The Great Fashions of Gatsby

The world of Jay Gatsby and his elite circle are brought to life on The Grand’s MainStage with The Great Gatsby.  Bill Layton, who has done costume and set design for many shows at The Grand including The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz, is back as Costume Designer for The Great Gatsby.  Layton was excited to have the opportunity to explore the world of the 1920’s. 

To find inspiration for Gatsby he went straight to the source and re-read Scott F. Fitzgerald’s classic novel.  He said it was easy to find Fitzgerald’s vision, “He (Fitzgerald) describes things in his novel in great detail – he had descriptions of what they were wearing and how they were living.”

He was also able to look through photographs from the 1920’s to see what they were wearing at the time.  “They were tasting their freedom after the world war,” he says of the unconstructed dresses that females donned at the time. “It was a beautiful era; pieces were covered with ornate hand beading. And their outfits moved as they did dances like the Charleston.” Layton explains.  He says the women accentuated their outfits with feathers in their hair and accessories with lots of beading and glitter.

While women were exploring their freedom with fashion, men were still very formal, wearing shirts and ties and cufflinks.

In this show, Layton says we are going to see a lot of white and neutral colours.  The story is set in the dead of summer. The characters continue to be dressed to the nines in the sweltering weather, but  wear light colours to ward off the heat. “It’s amazing, they are all in white. But there are hundreds of shades of white, neutrals and creams.  It’s gorgeous.”

Come see the beautiful fashions of the 1920’s come to life on The Grand’s MainStage. The Great Gatsby runs February 14 to March 3.

Costume: Jordan Baker's flapper-inspired party outfit.

Costume Design by Bill Layton.