Behind the scenes: Cinderella Costumes
ABOVE: Jessica Horn who plays a Mouse (as well as a Villager and Ball Guest) in Cinderella, gets a fitting in the skeleton of her Mouse costume.
LEFT: This is a photo of one of the horse masks in progress.
Costume Designs for Cinderella by Gillian Gallow.
A Grand Transformation
Gillian Gallow is the talented costume designer behind the spectacular costumes of Cinderella. She took on the task of transforming Cinderella from a peasant into a princess, creating a magical fairy Godmother and making the step-sisters delightfully wicked.
One of Gallow’s unique challenges has been to transform humans into furry animals, such as horses and mice. For inspiration for these costumes she went straight to the source, examining photos of animals from all angles. She also found herself analyzing toys and puppets to see how other people interpreted these critters.
“I also researched fashion from many different time periods and I tried to find elements that echoed some of the animalistic qualities in a human way,” explains Gallow. “One of the most useful forms to me was a contemporary trend of loose-fitting pants that have really low crotches which shorten out long human legs. This really helped to create the proportions of mice that have really large bodies compared to their tiny legs.”
Watch for Gallow’s magical creatures throughout The Grand’s production of Cinderella.