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In the absence of a costume designer, the dressers are responsible for preparing the visual image and maintaining the integrity of the costume conventions. Rather than create newly designed costumes for every production , each Jingju troupe or academy collects a range of conventionalized costumes. The costumes can either be hand-embroidered and made to order from a factory or purchased from specialty shops. A troupe’s costume stock normally contains an assortment of garments that can be used for each of the roles as well as the supernumeraries . An old saying, “shi mang, shi kao” (ten court robes, ten armor), refers to the standard costumes a troupe needs to present performances. The emphasis is on obtaining the expensive, highly embroidered costumes ,oneineachofthetenmajorcolorsandpreferably duplicates in black and white. Then troupes either continuetoexpandtheirstockwithanassortmentof pi(formal robes), xuezi (informal robes), and other garments, or they borrow these costumes from others. When preparing the costumes for a traditional Jingju presentation , the dressers make selections for each character from the range of items available in their stockroom, or from other companies and the actors themselves, who sometimes have their own costumes prepared especially for them. Training The training for dressers usually begins around age fifteen , with preparation occurring in five fundamental areas: the names of the garments and their patterns of wear, costume plots, which consist of lists of costumes worn in each play, dressing techniques, storage rules, and an overall understanding of traditional Jingju performance and Chinese culture. Studentsbeginbylearningthenamesofallofthegarments . The next step involves memorizing and understandingwhichgarmentsarewornbyeachroletypeand when. This includes the necessary items of clothing and the colors needed to represent that specific image and the occasion. Since many role types wear garments with the same name and form, students learn to choose the color and ornamentation that make the ensemble specific to a given role type or a named character. In addition , only certain accessories are worn with each garment , and only the appropriate headdresses and shoes can be combined with each set of clothing. The second aspect of learning the dressing skills is to commit to memory the costume plot for hundreds of plays. A costume plot represents an inventory of all the componentsofdressforeverycharacterandtheirsceneby -scene changes for each play. These plots are based on established dressing traditions, and the teacher will train the student dressers play-by-play and role-by-role. Students are also required to attend numerous performances and memorize the costumes in use. In the past, wardrobe workers were illiterate and could not record their art, so information passed orally from master to student. More recently, efforts have been made to record the costume plots for plays, and there are at least F DressingTechniquesandCostumePlots 244 @ dr essing techniques a nd costume plots two books of costume plots published in Chinese.1 Some of the playscripts also contain costume lists, but not all of them. Student dressers also learn how to assemble the garments on the actors. Many of the images require layering , and the dresser not only learns the components but also the sequence of items for preparing each image. Every costume is worn in a specific manner, with some entailing complicated knots and lashing. Many of the garments are adjusted to fit the actor only in the process of dressing, and the dresser needs to know the folding and fitting techniques as well as how to secure the garments with belts and ties. Learning how to store the costumes so that they can be retrieved for subsequent performances is equally significant, for the system of costume storage is as closely regulated as the wearing of costumes. Each type of garment must be folded by a particular method so they can be stored flat in stacks on shelves in the wardrobe cabinets. Because the garments are folded inside out to protect the embroidery, each stack is arranged by color and frequency of use so that they can be easily located. To assure an accurate representation of each character , dressers learn all aspects of the visual image, including makeup and headdresses. Dressers also need to comprehend the overall aesthetic that defines the style so they can make choices that are both accurate and pleasing from among the available garments. Their education may also include courses in Chinese culture and history to give them contextual knowledge of the garments appropriate for selection. The training lasts for two to four years.2 Patterns of Selection Whenpreparingcostumesforaperformance,thedressers make their choices of garments according to traditional patterns for the role types and specific characters...

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