The document discusses the meaning of being "critical" about costume. It provides definitions of critical from different scholars such as emphasizing analytical thinking and calling conventions into question. One definition notes that critical implies something major is at stake and de-trivializes notions of the theatrical. The document also discusses how critical approaches have been applied in other fields like architecture, design and art. It suggests that being critical involves not taking things for granted and questioning beneath the surface. In summary, the document explores different understandings of what it means to think critically about costume and how this has resonated in related disciplines.

1. What is
‘critical’ about costume?
Dr. Rachel Hann
University of Surrey
www.rachelhann.com

3. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Costume is that which is perceptually indistinct from the
actor’s body, and yet something that can be removed.
Costume is a body that can be taken off.
(Monks 2010: 11)
Costume is that which is perceptually indistinct from the
actor’s body, and yet something that can be removed.
Costume is a body that can be taken off.
(Monks 2010: 11)

4. What is a critical
approach to costume?

5. What is ‘critical’ about costume?
[Critical Costume] is rich in its potential play on the word
‘critical’ – as analytical, crucial, serious and essential – even
harbouring a threat should certain things be ignored. In other
words, the critical signals that something major is at stake,
thereby de-trivializing the ‘theatrical’ – too often considered
false, exaggerated or histrionic – and emphasizing the fact
that the lived world itself is far stranger than fiction.
(Hannah 2014: 16)
[Critical Costume] is rich in its potential play on the word
‘critical’ – as analytical, crucial, serious and essential – even
harbouring a threat should certain things be ignored. In other
words, the critical signals that something major is at stake,
thereby de-trivializing the ‘theatrical’ – too often considered
false, exaggerated or histrionic – and emphasizing the fact
that the lived world itself is far stranger than fiction.
(Hannah 2014: 16)

6. Roland Barthes argues that ‘to criticize means to call into
crisis’ (1974: 319). Barthes argues that a critical stance
allows us to, in the first instance, isolate the ‘speck of
ideology’ engrained within an act or object in order to ‘attack
it like an acid capable of dissolving fats of “natural
language”’ (1974: 317).
What is ‘critical’ about costume?
Roland Barthes argues that ‘to criticize means to call into
crisis’ (1974: 319). Barthes argues that a critical stance
allows us to, in the first instance, isolate the ‘speck of
ideology’ engrained within an act or object in order to ‘attack
it like an acid capable of dissolving fats of “natural
language”’ (1974: 317).

7. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
The identification, then, of [people] of critical mind with their
society is marked by tension, and the tension characterizes
all the concepts of the critical way of thinking.
(Horkheimer 1975: 208)
What is ‘critical’ about costume?
The identification, then, of [people] of critical mind with their
society is marked by tension, and the tension characterizes
all the concepts of the critical way of thinking.
(Horkheimer 1975: 208)

8. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Other ‘critical’ arts practice:
Critical Architecture
Critical Spatial Practice
Critical Design
Critical Engineering
What is ‘critical’ about costume?

9. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What is Critical Design?

10. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
The critical sensibility, at its most basic, is simply about not
taking things for granted, to question and look beneath the
surface. This is not new and is common in other fields; what
is new is trying to use design as a tool for doing this.
(Dunne in Rickenberg 2008)
What is ‘critical’ about costume?
The critical sensibility, at its most basic, is simply about not
taking things for granted, to question and look beneath the
surface. This is not new and is common in other fields; what
is new is trying to use design as a tool for doing this.
(Dunne in Rickenberg 2008)

11. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?Critical Architecture: Theatre of Dionysus and Tschumi's’ Acropolis Museum

12. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
In a world that currently remains in the grips of an unjust
corporate and imperialistic capitalism, critical architecture is
urgently required.
(Rendell 2008: 7)
What is ‘critical’ about costume?
In a world that currently remains in the grips of an unjust
corporate and imperialistic capitalism, critical architecture is
urgently required.
(Rendell 2008: 7)

13. What does
costume do?

14. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
The way we use our bodies in daily life is substantially
different from the way we use them in performance. We are
not conscious of our daily techniques: we move, we sit, we
carry things, [...] the body’s daily techniques can be replaced
by extra-daily techniques […]
(Barba & Savarese 2006: 7)
What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does costume do?
The way we use our bodies in daily life is substantially
different from the way we use them in performance. We are
not conscious of our daily techniques: we move, we sit, we
carry things, [...] the body’s daily techniques can be replaced
by extra-daily techniques […]
(Barba & Savarese 2006: 7)

15. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?Bobby Baker, Give Peas a Chance! (2008)

16. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?Bobby Baker, Give Peas a Chance! (2008)

17. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?Michael O’Conner, The Duchess (2008)

18. An Old Man in
Military Costume
1630-1631
Rembranbt

19. What does costume do?
Far from despising this ephemeral art [of costume,
Rembrandt] made deliberate use of clothing to emphasise
the character or social status of the sitters in his portraits
and to clarify the narrative or heighten the drama in his
history pieces.
(de Winkel 2006: 11)

21. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
[…] without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that
the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the
man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody,
a nothing.
(Twain 1905: 321-322)
What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does costume do?

