"Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" (Costume Design Project 2018)

When my class was discussing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, all we could think of was that hot humid southern climate,

and the boiling undertones of family tension. We each had to choose three or four characters, I chose Sookey, Mae, and her children Buster and Dixie. For Sookey I was looking up 1950's men's work wear since he was a plantation worker. Many of the old photographs I saw all the men wore hats either straw or a fedora, so in my design I gave him a beat up fedora that has been constantly taken on and off again. He would wear denim most likely or a cotton pant with a cool cotton shirt with rolled up sleeves.

Mae who is pregnant with her family's fourth child. In the humid broil of the South she would need cool summertime maternity clothes, Like a parachute dress, of bright yellow, and for Big Daddy's birthday, an off the shoulder top in magenta with a black pencil skirt. Mae is like a strutting peacock, but one that is constantly looking for approval from Big Mama and Big Daddy, so she would never stray from checking her appearance in every reflective surface. Even though she was several months pregnant, she would always be sure to wear a small kitten heel and her favorite pieces of jewelry (pearl necklace and earrings, or gold bracelet) that notifies the surrounding spectators that she has money, thus she is better than them. She should always carry around a handkerchief so she can repeatedly check on her children and wipe their mouths, or dab her own neck or forehead. To protect herself from the sun she would wear a wide brimmed sunhat.

Buster and Dixie are Mae's little angels. She dresses them up like little dolls, like mini-me's. Dixie is a toddler so she wears fluffy party dresses, with tiny puffed sleeves, white socks and little white mary jane shoes. When she and Buster are outside she wears a straw hat with fabric flowers around the band, and Buster whos a couple years older wears a red ballcap. Buster's base outfit is similar to a polo shirt but with tighter cuffs on the short sleeves. He has a matching pair of shorts and blazer jacket, to look more formal for Big Daddy's birthday celebration later in the play.