Nestled far from the main center of campus in the production rooms of MacGowan Hall, Jennifer Lee works in a bustling shop, surrounded by fabrics and mannequins boasting beautiful and varied costumes.
As the third-year graduate costume design student examines the ribbons adorning a blue-gray gown, surrounding students and costume workers busily sew on other finishing embellishments.
These elaborate costumes, some of which will be worn this week in the UCLA theater production, “The Libertine,” all have origins traceable to Lee. Her gift of imagination is evident in her richly detailed costume sketches, which eventually transform into works of art presented on stage.
“My ultimate goal is to use costume to define each character, and I want to tell as much as possible by costume,” Lee said.
“The Libertine,” which is currently playing at the MacGowan Little Theater, features about 40 different costumes from the English Restoration, which lasted from 1660 to 1700. The Restoration’s short time span, combined with the limited availability of fabrics for the period, made costuming more difficult.
Despite this challenge, Lee was able not only to find the materials necessary for crafting the costumes, but to create a wardrobe for each “Libertine” character that allowed his or her strong personality traits to shine through.
“She did a beautiful job because she got the character colors correct,” said Maxwell Barr, Lee’s mentor and costume shop supervisor.
“The main character, Rochester, is very sensual; he’s almost like the English Marquis de Sade, and so she has put him in deep reds. His wife is very aloof and cool to a degree, and so Jennifer has put her in very pretty slate blue-gray silks.”
Rochester’s costuming also mirrors the character’s journey, which begins in opulence and ends in simplicity. As the play progresses, Rochester’s feathered caps and brocaded coats give way to more austere robes, until he finally stands naked onstage.
“We’re trying to use the costume to show how much he has been through and all of the things going through his mind,” Lee said. “It’s like a revealing. While we peel off the costume, we are peeling off this person so you can see different layers of him.”
While the outfits presented in “The Libertine” may be visually stunning, Lee never allows her costumes to overshadow the play itself.
“I don’t want the costume to stand out by itself instead of complementing the show,” Lee said. “I want to do as much as possible, but I’m afraid that it will become a fashion catalogue instead of showing the reality of what the characters might wake up in the morning and put on.”
Judging from her work on “The Libertine,” Lee could be assumed to be a professional with years of study under her belt, but her talent for costume design actually surfaced recently.
Although she always held an interest in design over other aspects of theater, it was not until her third year as an undergraduate theater arts major at UCLA that Lee really gained experience in costume design.
After working on the costume design for the play “All in the Timing,” Lee quickly progressed through the design world, showcasing her innate talents in a number of projects over the years.
Lee’s role as costume designer remains an in-depth, rigorous one that requires fulfilling many different assignments.
When beginning a new project, Lee must first research the period, background and message of the play.
“It’s fun for me because I used to hate history in school, but now when I do research for each show, it’s kind of like building the history of the period through costume,” she said.
“It’s really fascinating to find out how much the clothes mean to people and how it related to the social environment.”
After studying the general period, Lee then focuses on the personality of each individual character. From this research, she can produce preliminary sketches to show to the director.
Once the director approves the final costume renderings, Lee shifts gears, setting out to downtown Los Angeles to buy her fabrics.
Finally, these various components are carefully woven together by costume shop members into completed costumes.
This necessary combination of knowledge in history, drawing and real life financial deals is a multifaceted skill that Lee finds a refreshing part of her job.
“On one hand, you are in this art world, but at the same time there is also a reality involved, with budgeting money and bargaining,” she said. “There are just so many different aspects to (costume design).”
As Lee completes her last year at UCLA, she is preparing to ease into the wider world of Los Angeles costume design. After graduation, she plans to move beyond theater to work in television and film design.
Barr sees no problems ahead for Lee.
“This is not just a college shop; students must adhere to the same rules as a professional shop,” Barr said. “Jennifer has been so great here; she won’t have any problems when she transitions into that work force.”