📚 Artificial Things — 6a.5
Costume
Designed by Anna Jones · What it looks like · What it means · What it makes you feel
📚 What you'll learn on this page
- Describe each dancer's costume accurately using precise AQA vocabulary
- Link the costume design to the stimulus, intent and mood of Scene Three
- Form and express your own interpretations — and consider more than one reading
6a.5.1 Description
Costume Designer: Anna Jones
Muted palette of blues, greens and off-white. All costumes share a single unifying feature — a watercolour-style paint wash effect of blues and greens, as if the paint from the Djurovic backcloth has run onto the dancers themselves.
These illustrated mock-ups show the key costume features. Real performance images cannot be reproduced here for copyright reasons.
Amy Butler Thigh-length dress · 1960s feel
A thigh-length sleeveless dress with a pale green peter pan collar. The top half is a mix of blues; the bottom half mainly pale green. Two vents at each side allow free movement of the legs.
The side vents give full freedom for pliés, lunges and floorwork. The short hemline enhances the leg line — the audience can see every movement clearly.
Dave Toole Green shirt + loose trousers + black belt
A loose-fitting open-necked short-sleeved shirt — green as the main colour, with some blue on the right. Tucked into loose-fitting grey trousers with a black belt. An old-fashioned brown jacket is worn additionally for the solo. The back of the jacket is cut out, enabling him to put it on his own way.
The loose fit allows full freedom for floor-based movement. The jacket back-cut is ingeniously adapted for Dave's movement — he slips forward into it rather than putting it on in a conventional way.
David Willdridge Off-white shirt + blue/grey trousers
A loose-fitting open-necked short-sleeved shirt — mainly off-white with drips of green on the left and blue on the right. The shirt is not tucked in — it flows freely. Loose-fitting blue/grey trousers.
The untucked, flowing shirt creates a sense of loose, fluid movement. The loose trousers allow full freedom for deep pliés, contact work and supporting the wheelchair in the Gliding Trio.
Laura Jones Sleeveless vest top + pale grey trousers + black heels
A boat-necked sleeveless vest top edged in navy blue — top half a mix of blues, bottom half off-white. Pale grey loose-fitting trousers with a narrow blue belt. Laura is the only dancer to wear shoes — black heels.
The sleeveless design enhances her arm line — all Laura's movement is from the waist up. Arms free = wheelchair movement is unobstructed. The heels add a visual formality and height to her seated profile.
The unifying paint effect
The watercolour blues-and-greens wash appears on all four costumes, directly mirroring the painted backcloth. It creates visual unity between the dancers and the set — as if the paint from Djurovic's world has run down onto the characters themselves.
Timeless — not set in any single era
Amy's dress has a 1960s feel. Laura's trousers suggest the 1940s. The men are dressed in a modern, contemporary style. No single decade — suggesting that life's limitations and the search for resolution have always existed, in every era.
Examiner's Eye — Three high-value details
(1) Laura's top is boat-necked and sleeveless — enhancing her arm line because all her movement is from the waist up. (2) Dave's jacket back is cut out — adapted specifically for how he puts it on. (3) Laura is the only dancer to wear shoes (black heels) — an unusual choice for a dance performance that rewards interpretation.
6a.5.2 Appreciation DLIE Panel
Sort these four statements about costume into the correct DLIE category. Click a statement to select, then click the correct slot to place it.
💡 D and L are facts · I and E are opinions
D Describe✓
Click to place here
L Link✓
Click to place here
I Interpret✓
Click to place here
E Evaluate✓
Click to place here
The dripping paint effect could suggest time passing — as if paint has been running for years. It could also represent tears. Dave's brown jacket, worn for his solo, could suggest he is becoming his father — taking on his identity to honour him.
Designed by Anna Jones, the costumes are muted blues and greens. Amy wears a thigh-length sleeveless dress with a pale green peter pan collar. Dave wears a green open-necked shirt, tucked into grey trousers with a black belt. David wears an off-white shirt — not tucked in — with green and blue paint drips. Laura wears a boat-necked sleeveless top in blues and off-white, with pale grey trousers, a narrow blue belt, and uniquely — black heels.
This is effective because the visual cohesion between costume and set immerses the audience in the world of the snow globe. The relatable, everyday nature of the clothing makes the characters human and accessible — the audience can see themselves in these ordinary people dealing with life's limitations.
The paint wash effect mirrors the backcloth directly, linking to the Djurovic paintings (Stimulus 2). The muted, cold colour palette matches the snow-covered landscape stimulus and the bleak, wintry mood of Scene Three. The timeless mix of costume eras links to the intent — suggesting life's limitations have always existed.
