Never knowingly underdressed

For this week’s reading, we have to provide costume. I’m really trying not to be too precise, but I find I can’t help it. It’s in the blood. I know I’m running the risk of being the best costumed as I go down to Costume Hire.

‘I need 19th Century Russian’
‘Oh, it’ll be The Cherry Orchard* then’
‘Correct’

Later

‘I need to be downtrodden, but not poor’; we find a grey skirt, and I add a blouse which has Fiddler on the Roof inside – it’s hardly the bourgeoisie of Chekov, but it looks about right.

‘I now need an apron’.
The first few that are produced I dismiss as ‘Too Pollyanna’. Others are dismissed as ‘too nurse-y’. I find one with a bib, and no frills. ‘This feels about right’.

Next, I need a hat. There are so many to choose from. Some perfect 19th Century styles, which are sadly too decorative for the character. Others are too contemporary. Finally I find one that’s straw boater style, simply decorated with a bit of ribbon.

‘That’s my wedding hat, it’s Laura Ashley, circa 1980’s’
‘I don’t care, it looks right, so it’s now 19th Century Russia’

I just know I’m going to be more appropriately (and therefore inappropriately) dressed than anyone else on stage!

*It isn't actually The Cherry Orchard, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have described it as a new play.