22. What does costume do?
Costuming might be read as a verb rather than as a noun
therefore: an act or event that is centered on the ways in
which audiences look at an actor dressed up onstage.
(Monks 2010: 3)

23. What does costume do?
[Costume] opens up a gap between the self and dress,
generalize dress, rendering it desirable and imitable.
(Monks 2010: 36)

24. What does costume do?
The development, dissemination and wide acceptance of the
idea of scenography was a process that relegated costume
design to a supporting role. In many ways, the development
of the idea of scenography sought and achieved a unity of
directing, scene design and lighting design. The issue of
costume design was momentarily set aside in the effort to
forge this unity.
(Unruh 1991a: 28)

25. Extreme Costume (2011)

26. Sutre (2011)

27. Critical Costume 2013
http://www.criticalcostume.com/2013.html

28. Alex Rigg, 2013

29. What does costume do?
Personally where I get the chance I like to make a costume,
to rehearse somebody and then not give the costume till just
before the show. The costumes are very awkward so they
are constrained. Performers agree that they will attempt the
choreography and the work is then a struggle.
(Rigg in Maclaurin and Monks 2015: 65)
Personally where I get the chance I like to make a costume,
to rehearse somebody and then not give the costume till just
before the show. The costumes are very awkward so they
are constrained. Performers agree that they will attempt the
choreography and the work is then a struggle.
(Rigg in Maclaurin and Monks 2015: 65)

30. What does costume do?
Kissing confounds the division between two bodies,
temporarily creating new definitions of threshold that operate
through suction and slippage rather than delimitation and
boundary. A kiss performs topological inversions, renders
geometry fluid, relies on the atectonic structural prowess of
the tongue, and updates the metric of time. Kissing is a
lovely way to describe a contemporary architectural practice.
(Lavin 2011: 5-10)
Kissing confounds the division between two bodies,
temporarily creating new definitions of threshold that operate
through suction and slippage rather than delimitation and
boundary. A kiss performs topological inversions, renders
geometry fluid, relies on the atectonic structural prowess of
the tongue, and updates the metric of time. Kissing is a
lovely way to describe a contemporary architectural practice.
(Lavin 2011: 5-10)

31. What does costume do?
HUG
Etymology
German: Hegen, 'to foster or cherish'
Noun:
A strong clasp with the arms; an
embrace of affection; also, a close or
rough grasp; the clasp or squeeze of a
bear
A squeezing grip in wrestling
Verb:
To clasp or squeeze tightly in the arms:
usually with affection = embrace
To exhibit fondness for
To caress or court
To cherish or cling to (an opinion, belief,
etc.) with fervour or fondness
To cherish oneself; to keep or make
oneself snug
To congratulate or felicitate oneself
Verb:
To clasp or squeeze tightly in the arms:
usually with affection = embrace
To exhibit fondness for
To caress or court
To cherish or cling to (an opinion, belief,
etc.) with fervour or fondness
To cherish oneself; to keep or make
oneself snug
To congratulate or felicitate oneself

32. What does costume do?

33. Dorita Hannah, Tongues of Stone (2011)

34. Dorita Hannah, Tongues of Stone (2011)

35. Dorita Hannah, Tongues of Stone (2011)

36. What does costume do?
Richard Schechner’s model of performed action:
Being
Doing
Showing
Showing Doing
A model of costume as ‘showing dressing’:
Being
Dress
Dressing
Showing Dressing

37. What does costume do?
Dress is therefore the outcome of practices which are
socially constituted but put into effect by the individual:
individuals must attend to their bodies when they ‘get
dressed’ and it is an experience that is an intimate as it is
social. When we get dress, we do so within the bounds of a
culture and its particular norms, expectations about the body
and about what constitutes a ‘dressed’ body.
(Entwistle 2000: 11)
Dress is therefore the outcome of practices which are
socially constituted but put into effect by the individual:
individuals must attend to their bodies when they ‘get
dressed’ and it is an experience that is an intimate as it is
social. When we get dress, we do so within the bounds of a
culture and its particular norms, expectations about the body
and about what constitutes a ‘dressed’ body.
(Entwistle 2000: 11)

