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Introduction

My Final Research project for Practical Assessment 1 is going to be the examination, reconstruction and discussion of a William Travilla designed costume for Marilyn Monroe from the 1956 film Bus Stop. My desire to research the costume comes from an appreciation of the storytelling, construction, and experience of the actor wearing the costume. What does the costume tell us? What did the designer include and why? How was it made? What did designing it this way achieve and communicate? How would the actress have felt wearing the costume? Would it have impacted her performance? All these questions and more are what I would like to answer during this project. The specific costume I have chosen is Monroe’s boned, satin green showgirl leotard which her character, Chérie, wears throughout her saloon scenes of the film (Bus Stop, 1956). I have chosen to replicate this costume because it is a perfect example of the overlooked complexity of historical film costume and visual storytelling through costume. The costume has a complicated inner construction specific to the period and the design and condition of the costume was deliberately chosen by Monroe and Travilla to communicate to the audience Chérie’s lower status as a novice chanteuse immediately (Hansford and Homer, 2011, pp. 152-153).

To best visualise and communicate this process I have chosen to follow the work of YouTuber and Dress Historian Bernadette Banner, who studies historical dress through practical experimentation and documents her projects via long-form videos (Banner, 2021). The reason I have chosen to examine her methodologies and way of working is because I believe her videos are an effective and engaging way of communicating and displaying her research, process, and reflections throughout, similar to what I intend to do. The value of her method is praised in this 2020 article from Hyper Allergic, where they say, “Her discussions are rooted in a combination of extant garment… and secondary sources stitched together with educated guesses… to me they (Banner’s videos) read like gorgeously crafted lectures backed by thoughtful research, evidence selection, and time.” (Hyde, 2020). Banner’s style is, as the article said, very similar to a lecture in the sense it is researched and methodical but also conversational and open, following leads and thought processes which occur during the recreation of pieces. This style allows for an encompassing look at the costume, its construction, the context of the garment and any other issues which arise during her process. Inspiration from this structure I think would benefit my project because it is methodical but also open to exploring avenues and discussions which are unearthed during the process.

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Who Is Bernadette Banner?

To give further context to Banner’s history, she started out in theatre working in New York, aspiring to be a costume designer on Broadway, she began her journey as an unpaid intern which led to a job as a costume assistant. Before this she had wanted to be a film maker, and it is this love of cinematography and visual storytelling which would serve as a bases to her video style and YouTube career. As a design assistant she would work under a designer as a part of a design team, not making the clothes themselves, but researching and designing the costumes for multiple Broadway shows. She would then go on to apply to NYU and joined the Theatre Design Program, juggling her job and studies at the same time until having to decide to focus on her education until she had her degree. Throughout this time in her life, she had many mentors, her second, recognising Banner’s love of Dress History, introduced her to the School of Historical Dress in London where, as a part of her placement module, she assisted on researching for the 5th instalment of the Janet Arnold book series, Patterns of Fashion. She was unable to work there full time, due to the school not employing many of their workers full time but recognised her love of studying the history of dress and replicating, as accurately as she could, garments from the past. She desired to find a way to do so and earn a wage, and due to her rising popularity on Instagram where she would display her in progress projects, decided to combine her love of making movies and sewing and began creating video logs of her work to share on YouTube. (Bernadette Banner, 2020). It was on YouTube where she rediscovered her love of storytelling through video, and it is this collection of experiences, passions, and drive to continue learning and bettering her content which created her own unique methodology and style to her videos, which caught my eye in the first place. Her method of conversational discussion and methodical workflow with references and thorough research into the period she is addressing is combined with a cinematic feel due to her filmmaking background blended with her knowledge and experience as a dress historian.

This combination of methodical structure to the work and creativity along with an inviting enthusiasm makes her videos engaging, educational and entertaining to watch. I will also go through an analyse her own anecdotes regarding her attitudes towards video creation, her methodologies and examine her video making process more thoroughly to better understand her steps, thought process and tricks to emulate her style when documenting my own research project.

