19th Century Tailoring Systems

The University of Cincinnati/CCM drama production of Spring Awakening offered the costume technology program an opportunity to research men's tailoring systems of the 19Th century.

Regina Truhart, Assistant Professor of Costume Technology, made the decision to utilize the tailoring system from "The Blue Book of Men's Tailoring" Grand Edition of Supreme System for Producing Men's Garments (1907) by Frederich T. Croonborg for several reasons. The first reason was simply to take advantage of the primary research. The size of the lapel, the pocket placement and the shape of the center front of the coat proved to be extremely useful to both the costume technicians and the student costume designer Meghan Flannery. The second significant reason was the time crunch of the production calendar and the number of school uniforms that needed to be produced.

The Barber of Seville

Creating costumes for a double cast opera such as CCM's production of The Barber of Seville is a challenge. This past quarter several students in draping II class were assigned principal costumes to create patterns as well as fit, cut, stitch and finish for the double cast principals in less than six weeks time.