As Assistant Costume Designer for Marie Antoinette, Chelsea joined the team after the costume renderings had been completed. She was an active stitcher in the shop and was present through all of the tech process.

Chelsea was in charge of putting together a rehearsal ensemble for Marie that would replicate the function of the final garments for choreography and blocking purposes. Marie did not leave the stage, and she would be both dressed and undressed by her fellow performers, literally dismantling her gown piece-by-piece as the stress of the story increases.

Chelsea realized quickly that the lack of visual coherence in the rehearsal garments available to mimic the same closures and silhouette as the final garments would make dressing repeatably confusing for the actress.

To help create a repeatable dressing process, especially as new mock-up garments were being rotated into rehearsal, Chelsea created a tagging system to address order of dress, what fasteners would be on the final items, and how to store the garments. In addition, the tags provided guidance on what items were required for each scene being rehearsed, allowing the actress to layer and replace the garments for the next scene/rehearsal.

Feedback on Chelsea’s approach was that this was the most well-organized and helpful solution both the ASM and SM had seen. It allowed for familiarization for both the performer and SM team, addressed maintenance day-to-day in rehearsals, and  

All items were placed on an ordered rack specifically for Marie which was managed by the ASM and had the added benefit of establishing a common language for the performer, SM team, show and designers to use around the garments.

Although this doesn’t speak to Chelsea’s design acumen, it does speak to her ability to foresee and address problems, communicate clearly, and be a team player. These are principles that she tries to bring into every project.