Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Andrey Bolkonsky
From the first conversation with Michael Ciaramitaro, the costume designer, he established the concept of getting the flavor of the time period for some costumes and more traditional period clothing for other costumes. It depended on who the character is within the musical. For Andrey, as the shop states in the opening number, he isn't here. He is a solider off fighting in the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. He is a young man who has to leave is fiancé, Natasha, behind. After talks with the costume designer, Andrey needed to be rooted in the "now" of the show, His design is more rooted in the time period. Andrey needed to feel modern and "hip" when compared to the rest of his family.
I began by drafting the jacket based on a double breasted military tunic from the Modern Tailor Clothier and Outfitter Vol. III by A. S. Brigland. However, despite following the steps within the book, the tunic turned out very misshapen. But it did give me the basic shapes of the tunic. I took those shapes and laid them over the Sartor block. The trousers are a broad fall style pants. I used the Sartor pant block to develop the pattern.
Old Prince Bolkonsky
If Andrey is used to show the modern era in the show, then Old Prince Bolkonsky is deeply rooted in the 1700s. The costume designer wanted him to look out of place when compared to the other men in the show. The character talks about how people love him and his old coat. Old Prince Bolkonsky thinks that he is a star and people love him, but in reality he has become like a roadside attraction. People want to see the crazy old man. With that information in mind, the costume designer and I agreed on playing into the tropes of the the 18th century.
Old Prince Bolkonsky's costume is composed of a "grasshopper" style coat and half-fall trousers. Again, we really wanted to lean into the idea of the 18th century and how that conflicts with the idea and mannerisms of the 19th century. Both parts of the costumes were drafted over the respected Sartor blocks. For the coat, I modified a pattern from the back of the Sartor System book. The half-fall trousers were drafted using the method that Laura Robinson uses.