6a.5.3 💜 What Does the Costume Make You Think or Feel?
💜 Your Personal Response
These prompts ask for your genuine personal reaction. There are no wrong answers — but always anchor your response in what you actually see.
Prompt 1 — Colour and mood
The muted blues and greens mirror the lighting (which is also dominated by cold blues and whites). Do the costumes add to the coldness of Scene Three for you? Does the colour feel sad, peaceful, wintry — or something else?
Prompt 2 — Movement and the body
Thinking about what you've watched — Laura's soaring arms, Amy's wide pliés, Dave's floor-based gestures — does each costume feel right for each dancer's specific movement? Which dancer do you think benefits most from their costume design, and why?
Prompt 3 — Laura's black heels
Laura is the only dancer to wear shoes — and they are black heels, not trainers or dance shoes. What does this make you feel or think when you see her moving in her wheelchair? Does it feel formal? Unexpected? What does it add to your reading of the work?
💡 Copy your response into your ePortfolio — it is not saved automatically.
6a.5.4 💜 Could the Costume Be Interpreted in More Than One Way?
💜 More Than One Way of Seeing
Strong exam answers explore multiple interpretations. Tap each reading — then decide which resonates most with you.
🎨 The paint drip / watercolour effect
ATime passing — the paint has been dripping for years
The characters have been frozen inside the snow globe for so long that the paint has slowly dripped onto them — time has moved on around them, but they remain constricted and unchanged.
BTears — grief made physically visible on the cloth
The running blue streaks could suggest tears stained into the fabric — as if the characters' emotional weight has become visible. This reading connects powerfully to Dave's solo and the theme of personal regret.
CThe melting of limitations — snow beginning to thaw
The dripping paint could suggest the snow globe's frozen confinement beginning to melt — not dramatic escape, but slow, gradual change. A visual echo of the word 'resolution' in the intent.
🧥 Dave's brown jacket (worn for the solo)
AHe becomes his father — taking on his identity
The old-fashioned jacket could suggest Dave stepping into his father's character — a working man who sang in clubs in Leeds. The jacket is a costume within a costume: Dave performing as a memory of someone he loved.
BIt represents a timeless, universal grief
The old-fashioned styling could suggest that grief over a lost parent is universal — it could happen in any generation, in any decade. The jacket makes Dave an everyman, not just himself in 2014.
👠 Laura's black heels
AA statement of femininity and elegance — defying expectation
Black heels on a wheelchair user challenges the audience's expectations about disability and femininity. It says: this woman chooses to wear heels. Her style is not defined by her chair.
BIt adds formality — heightening the snow globe effect
Black heels add a formal, staged quality to Laura's appearance — as if she is dressed for a performance or occasion. This could reinforce the idea of being observed, displayed, the subject of the gaze of 'the other'.
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.
📌 Revisit This — Key Points from This Page
DesignerAnna Jones — muted blues and greens with paint wash effect on all costumes
AmySleeveless dress, pale green peter pan collar, blues on top / pale green below, side vents
DaveGreen open-necked shirt (tucked), grey trousers, black belt. Brown jacket (back cut out) for solo.
DavidOff-white shirt not tucked in, green left / blue right paint drips, loose blue-grey trousers
LauraBoat-neck sleeveless top (blue/off-white), pale grey trousers, blue belt, black heels — only dancer to wear shoes
TimelessMix of eras (1940s/1960s/modern) — limitations are universal and not fixed to any single time
6a.5.5 Revision Check
✍️ Revision Check
12 questions — factual, link, and interpretation. Answer all twelve, then submit.
1. Who designed the costumes for Artificial Things?
2. What feature links all four costumes together?
3. Describe Amy's dress.
4. What unusual detail allows Dave to put on his jacket independently?
5. Which costume detail is specific to Laura and different from all other dancers?
6. Why is Laura's sleeveless design particularly important to her performance?
7. How does the colour palette of the costumes link to the stimulus?
8. How does the paint effect on the costumes link to Stimulus 2 (the Djurovic paintings)?
9. The mix of 1940s, 1960s and modern-day costume eras links to which aspect of the choreographic intent?
10. Dave wears a brown jacket for his solo. What does this most convincingly suggest about his character in that moment?
11. Laura is the only dancer wearing shoes — black heels. What could this suggest in the context of the choreographic intent?
12. Which of the following is the most effective evaluation of the costume design as a whole?
Take a screenshot of your score and paste it into your ePortfolio so your teacher can see your progress.