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In Her Own Words - Video Style

“I do cinematic… I like to tell stories with video, the subject being sewing. I am not trying to teach you anything, I am just trying to take you along on my journey” (Bernadette Banner, 2020) This is how Bernadette Banner herself described her own style of video making, she wants to take the viewer on a journey through her process and articulate that process in a cinematic way. It is this philosophy which is the core of her work and one I intend to keep in mind when creating my own, to cinematically present the process of researching, creating, and reflecting on a sewing journey, I will do so by emulating other facets of her style, the shooting style, editing style and her own project process.

“Everything is planned for me … usually I will have a vague subject... but I will not start shooting until I have a title… just because I find that that helps pulls the thesis of the video out… If I have that really intriguing title first, I know that I can then shoot the video with that sort of theme in mind and make sure that I deliver on the title. So, I don’t do shot lists or storyboards… but I do plan the overall theme and the storyline of the video before I start shooting”. (Bernadette Banner, 2020) 

In this quote Banner summarises her first steps approach to creating a video, and that is to create an engaging title which not only would catch the eye of a viewer but so that she can determine for herself the arc the video will go on, and what will be covered. This is a very valuable piece of information to have as it allows me to create a title and a thesis in one go for the video, giving myself a constant reminder and goal to keep in mind so I can stay on target and deliver a concise and interesting documentation of my work. Definitely one of the exercises I will have to do after this section of the research is to go through her video titles and closely examine her naming conventions, and then going off of that as a bases I will begin to brainstorm the title for my own video.

 When discussing her video persona, Banner said “I do often use the word character because I like to equate it to a novel. In order to have a good novel you need to have a good story and you need to have a good protagonist… but that doesn’t mean you need to be fake” (Bernadette Banner, 2020). What Banner is saying here is that she presents as herself in videos, with no real character or barrier between her and her audience to an extent. Though she does value professionalism in her writing, she later recalls an anecdote where she used the phrase “my jam” to describe something she is passionate about in her video and that was met with a large positive reaction from her audience. Banner’s use of professionalism mixed with humanity is something that makes the videos more relatable and resonant with her audience and this is an aspect I will use throughout my own video process because of the effectiveness in regard to telling an engaging story. I do not want my video to be a robotic reading of a script or an unscripted mess, I would like to utilise the Banner method of interweaving the two and brining natural charisma, to help convey the story of the garment which I am telling.

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Video Analysis – Drafting, Fitting and Making a Victorian Corset

One video series of Banner’s which mirrors what I intend to do is her Victorian Corset two-part video series. The first part of which she spends discussing research while creating mock-ups of the garment, problem solving and using research and resources to inform her making process. (Bernadette Banner, 2019). The second part deals with her finalising the pattern she has drafted and completing the project and trying on the garment, reflecting on the process, what was learned, how she reacts the final garment and so forth. (Bernadette Banner, 2019). To better understand the structure of her video I will break down the first video into bullet points, this will help me as it will give me a guide as to the kind of structure my final project should be similar to. One detail to note already are her video descriptions, she uses these as a bibliography, where she leaves all of her links and references to what is discussed in the video, this is a brilliant way of documenting her process, something I could do at the end of the video perhaps. This will be a great help as it will allow me to understand in more detail her steps and method of thinking when creating a video and when tackling a project, especially one as similar as mine.

·        Introduction – To camera - Setting up the thesis of the video.

·        Cutting up a paper mock-up – overhead camera shot – with live audio.

·        Discussing the mock-up – Camera in hand – with live audio.

·        Time-lapse making – sticking the mock-up together – music overlaid.

·        Discussing the mock-up – in mirror conversation about the mock-up.

·        Remaking the pattern – combination of shots showing all of the process quickly cut together with music and narration over the top of the video.

·        Aside to camera about construction – camera in hand – with live audio.

·        *Special note - at this point she does further research to check her process and materials*

·        Return to construction – cinematic multiple shots with music and scripting where needed.

·        Another aside – Camera in hand - with live audio.

·        *Alternating between the two styles to continue the process*

·        Another mock-up examination and reflection, using speculation and educated guesses to continue process – to mirror – camera in hand.

·        Further discussion of the item and indication of intended further education on the topic from an experienced maker.

