Florida Thespians
Costume Design – The Little Mermaid
The production design concept within this design is one inspired by mythology and elements of the sea. From the beginning of the design process, I knew that I wanted the designs to have an otherworldly presence where the audience is immediately transported to an underwater kingdom unlike anything they have seen before. I wanted the characters to have a unified concept and elements where they all look like they belong in the same particular under the sea world, but each costume is carefully designed and imagined to also reflect their individual character traits of the musical while bringing in historical legends and myths that help develop the look and feel of each costume. The costumes are fantastical but I also wanted to represent some real-world majestic elements of the ocean inspired by the sea in which these characters live. The common elements unite them bringing seashells, plant, and animal life of the sea straight to the costuming.
Ursula • Ariel • Sebastian • Flounder • King Triton
What inspired me for Ursula were mythical half octopus half human creatures called Cecaelia who were very unique and magical. I took that myth and legend and combined it with real life octopus features. I researched the way an octopus looks, the way it moves, the texture of their skin and I applied it to Ursula to make her look more like an Octopus. This is why I added suction cup details throughout her costume, her dramatic stand-up color, gloves, and wig of tentacles. Her dress is adorned with many shells and pearls. The many pearls represent her womanhood and her endless greed of always wanting more. The shells, bones, lobster claw are represented on her dress to make her seem more deadly because she is a sea witch who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. These shells and bones are the animals that she has consumed as a trophy. Her tentacles are held steady by a wire that is inside of the fabric. It is held nicely above her feet so she can move around the stage. The seaweed skirt represents how Ursula grants those poor unfortunate soul’s wishes and turns them into seaweed and imprisons them. I wanted the skirt to reflect the punishment she bestows upon others. Her costume color palette is meant to look dramatic on the stage. I selected luxury brocades, silk shantug, tulle, metallic and sparkling fabrics to bring the drama to her villainess spirit. Her costume would not be complete without her iconic shell necklace.
Ursula
Ariel
What inspired me for Ariel’s costume were mythological mermaids and the anatomy of fish. I studied fish scales from several types of fish to give her an appearance as a realistic mermaid. As a character, Ariel yearns to be a part of the world above. I added a flower in her hair to represent how she adores the world above and collects items from that world. I added many shells and pearls to create a sea-like mystical bustier. It adds a great beauty to the costume just like Ariel and helps transport the audience to believe that she is from an underwater world. The shells are sculpted out of EVA foam and hand painted. I added body jewelry and a necklace to Ariel for a delicate and sea-like quality. The fish scale skirt is created with EVA Foam to give her a true textured fish like appearance. EVA foam is sculpted into fish scales and using heat transfer methods, the reflective spandex material is applied to each scale and layered to create her fish-like appearance. EVA foam is extremely lightweight and durable so it will give a realistic effect while being long lasting and comfortable for the actor. Her fish tale is made of a sparkly tulle fabric which flows like a fish tail and gives the actor the ability to move well.
Sebastian
For Sebastian, my idea was to make him look like a Royal Composer but also to remind the audience that he is in fact a crab. I wanted to bring a fresh look and feel to this character. Sebastian is a ghost crab and that is what species of crab I researched and what his look is based on. I added hand painted EVA foam to most of his costume to make it appear like a real ghost crab shell. The EVA foam is carefully placed and attached throughout the body so the actor can still move around. His formal tailcoat jacket is designed with luxury red and gold metallic brocade details to create some more texture this reflects that he is part of King Triton’s royal court, along with red velvet trim and Faux leather and crab leg detailing. These sparkly metallic details also appear on his vest. His costume would not be complete without a top hat adorned with ghost crab eyes and a sparkly red sequin bow tie. I wanted Sebastian to still have a mythological appearance to him while staying true to his character and consistency of the design concept.
Flounder is Ariel’s trusted friend and companion. What inspired me for my design for Flounder was the anatomy of fish. I studied different fish species, fish scales, fish fins, and the patterns fish scale create when they are formed in a row. I wanted Flounder to have a more youthful appearance compared to the other character’s costume designs to reflect his character traits. He exhibits a mythological and sea like appearance to show consistency with the design concept. His costume consists of yellow fish scale fabric that also contains some silver and pink elements to be truer to real life fish. His fish suit was created with a glistening metallic blue sparkle luxury brocade to give him a dazzling reflective quality just like a real-life fish. I put a fin on his head to look unique and amaze the audience with his fish-like and mythological appearance.
Flounder
King Triton
What inspired my design for King Triton were Greek mythological gods such as Poseidon and Triton and different creatures of the ocean. In Act 1, Scene 2, all eyes are on King Triton. I designed his costume to attract attention from the audience with his appearance as a god like King. I added a crown, fish-like armor, and a trident in gold. This makes him appear powerful and magical. I wanted to bring an element of the sea to King Triton, so I added star fish, several shells, and a wave on the skirt to reflect that he is of the sea. His golden and iridescent cape of scales helps establish his magnificence and regal quality as a character. I chose fabrics that consist of beautiful brocades, reflective holographic spandex, and iridescent vinyl. These fabrics were carefully selected for specific purposes. Some of the fabrics were chosen to look regal. Others were selected to appear fish like, and God like. I chose EVA foam as my material for the armor, shells, crown, and other details because it is lightweight and durable. It is hand painted in the color palette I have selected.
