Costume Design in Class and on Campus

This is my last semester of college at the University of Utah. I have completed my major of Health Promotion and Education and, I am currently taking various Theatre classes to complete my minor.

In Costume Design, each student has been assigned a particular character in the play, "The Would Be Gentleman" which will run at the Babcock Theatre in April I believe. In any case, I am designing the character Dorimene and, she is an upper-class French woman from the 17th Century. I am really enjoying this project because I get to incorporate lots of bows and frills and trims, which would be seen as excessive in today's world.

Which I suppose brings me to the point of this all important first blog... The creeping of a "casual Friday" mentality into every day of the week. Listen, there is a reason 90's Grunge was a faze - because it FADED out! While I wouldn't expect you to wear a corset to a chemistry lab, how about: brushing your hair, wearing clothes that are clean, and maybe even something that flattered your body. (Side note: Dirty Ugg Boots with sweatpants tucked in and some ratty Troll doll-like ponytail is the main inspiration for this rant.)

On another note about the phrase "casual Fridays," it originated in professional offices where their definition of casual still meant looking presentable. In fact I would venture to say that many professors on campus don't even dress to "casual Friday" standards anymore. I'm talking about men and women with doctoral degrees, these are highly educated thinkers... who don't think about how they present themselves! FYI faculty: your frazzled hair, poorly tailored attire, and color choices that could have only been made in the dark, make me skeptical of your organizational skills. And at that point I know the syllabus means nothing about the actual schedule of the course.

The way you look and present yourself to the world is the equivalent of a resume. It tells where you've been, where you're at in your life, and most importantly where you would like to be in the future.