Part 27

The baby brush for blending facial makeup is one of the most important tools in the makeup box. If you try to buy one in a small town they will insist upon your buying a tray and comb, and everything else that goes with the baby set--everything, practically, but the baby. Better buy the outfit than try to go without the brush, but it is still wiser to supply yourself with the brush in time. You can buy it separately in the large cities.

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Never put your mirror in your makeup box, for powder and grease will ruin the best mirror made. The mirror furnished with the Ned Wayburn professional makeup box is almost non-breakable; it is clear as well as strong, and in every way one of the best for its purpose. It will stand up where you want it.

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Never makeup while in your street clothes or in stage costume. A drop of cosmetique on satin slippers or silk stockings will never come out. A washable kimono or bath-robe is the best garment to wear. Long fingernails will cut and ruin thin stockings. Don't ever wear the fingernails pointed.

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In using the 6B Venus pencil to darken the upper eyelid, use the side and not the point of the pencil. Do not use a pencil sharpener, for it leaves too sharp a point. Keep your pencil free from grease. Wipe it often.

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Rouge will fade under bright lights. Much depends upon the condition of one's health as to how long rouge will keep its color on the face. There will be certain times when rouge will disappear rapidly and you will have to renew the outer rouge, perhaps before the act is over.

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Do not throw powder at your face, nor rub it in or smear it. Pat it on gently with the pad and use the blending brush.

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The tiny dot of rouge placed in the inner corner of each eye is to fix the distance of the eyes apart. When the eyes are finished they should appear to be about the distance of one eye apart.

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Rarely is makeup used in the nostrils. A big nose will look very wide if made up, but a small and very straight nose can stand a very little number 18 rouge in the nostril--not lip rouge, which would be too dark. But it is very seldom that the nostrils are made up.

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Unless very careful in removing makeup, your face will feel raw and chafed when you go out in the wind. Take time and plenty of cold cream in the removal of makeup, and dry and powder your face before exposing it to outdoor weather.

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If you wish to you can leave the mascaro on the eyelids, working over and under it in removing the rest of the makeup, and so use the mascaro on the street. On matinee days you will see shadowy eyes on Broadway, as some of the ladies of the cast keep the mascaro on till the evening performance.

STAGE COSTUMES

On the stage, as on the street, effective costuming is a matter of good taste. The dancer must be particular always to appear in a costume in keeping with the idea and character of the dance. The producer will be certain to adhere to this rule in all cases where the company supplies the stage costumes, as is customary. In vaudeville, or in a home-talent show, where the dancer furnishes the outfit, the same rule of fitness and appropriateness must be observed, or the resulting incongruity will greatly mar the presentation. Have your stage costumes prepared with the idea of creating proper atmosphere for the dance you are giving or the scene in which the dance appears.

There are special designers of stage costumes in all the large cities, here and abroad. Bakst, the Russian artist, is a name all have come to know because of the bizarre effects he creates for the stage. In London, Comelli was an outstanding name as costume designer for the Drury Lane productions; Erte, in Paris, and there are many others abroad. New York has several concerns of the first grade whose work along these lines is in evidence in the best theatres throughout the country and overseas.

The first step in costume making for the stage is made when the costume designer and the scenic artist are brought together under the producing director to arrange and settle upon a definite color scheme for each act and scene, so that colors of costumes and stage settings shall be in full harmony throughout. This is most important for the pictorial effects and is given careful study. With the color schemes effectively planned, there follows a further conference between producer and costume designer, in which plot, locale, atmosphere, characters, lyrics, music, and everything else with a bearing on the dance or play in contemplation is fully gone over and considered. The personality of the principals is given attention, and the various possible effects of the ensemble or chorus groupings, evolution and pictures are carefully planned, with regard to lights and color effects.

The designer thus consulted submits pencil sketches of his ideas. The next step is a water color design in the actual colors to be employed. The accepted costume plate in color becomes now the working basis for the actual process of manufacturing the garments. The cost of these color plates for each design is at least five dollars, but usually more, as high as $25.00 sometimes, before a garment is cut or a stitch taken, the price for a costume plate or design depending a good deal upon the standing or reputation of the designers.

Materials as well as colors are given careful thought. Sometimes the artist's design is made around a sample of the actual materials, though usually the color idea is developed first and the goods to be used in the garments considered later. The quality of the material for stage costumes should be the very best to be had regardless of cost. It is unquestionably true that the best is the cheapest in every way. Not only do costumes of cheap fabrics not hold together, and the colors fade out when exposed to the strong modern stage lights, and repairs and renewals become a frequent necessity, but the very people on the stage who are compelled to wear the inferior costumes are literally let down to a lower level in morale as a consequence.

It is human nature for a well-groomed man or woman, on the stage or off, to be in better spirits and a better mental attitude for the very reason that they are correctly attired. Cheap garments and inferior costumes detract from the dancer's ability to do the best work, however unconscious of this fact the dancer may be. So I contend that it pays to use the best material and employ the best workmanship, if only to keep the performers up to pitch and put the show over in a way that spells success.

Then, too, there is the audience to be considered. They know the difference between silk and cotton, and are quick to judge the show by the appearance of the costumes that greet them on the stage. It is little less than an insult to modern American audiences to expect them to pay modern prices for seats in the theatre and then parade a lot of second-rate costumes before them as your idea of something that will "get by" without detection or adverse comment.

The cost of costumes varies, of course, and the range is wide. Professional costumes worn in Broadway productions under my direction have been made for as little as $23.00 and as high as $1500.00 for an individual costume. Chorus costumes have been shown on Broadway costing $50.00 to $400.00 for each girl in the ensemble. However, a satisfactory chorus costume can be produced today for around $75.00 and that for a principal about $100.00.