Costume Review, Remix and Rendering #4: FENCES (2016)
REVIEW
Here’s a quickie little synopsis before I get into my review.
Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!
We’re in 1950s Pittsburg where we meet husband and wife, Troy and Rose Maxson. Troy is a factory worker who has a penchant for drinking and cheating on his wife. Rose, is the hard working long suffering wife and mother of their teen son Corey. Troy has an older son, Lyons, from a previous relationship, who is lazy and trifling. This negro don’t know the meaning of work.
Corey and Troy have a falling out over Troy playing football versus working after school at a local market. Troy, who had a failed baseball career is trying to protect his son from possible disappointment down the road. Uh, projecting much?
Meanwhile, Troy gets his sidepiece pregnant. She dies in childbirth so he brings the baby home, and his wife agrees to raise her. Excuse me?!
Fast forward to like ten years later. Troy has died of a heart attack. Corey comes home from the marines for the funeral but is STILL mad at his daddy and doesn’t really want to go. Lyons is on furlough from jail where he’s serving a bid for forgery…shocker. Corey eventually decides to go to the funeral after telling his little sister Raynell some of the stories he recalls his father telling him.
There’s also a side store with Troy’s younger brother who came back from the war mentally impaired and Troy’s guilt over not being able to care for him fully.
And yes, there’s a fence that needs to be built, earlier in the story. But I think the name of this piece is more about the fences we build around ourselves, our hearts, the fences we use to keep people out or trap them in our lives.
This story is wild, y’all! But I do love this story…I just don’t love the movie. I usually hate when plays are adapted to film because it still feels like a play to me. And this play is no exception. But I did feel that the production design and costume design was excellent. Everything felt period and location perfect. I did appreciate the effort. I just still felt like I was watching a play and not a motion picture.
REMIX
I really loved Rose’s simple day dresses. There was one she wore, a light check with a rounded collar and coupled with an apron, that I found particularly delightful. What Sharen Davis did for Ruth’s wardrobe was keep it simple, but neat. The Maxson’s aren’t rich, so she wouldn’t have a treasure trove of dresses at her disposal. But what she wore was always presentable, appropriate, yet still feminine and pretty.
To incorporate the feel of an apron, I used a vintage pattern that included front pockets in the location of where apron pockets would land. I also used a vintage fabric, that I was gifted from the wonderful people in the LACC Costume Department
Pattern: Butterick 6055 Misses' Circular Patch-Pocket Dress and Belt
Fabric: Orange/black/gray plaid from LACC Costumes
Style: Dress
Vintage/Contemporary: Vintage Reproduction
