Costume+Rationale+Paper

//A Streetcar Named Desire// Costumes

Stanley is described as “a different species” (Williams 18) by his own wife in // A Streetcar Named Desire // and this characterization remains a theme throughout the show. Because of this, I chose to make Stanley’s color scheme mostly bright red and vibrant green. These colors demonstrate his animalistic nature because both red and green are prominent colors in nature, and it makes him seem like he is his own jungle. The only time he strays from green or red is in the very opening scene, where he is wearing blue work clothes, a costume specified by Tennessee Williams. When he is wearing these work clothes he is also holding a “red-stained package from a butcher’s” (Williams 4), and the literal rawness of the moment is brought up later in the play, so wearing less bright clothes allows the meat to stand out in this scene. Overall, the obnoxious color palette fits Stanley’s character because he is driven by his base desires. These desires put him in direct conflict with Blanche for a number of reasons, and this conflict is central to the play.

Much of Stanley’s conflict with Blanche comes from his relationship with Stella. Stella often represents Stanley’s desire, and I wanted her clothes to constantly tie her to him. She wears mostly soft reds and pinks, which pairs her with Stanley, and she is sexualized by many of her clothes, like her short dressing gown and the many red dresses she wears, which often symbolize women of loose morals. However, I felt that her clothes should also portray a hint of innocence, which is why she wears a bit of white and why I portrayed her in my sketches as blonde. Throughout the play, Stella is torn between her desire for Stanley and her love and loyalty for Blanche. This split in Stella’s motivations is why some of her clothes are purple, which connects her to Blanche and shows her sympathy for her. This connection through purple is why Stella wears purple in the final scene, but since she wears both red and purple, it shows her conflict. She betrays Blanche before this scene by sending her away, but is also devastated by the change in Blanche and falls apart immediately after her departure. I wanted to capture this schism within Stella through her color scheme, because I think it is central to her character and because Stella is a bridge between Stanley and Blanche, and when she is absent that becomes especially clear.

Mitch is another key bridge between Stanley and Blanche, which is why I chose to make his colors softer and less garish than Stanley and the other men in the play. He always wears at least an element of purple so that this color is tied to him in our production. I chose purple as Mitch’s consistent color because it is cooler than red and could come in many shades. For example, his bowling shirt is a deep violet with gold accents, because when Mitch is with the other men he blends in. However, the tie he wears when on his date with Blanche is a lighter lilac to show his softness as a character. He wears a dark summer jacket and black pants on his date with Blanche, and he wears the same costume in the final scene when Blanche is being taken away, because it seemed fitting that he would wear dark colors, as if he was in mourning for her, for the final scene.

Of course, the center of // A Streetcar Named Desire // is the woman who rides that very streetcar into the home of Stanley and Stella. Blanche’s costumes are a bit of an enigma, because she is one as well. Because she never quite fits in, I felt that her clothes should be out of place, so even though the show is set in the 1940’s, her wardrobe is inspired more by the 1950’s. I made this decision because the full skirts of the 1950’s are more reminiscent of the hoop skirts worn in the Antebellum South, which is where Blanche seems to think she comes from. The 1950’s were also a more dramatic and flashy time period for clothing, and this fit the description of her clothes made in the script. Most of the colors Blanche wears are specified by Tennessee Williams, and she wears quite a bit of white to create her “moth-like” appearance throughout the play. I chose to associate Blanche with a pale green in addition to her other colors, so her “moth” dress at the beginning has green accents, and her floral dress has green accents as well. Overall, her costumes are over-the-top in a kitschy way, the text mentions all of her costume jewelry, and I portrayed this with her jewelry, hats, and in costumes like her red dressing gown that has overly dramatic sleeves, and an obvious comparison to Stella’s similarly colored dressing gown that is far simpler. For her ballgown, I wanted her to look like a failed attempt at an Old South “Southern Belle” with puffed sleeves that are no longer puffy, a full skirt, boning sticking out of her bodice, and yellowed white satin. This gown is the most overt example of what all of Blanche’s clothes represent: a swing-and-a-miss at being a proper Southern Belle. This portrayal is not simply in her clothes, but is a trait that is constantly revealed in her character, and the chasm between her perceptions and hopes for herself and her reality is what makes her such a tragic character.

There are many characters in // A Streetcar Named Desire // who do not appear on stage for a long time, but they all contribute to the themes of the show. There are several female neighbors, namely Eunice and an unnamed character referred to as “Negro Woman.” In costuming these women, I wanted to set a baseline for what “normal” people look like in the world of the play, so they wear very classic 1940’s silhouettes in classic colors. By having this baseline for normality, it makes Blanche and Stella’s costumes stand out and helps to characterize them. Similarly, Steve and Pablo look more like Stanley so that Mitch stands out as the least animalistic of the group. The “Young Man” that Blanche kisses wears very light colors, yellow and white, and a sweater vest to convey his innocence. The “Mexican Woman” wears a bold floral print to emphasize the flowers she is selling, and the mix of pastels and bright colors in the print symbolize how Blanche is falling apart inside during that scene. The Prostitute and Drunkard that appear in scene 10 parallel what Blanche and Stanley wear in this scene. The prostitute wears a dress with the same bodice and silhouette as Blanche’s ballgown, both demonstrating the trashiness of Blanche’s attempt at glamor and connecting Blanche’s rape to the Prostitute’s struggle with the Drunkard. Similarly, the Drunkard wears a bright green shirt that matches Stanley’s green silk pajamas, drawing a parallel between these characters. In the final scene, the Doctor and Matron who come to take Blanche wear typical uniforms for their professions, but are especially washed-out: the blues in their shirts are extremely pale and foreshadow the stark whiteness of the facility that the audience assumes Blanche is going to. These supporting characters complete and emphasize the characteristics of the costumes of the principal characters.