·        Video of Banner watching live call – audio of the call can be heard – this is further research into the garment construction.

·        To camera addressing what was learned – summary of advice and comes up with a new plan on what their next step is.

·        Creating a new mock-up from another pattern – similarly shot with cinematic and over the shoulder shots of the process, with voice over and music.

·        Discussing the new mock-up pieces – camera in hand with discussion.

·        Further construction with voice over, music and cinematic shots, camera in hand mix, with live commentary discussing their rational and process.

·        Fitting the new mock-up – mirror shot – voice over and discussing what next step is and reflecting on the new pattern.

·        To camera discussion – deciding to combine mock-ups.

·        Over shoulder shot – live audio – combining the patterns and discussing their process.

·        A faster process showing the cutting out process – cinematic and over the shoulder.

·        New mock-up reflection – mirror shot- love audio – discussion on the draw backs and advances of new pattern and being critical on their progress.

·        Cinematic sewing shot with music – documenting their next step mentioned in the previous narration.

·        Final mirror shot – final reflections on the process and the journey, reflecting on their garment and experimenting and editing.

·        Final glamour shot of the item with narration – cinematic and music to video end.

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My Plan of Work

After having had a close look at the way Bernadette Banner structures her videos, her views on her video creation process and other insights I have gleamed from her process, I have come up with a working plan as a start for my project. Not only this, but I have conducted further research into specific parts of her processes and created a list of exercises or workshop activities for myself to undertaking before and while my project continues. These activities will be incorporated into my plan as well as separate entities which I will do around the project to help develop my skills, understand, and apply what I have learned from Banner’s videos and create as good as an outcome as I can.

The basic plan I have come up with is as follows.

1.      Begin with Research –

·        Find as much information I can on the garment which I aim to recreate, what was it made of, how was it constructed, where is it now, what is known about it?

·        Finding out as much as I can about the designer and their methodology, using the existing information and sources to help me create my replica in a way as similar as Travilla would have.

·        Who is the character of Chérie? Why would she have worn this? What does the costume tell us? Why was this costume designed the way it was?

·        How did people sew in the 50s? What techniques were used? What equipment? What can I use today to recreate/emulate these finishes?

·        What was available to sewers of the 50s? Textbooks? Instructional books? What did they say?

·        Who else can I draw from to help recreate this garment? Asking for more information on the garment through different sources. Finding people who do similar work. For example, James Kelly London is another YouTuber who creates vintage Hollywood Costume Recreation videos, reaching out to him and consulting his expertise. (James Kelly London, 2021).

·        Consulting existing garments from the time and comparing their construction to inform my own process and knowledge of the item.

·        Begin buying the items I will need, fabric, thread, trims, hardware, accessories.

·        Finding patterns which could help my recreation, for instructions or panel layout.

·        Examining the item and collecting as much research as possible. Taking screenshots from films, more research into the history of the item, where it is now?

2.      The Creation Process –

·        Film the entire process, making sure to set up cinematic shots to emulate Banner’s style and sense of storytelling.

·        Creating mockups of the item to get it as close to the original as possible.

·        Experimenting with the information that I have found and applying it to my practice.

·        Referring to my research and others expertise throughout and conducting more research when needed.

·        Evaluating my work as I go and reflecting on my process.

·        Moving from test versions of the costume to a final more detailed and assured creating process of the final garment.

·        Wearing the finished garment and discussing the experience and other observations I have on the process.

·        Overcoming obstacles which present themselves with informed decisions or further research.

3.      Bringing it Together –

·        This is where I will bring together the footage I have shot and begin to edit it into a final video.

·        Scripting voiceover where necessary and conducting further research if required.

·        Editing the video together in a similar style of Banner’s, making sure to use music, shot composition, colour values and other elements to capture the project.

·        Reflect on the process, adding in and expanding upon any elements which were not fully developed or needed more explanation.

