The Costume: Kiriya Hiromu and Aono Yuuki (THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, July 2010)

Posted on by

The Costume is a GRAPH feature where Top Stars and Top Musumeyaku give a detailed photoshoot of costumes from their latest performance and explain their key details. In July 2010 Kiriya and Aono presented costumes from their Grand Theatre debut production, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.

THE COSTUME – Kiriya Hiromu, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Act 2, Scene 17: Parade (Parade Gentleman S)

A close shot of Kiriya Hiromu from the back, focusing on a cream bow with diamond accents worn on a curled auburn wig.

This is my hair ribbon, which you usually can’t see since it’s hidden by the feathers. I have a new ribbon with every costume change (laughs), but since this one is for the parade so it has a big pin in the center which gives it a cute feel.

A closeup shot of Kiriya Hiromu's hand. She is wearing a gold ring with a round inset of a stone engraved with a red flower pattern.

This is the ring Percy wears through the whole show, his ring with the Scarlet Pimpernel seal emblem. In order to make it feel like an antique, all of the metal parts have been distressed to take the shine off. Actually, they’re selling a replica of this ring in Quatre Reves… (laughs). Everyone, please enjoy pretending to be the Scarlet Pimpernel (laughs).

A closeup of Kiriya Hiromu's vest. It is covered with a mosaic of sequins making a pattern of subtle pastel roses. There are lace accents on the lapels.

I’ve worn so many kinds of costumes until now, but this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of design in sequined fabric. It was really moving. By the way, the zebra patterned costume that I wear for the palace masquerade also has the whole black and white design made out of sequins! It’s so gorgeous too!

A closeup of the top of Kiriya Hiromu's white boots with crystal and gold chain accents in curving patterns.

If you look closely these boots…are actually in a crocodile texture. They’re so stunningly made, and the draped necklace ornaments shift a little and sparkle when I walk.

A full-body shot of Kiriya Hiromu in her Scarlet Pimpernel finale costume. She wears a full-length white Regency-styled suit with knee high white boots and a curled auburn wig. She is wearing a wide feather back piece with natural pheasant feathers over white. She holds a shanshan shaped like a pimpernel flower with gold ribbons.

Percy’s costumes are all so wonderful, but this one with the vest had me so moved when I saw it for the costume fittings. For this feature I want everyone to be able to get a good look at it with a close-up on the vest.

I feel so grateful to be the only one on this stage who can wear these huge feathers, but I also feel like I have to work even harder. As I’ve been doing more and more performances, I’m starting to feel recently like I’m not being turned around by the feathers as much (laughs), so I think I’ve gotten accustomed to them.

THE COSTUME – Aono Yuuki, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Act 1, Scene 4: Blakeney Estate/Wedding (Marguerite)

A closeup of Aono Yuuki's hair accessories and earrings. She wears a large off-white fake flower and a pearl drop earring with crystals and a smaller pearl stud.

I chose this for a hair accessory since I thought that as an actress herself, Marguerite would probably choose a large flower. The dress isn’t pure but off-white, so the flower matches that. For the earrings, I wanted to use pearls to suit the wedding setting. A silver base would make them look too modern, so to fit with the concept from the old-fashioned dress I looked for something that wasn’t gold or silver, but a somewhat understated metallic base, so that it would look like something from the same era.

A texture closeup of Aono Yuuki's skirt. The offwhite fabric is overlayed with net and dimensional flowers.

The ornaments aren’t just embroidered into the lace, but a lot of small flower ornaments are sewn onto the base. The decorations are three-dimensional, and they’re all so finely detailed that I worry they might come off if I touch them.

A closeup of Aono Yuuki's hand. She has a natural pink manicure and wears a small gold ring with tiny crystals and a white stone.

The wedding ring that Percy gives to Marguerite was actually something Kiriya-san got for me! Since it needs to balance with the large rings I wear together with it in other scenes, she thought about it and chose something that wasn’t simply flashy and feminine but has some real character to it!

A full-body shot of Aono Yuuki. She wears a large white wedding gown with a full skirt, and wide neckline. She also has a white lace collar-style necklace and a wedding veil that almost reaches the floor.

This gown is covered with incredibly delicate ornamentation all over, all the way to the sleeves and collar. The decorations and the base are both white, which might make it hard to tell at a distance, so please have a look at these zoomed-in shots (laughs).

Since this is the debut production for our new Moon Troupe, costume designer Arimura (Jun) designed Marguerite’s costumes with a new, fresh image. So all of the costumes, not just this wedding dress, are so charming. Every time I put them on I feel so thankful that he considers the atmosphere of the troupe for each show when he is creating the costumes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.