long sleeves that could be chlorinated* (*chlorinating latex makes it smooth like silk, and far less ‘sticky’ than untreated latex) so that they could be easily removed, and a pair of harem pants. I suggested that the harem pants could have some kind of ‘peekaboo’ style closures along the outside, fastened together with strong magnets so that they’d stay put while I did a trick sequence, but easily separate without straining the latex when it was time to do a reveal for the next costume layer beneath it. (BONUS: peekaboo style harem pants always remind me of traditional Mongolian contortion costumes, which will never not be a win in my books).

 Finally, Marika sent me a bunch of vector files of art nouveau and art deco decorative designs. “Pick some that you like and let’s see how we can incorporate that into the final design,” she said. “On the waistband of the harem pants or the ankle cuffs, on the sleeves or the bodysuit, et cetera.”

*ignore my colours here, I was just doodling on my base drawing at one point

If there’s a cherry on top to be found, I’m hoping there’s a world where I can choreograph in some audience participation to one or two of the costume pieces removals, somehow – like attaching a long string of pearls or a fine chain with a magnet on the end to one of the costume pieces that’s to be removed. Maybe I could hand the end of that string to an audience member to hold as I walk away (thus peeling off / unfastening the garment). Everyone loves non-threatening audience participation! ;) 

This pivot has ended up being a happy accident: I think that going with a 1920s informed latex under-costuming is resulting in a stronger concept the whole way through. Marika says she’s starting to draft the garments this week – by the time you're reading this, these garments will be [hopefully!] well underway.

***************

[to be continued]