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Exercises and Workshops

Creating an illustration of the garment – During many of her videos Banner is seen to create costume renderings of her projects, so that she can both have a clear visual end goal but also so that she can further understand the item she is trying to recreate, capturing its details in a drawing. This is an invaluable exercise because it would also mean that I would have to carefully study the item I am recreating to render it in a similar way that Banner (and coincidentally Travilla) did. This studying is a first step to understanding the details of the item, before researching further and understanding elements such as seam placement, techniques used and how similar garments were made at the time. Banner has a dedicated video on their figure drawing and illustration process which I will use as a guide when creating my own illustration, (Bernadette Banner, 2019).

Examine Existing Garments - Another exercise Banner does is to look at existing garments or patterns from the time to inform her process, for example she uses a Victorian corset pattern in her Victorian corset video and during her Jolly Holliday evaluation and research video she has two garments on hand to examine closely. (Bernadette Banner, 2021). These garments were able to inform Banner on how the items went together, the stitches that were used at the time, the style of dress from the period, the fabric choice, and the construction of how the items went together. This is a brilliant resource as it allows the researcher an intimate close up look at other garments to use as examples so that one can fill in the blanks in knowledge that they have. For example, I will be able to research and find any existing 50s showgirl costumes and compare them to what I will be able to find on the actual costume and a better understanding of how the item went together. This will allow me better chance of being as historically accurate as possible and creating an item which is true to its routes and allows for as authentic an experience possible, so my observations of the item are reliable and based on fact.

Title The Video - Going off of what Banner herself said about the importance of titling to a videos thesis and giving the creator a solid base to work out from and go back to whenever they are creating a cohesive piece of research and narrative, I will evaluate her video titles and come up with my own title for my project. Doing so in this manner will, as Banner said, be very helpful and conducive in giving myself a solid base to work from as a thesis, this is very important to my process as it will mean that I have a cohesive story to tell throughout and refer to when scripting, filming, researching, and reflecting on my project.

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Bibliography

Banner, B. (2021) About. Available at: https://bernadettebanner.co.uk/about (Accessed: 6th March 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2019) Basic Figure Drawing for Costume Designers || My Costume Rendering Process. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4s0GGbMX1w (Accessed: 5th March 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2020) Behind the Screens: YouTubing for Creatives | ft. Morgan Donner, Costuming Drama, Abby Cox. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXTNADDYYys (Accessed: 11th March 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2020) Careers in Fashion History ft. Raissa Bretaña. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qNvD3cqzks (Accessed: 10th March 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2019) Drafting & Fitting Victorian Corset Mockups on an Asymmetrical Figure [Corsetmaking Part 1]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhc05WtISV4 (Accessed: 2nd Match 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2019) Making a Victorian Corset || 1890s Symington Pattern [Corsetmaking Part 2]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWzXDuwrAgQ (Accessed 3rd March: 2021).

Bernadette Banner (2021) I Redesigned Mary Poppins’ Jolly Holiday Dress Based on REAL Edwardian Lingerie Gowns. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWR-7GtUnmA (Accessed: 1st March 2021).

Bus Stop (1956) Directed by Joshua Logan [Film]. United States: 20th Century Studios.

Hansford, A. and Homer, K. (2011) Dressing Marilyn The Timeless Dresses of William Travilla Designed for a Hollywood Star. 2nd edn. London: Goodman Books.

Hyde, J. (2020) Learning Mindfulness from the Art of Victorian Dressmaking. Available at: https://hyperallergic.com/535278/bernadette-banner-youtube-dress-historian/ (Accessed: March 8th 2021).

James Kelly London (2021) Sewing The Scarlett O’Hara Screen Test Dress From Gone With The Wind. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKWz25rOw9g (Accessed: 30th February 2021).

Julian. (2019) How Much Money Bernadette Banner Makes On  YouTube – Net Worth. Available at: https://naibuzz.com/how-much-money-bernadette-banner-makes-on-youtube-net-worth/ (Accessed: 4th March 2021).

Rivieccio, G. (2019) Bus Stop: A Film That Didn’t Do Justice to How Marilyn Monroe Fought to Break Free from the Studio’s Stereotype of Her, Nor Is It Much of an Acting Stretch From Her Own Life. Available at: https://www.culledculture.com/marilyn-monroe-bus-stop/ (Accessed: 4th March 2021).