38. What isWhat isWhen is
costume?

39. Los Angeles Goes Live (2011) LACE Gallery, LA

40. Los Angeles Goes Live (2011) LACE Gallery, LA

41. These garments are sculptural
notations of the actions left by
these performance artists. They
function as social and political
lenses through which to
understand a pioneering
movement.
(Ellina Kevorkian, Curatorial Statement 2011)

42. When is costume?
Theatre was an absolute enemy. It was something
bad, it was something we should not deal with. It
was artificial… We refused the theatrical structure.
(Abramović in Huxley and Witts 1996: 13)

43. When is costume?
Art degenerates as it approaches the
condition of theatre.
(Fried 1967:164)

44. When is costume?
If he also wears a wide tool-leather belt and even a Western
hat, we do not see this as costume […] it is merely a choice
of clothing. As more and more items of Western clothing–a
bandana, chaps, spurs and so forth–are added, however, we
reach the point where we either see a cowboy or a person
dressed as (impersonating) a cowboy. [...] The effect of
clothing on stage functions in exactly the same way, but it is
more pronounced.
(Kirby 1972: 4)

45. When is costume?
In relation to a binary of non-matrixed and matrixed
performance:
… the performer does not act and yet [his or her]
costume represents something or someone.
(Kirby 1972: 4)

46. When is costume?
In England at least “costume” commonly suggests “fancy
dress” or at least “dressing up”. […] As long as “costume”
with us retains this sort of association we shall never
succeed in carrying it off with any semblance of conviction.
(Kelly 1970: 78-79)

48. What does it mean to be critical about costume?What does it mean to be critical about costume?Plimoth Plantation, USA

49. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Guests in costume cause confusion for people who may not
be able to distinguish costumed guests from the Museum
staff. Therefore, we kindly ask everyone not to
wear historical costume of any kind when visiting us.
(Plimoth Plantation ‘What to Wear?’ 2015)
What does it mean to be critical about costume?When is costume?

50. When is costume?

51. When is costume?
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
A mask of myself on my face, so people would think I am not
myself but someone pretending to be me.
(Slavoj Žižek interviewed by Rosanna Greenstreet 2008)

52. United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)

53. When is costume?

54. How can we better argue
the case for costume?

55. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Interdisciplinarity is always a site where expressions of
resistance are latent. Many academics are locked within
the specificity of their field: that is a fact … the first
obstacle is often linked to individual competence, coupled
with a tendency to jealously protect one’s own domains.
Specialists are often too protective of their own
prerogatives, do not actually work with other colleagues,
and therefore do not teach their students to construct a
diagonal axis in their methodology.
(Kristeva 1997: 5-6)
Interdisciplinarity is always a site where expressions of
resistance are latent. Many academics are locked within
the specificity of their field: that is a fact … the first
obstacle is often linked to individual competence, coupled
with a tendency to jealously protect one’s own domains.
Specialists are often too protective of their own
prerogatives, do not actually work with other colleagues,
and therefore do not teach their students to construct a
diagonal axis in their methodology.
(Kristeva 1997: 5-6)

56. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Disciplinary positions:
Costume is ‘the clothes worn in films, whether period or
contemporary dress’ (Church Gibson 1998: 36).
Fashion is ‘the cultural construction of the embodied
identity [that] embraces all forms of self-fashioning—
from street styles like punk and hip hop to body
alterations such as tattooing and piercing’ (Steele
1997: 1).

57. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
Several years ago I wrote an article entitled ‘The F-Word’,
which described the place of fashion within academia. It was
not a pretty picture: Fashion was regarded as frivolous,
sexist, bourgeois, ‘material’ (not intellectual) and, therefore,
beneath contempt.
(Steele 1997: 1)

58. What does it mean to be critical about costume?
A conception of clothes as disguise infuses not only
Romantic literature but allegory and the whole vocabulary of
metaphor itself. Nothing is more common than the
metaphorical mention of clothing, first of all to indicate a
simple screen that hides the truth or, more subtly, a
distracting display that demands attention but confounds
true perception.
(Hollander 1975: 445)
A conception of clothes as disguise infuses not only
Romantic literature but allegory and the whole vocabulary of
metaphor itself. Nothing is more common than the
metaphorical mention of clothing, first of all to indicate a
simple screen that hides the truth or, more subtly, a
distracting display that demands attention but confounds
true perception.
(Hollander 1975: 445)

59. A Manifesto on
Costume Cultures

60. Fashion is in denial of its
theatricality.

61. Costume is a conscious act of
othering appearance.

62. The hug of a costume affects both
the wearer and the worn.

63. The act of costuming scores an
individual’s participation within an
liminal event or behaviour.

64. If performing is ‘showing doing’,
then costume is
‘showing dressing’.

65. Costume is subversive: in that the
act of costuming exposes how
appearance is regulated.

66. Thank you
www.rachelhann.com