An Ordinary Girl's World: Fashion, Love, Life

So this is a special request from my little sis, the best little sis EVER! She sent me such an encouraging letter the other day telling me how proud she was of me and I just want to say I love and I'm really proud of you too sister!

Ever since she suggested doing Nurse in Romeo and Juliet I've been trying to figure out what would be the best representation of her character, should I have the chance of running a Romeo and Juliet production . This post like all other dreaming of the show post will be done in the process of costume designer. To find out more about costume design and dreaming of the show posts you can click here.

Nurse from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Time period and place I would set it in:

21st Century America

I don't know if there is anyone who isn't familiar with the plot of Romeo and Juliet but it can be found here. Just to refresh your memory, it is a play about two teenagers who fall in love and who come from opposing families in a long standing feud. They have to meet in secret and after they get married in secret, it is hard for them to stay together because of the feud and because of Juliet's father's insistence on her marriage to Paris ( the suitor her father favors). In order to stay with Romeo, she and Friar Lawrence come up with a plan of escape. They decide Juliet should drink a potion to put her in such a deep sleep that she appears to be dead, and after her family has placed her in a tomb the Friar and Romeo would rescue her so that she and Romeo could run away to Mantua. Unfortunately, Romeo never gets the message of the plan. Instead thinking that Juliet is dead, he kills himself at her tomb (as well as Paris whom he finds there). Juliet wakes and finding Romeo dead, she kisses him one last time to retrieve some of the poison that killed him and when that doesn't kill her she stabs herself with his dagger. After seeing what became of their children, the two families reconcile.

Character summary: I imagine the nurse as having a character similar to that of the cool aunt who encourages you and who believes in love, free will and flower power.In the beginning she is Juliet's confidante, who takes care of her and worries about her, but is also someone Juliet feels she can trust with the knowledge of her secret relationship and who believes she must follow her heart. She is the one who tells Romeo Juliet's name, and even helps them to meet by getting a rope ladder for her. However, as time goes on she seems to become more hesitant to help them and finally tells Juliet it would be best if she just married Paris and acted like Romeo was dead( I imagine at this point in my production she would tell Juliet to just 'go with the flow'). At this point Juliet stops speaking to her because of her 'disloyalty', . Despite her change of heart I still believe she deeply cares about and loves Juliet and wants nothing but the best for her.

Keywords to describe her: flower child (70s youth), grown up hippie, cool, generally laid back, caring, peace, love and happiness, loves Juliet, responsible, up to date with current trends, young at heart, slightly annoying and embarrassing at times.

Key Elements to The Nurse's Style:

long maxi skirts

free flowing floral print tops in bright colors

big flower hairbands and curly untame hair

tie-dye shirts on days off,

minimal fringe on bags and shoes

beaded leather headbands

tan leather jackets

vests paired with billowy shirts (blousons)

flared trousers

Delicate gold peace sign earrings and flower necklaces.

Make-up: pretty light. even distribution of foundation, light grey eyeshadow with brown eyeliner and pale pink lips. The goal is to appear youthful, with a minimalist approach towards makeup. Brightly coloured nail (maybe sky blue).

In case you were wondering the pictures are of Jennifer Ferrin and Drew Barrymore.

Photos from: We Heart it and Google images. I claim no rights over them.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Have you read Romeo and Juliet? What did you think of it? I personally didn't consider it one of Shakespeare's best but it was beautifully written. How would you portray the Nurse if you had the chance to run a Romeo and Juliet show? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

I have found true love in the field of Costume Design and although Fashion Design will always be my first love, Costuming has quite literally swept me off my feet. Costume design is the art of creating a look that portrays a certain character or that helps a performer tell a certain story.

Costume production is the actual making of the aforementioned costumes. I find costuming is like a mix of fashion and literature and I think this is why it appeals to me so much. So some of you have expressed interest in the field and since I really want to work on my skills, I have decided to do blog posts on how I would style characters from different plays, movies and productions. Some of the productions may be popular ones you can recognise or they may be less expected or more unusual ones e.g ideas for a music video. Some of the posts will be more fashion history centric while others will be more modern and directly applicable to you if you want to add a bit of drama to your style.If you have any productions you would like me to do leave a comment about it below, or email me at aury4eva@gmail.com. I'm so excited about this and I hope you are too, my loves.

Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet:

Time period and place I would set it in:

Late 19th Century England

Plot summary: Can be found here, but basically Hamlet is a play about a young prince who's father is killed by his own brother, a brother who soon goes on to marry his late brother's widow and become king. Hamlet figures out the truth and proceeds to seek vengeance on his uncle, all the while losing his mind in the process and hurting people he loves, because of his high level of anxiety.

Character Summary: Ophelia is an innocent, naive and beautiful girl who is in love with Hamlet. She is hurt by Hamlet's sometimes rash behavior and is strictly obedient to her father's word. She lets him control her life and when he tells her to break off her relationship with Hamlet she does so, despite the fact she still cares for him. Then, when Hamlet in his crazed state kills her father, she is pushed over the edge and loses her mind. She begins to spend her days picking flowers and singing nonsensical songs until she drowns herself in a river.

Key words to describe her: sweet, innocent, young, naive, immature, delicate, unstable, crazy, in touch with nature, and broken.

Beautiful pastel dresses

Frills, ruffles and lace

Floral and small polka dot prints

Flower headbands and flower-accented bonnets

Exquisite elbow length fingerless gloves,

Bows and sashes

Pretty fans and sun umbrellas

Slightly pale, natural looking make-up with emphasis on pretty pink/red lips except in drowning scene, when dishevelled hair with leaves and branches caught in it and deathly dull make-up are featured.

Ophelia to me:

Pictures from google images and we heart it.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Have you read Hamlet? How would you style Ophelia?What period would you set the play in? What elements of her style would you/do you incorporate into yours? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.