Wednesday 17 October 2007

Glamorous?.....

At some shows, people will often come up to admiring the costumes and ask if they have seen us [or the costumes we produce] in this or that theatre
production, film or on TV. Then they will say "I wish I did what you do, it must be so glamorous!". Now, getting to bed at 11pm on the day before a show, having spent all day packing and finishing and then getting up again at 3 am to go to the show; or finding that whenever you look at the clock on the computer, it always seems to say 2.30am, just the date keeps changing..........[Oh no!I just looked up and it's 2.30 am again!]. No, it doesn't feel glamorous - or anywhere near it! But think about this for a moment.

The Chambers dictionary says this:-
Glamour. [noun]
1. The quality of being fascinatingly, if perhaps falsely, attractive
2. Great beauty or sexual charm, especially when created by make-up,
clothes, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: 18c Scots variant of gramarye, an older variant of grammar,meaning 'a spell', from the medieval association of magic with learning.

Now I suppose that what we do is fascinating, and perhaps some may consider it attractive but have a false impression of what is required, [though I do
know we wouldn't give it up!]. It is a given that in a lot of garments, we aim to add great beauty with clothes. Gini does seem to be under some kind of enchantment - I see the effects of that spell on her every time she walks into a fabric shop, mill or anywhere where there's haberdashery. Watching her in creative mode is as exciting and fascinating for me as it seems to be for our customers. When she's spell weaving, it looks like pure alchemy! I can almost hear her muttering under her breath "Take a length of this, the collar of that, the sleeve of this, that braid, this embroidery in that colour, that button. Add this cut of skirt to flatter and that colour to enhance the eyes............"

The Etymology works also, as Gini does use a lot of learning and
adds.........well, just a little magic!