The first week of this project was mainly spent in sorting out our ideas into two solid ones, a task that came to be more difficult than anticipated as everyone is brimming with creativity and had a wide range of ideas.
After a meeting of refining, I was tasked with compiling some visual research, looking into:
-The rooms of rich Victorian children (bedroom/nursery/playroom) and what entertainment they had (toys/games. etc.)
-The emerging Victorian 'drag culture':
After some research, it became clear to me that Victorian drag culture was separated into two 'types': Some men dressed as women in the privacy of their own homes in a serious manner: As this was considered a crime (they would be trialed for 'buggery', in essence, being homosexual, regardless of whether the latter was true or not.) in their times, it had to be done covertly, and the ensuing pictures are demure and serious in quality, as shown below:
However, another type of drag was that of parody and theatre: This form of 'drag' was a lot more accepted (As it went, it was more acceptable for a man dressed as a woman to do theatre than an actual woman!). It was also a lot more visually gaudy; they used makeup and wore more ostentatious sorts of clothing, as shown below.
It is the second sort of drag I am focussing on, though I may mix some of the more 'refined' qualities of the serious drag queens into my tent/character design. I would also like to demonstrate a real performer from the time: This young man, Brigham Morris Young, made a successful career in drag in the 1800's, calling himself 'Madam Pattrini'. He sang opera and his falsetto was supposedly so good, many people did not realise he was a man donning a dress! I love his refined outfit, chunky necklace and haughty pose, and he will be a very good example model for concepting!
-A compilation of interesting features in Victorian dressing rooms:
This research was originally aimed to aid our second idea, (+Vanderbilt Manor+), however, most of it is relevant for our first concept as well.
