14 | Costumes

This week I spoke to R Mahalakshmi and S Tamilarasi, two of the costume creators, asking them how they felt about making costumes for The Gaze. Used to stitching the costumes for Kattaikkuttu’s  regular characters, this was an entirely new territory for them. Yet they relished the challenge of crafting two beautiful European outfits for Quintina, the British woman photographer, inspired by the style of British women travellers in the 19th century. Hereto they researched, together with Hanne, the different options of what Quintina could wear when ‘at work’ as well as on more formal occasions, such as the consecration of the new temple in Pulicat. As the sister and representative of the Governor of Madras, Quintina is the guest of honour during this function and she needs to wear something elegant and befitting the times. Hanne sourced additional attributes, such as hats, a suitcase, shoes and a hand fan.

Lead-creator Mahalakshmi said, "Making these clothes was both hard and fun. I tried some new things and really worked hard to make the costumes the way the director wanted. Some outfits, like that of the body-guard Dinadayalan, were tough to make, but they turned out better than I expected. I learned a lot of new sewing tricks and skills during this journey. Most importantly, I finished all the costumes on time, and I'm really proud of that." For both Mahalakshmi and Tamilarasi, the use of elegant and often quite expensive fabrics, including a version of chintz, heightened their awareness of minimising wastage. And whatever wastage there was, they turned into cute little bags to be sold at the Kattaikkuttu Sangam’s’ shop.

Dutch merchant and traveller Jacob Haafner’s costume requires special mention. It was brought over from the Netherlands especially for The Gaze (thanks to Ruth de Bruin). It belongs to Govert Jeronimus, a man who lived in the village of Hoedekenskerke in the province of Zeeland in The Netherlands. It was part of the traditional regional hand-stitched costume worn by men. We have used the shirt, vest and coat, while adding a long (modern) black coat and a hat. Jacob really looks the part!

A Bharathi

Guided by Hanne, Maha and Tamila, created seven special costumes, in addition to the regular stuff needed for a Kattaikkuttu performance. You can see some of them below (credit all images