📚 Shadows — 6e.5
Costume
Designed by Christopher Bruce · 1930s–40s everyday clothing · Muted washed-out colours
📚 On this page
- Describe each character's costume in detail — D level
- Link the costumes to the stimulus, intent and approach — L level
- Interpret what each costume could symbolise — I level
- Evaluate the effect on the audience — E level
Key fact — who designed the costumes?
Christopher Bruce designed the costumes himself — along with the set and the choreography. This integrated approach means every production feature was conceived together, with costume and movement deeply connected from the start. The costume designer and the choreographer are the same person.
6e.5.1 DLIE by Character
Each character's costume is shown below. The Describe is always visible. Tap each L / I / E point to reveal the full explanation.
D — Describe
Calf-length cotton dress with a grey and pink floral pattern on white. Fitted bodice with buttons from hip to neck. Round neck with a simple frill. Sunray pleats on the back. Short puff sleeves. Hair tied back in a low bun. Bare feet.
L
Link — tap each point to revealThe 1930s–40s style of the floral tea dress links directly to the historical context Bruce drew on — Eastern European families living under the threat of Nazi occupation wore everyday clothing just like this. The dress immediately places the work in a specific historical period.
The Mother's puff sleeves are echoed in the Daughter's blouse — a deliberate design choice that visually connects the two female characters. This links to the intent of showing a family unit, where even the costume creates bonds between characters before they move a step.
The muted, faded quality of the colours links directly to the choreographic intent — a family in deprivation and poverty. The dress has been washed and worn many times. The cotton fabric is simple and undecorated. The overall palette of the costume reinforces the hardship of the family's situation before any movement is performed.
I
InterpretIn my opinion, the Mother's conservative bun could suggest maturity, practicality and the self-restraint of an adult who has responsibilities. Placed against the Daughter's youthful ponytail, the hairstyle immediately communicates their relative ages and roles within the family without a word being spoken.
In my opinion, the washed-out quality of the colours could suggest that the Mother has been carrying the family's hardship for a long time. The faded floral dress has been worn and washed and worn again — it could symbolise weariness. And yet there is still a sense of care in the fitted bodice and the frill: even in poverty, she has maintained her dignity.
E
EvaluateThis is effective because the audience identify the Mother as the mature, caring female figure of the family instantly — before she moves. The 1940s floral dress is a culturally recognisable shorthand for a certain kind of domestic life, and the audience's emotional response begins before the choreography. The ordinary dress also makes her feel like a real person, not a character.
This is effective because the bare feet undercut the domesticity of the dress — she is dressed to be at home, not to go out. The feet are exposed, vulnerable and unprotected. This creates an emotional resonance: the Mother is dressed as someone in their own safe space, which makes her eventual departure (into the outside world, putting on her coat) even more devastating.
D — Describe
A faintly striped collarless shirt, neatly tucked in. Brown waistcoat over the shirt. Grey trousers. Sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Bare feet.
L
LinkThe rolled-up sleeves are a visual shorthand for manual labour — a man who works with his hands. This links to the intent: a family living in poverty and deprivation. The Father is a working man, not a professional. His rolled sleeves suggest he has come home from physical work — or is about to do some.
The waistcoat — worn over the shirt — is a garment associated with older men and a more formal sense of self. Compared to the Son's open, untucked shirt, the Father's waistcoat establishes his maturity and his role as head of the family. Both wear similar base garments, but the waistcoat marks the generational difference.
I
InterpretIn my opinion, the contrast between the Father's neatly tucked shirt and the Son's untucked version is one of the most effective details in the costume design. Both characters wear similar garments, but the tucked shirt could suggest that the Father has accepted his responsibilities — he presents himself with care. The Son's untucked version could suggest a younger man who is still resisting the weight of adulthood.
In my opinion, the brown waistcoat — worn and faded though it must be — could suggest that the Father has a sense of dignity that poverty has not entirely stripped away. He has dressed himself with care in a garment that signals a kind of social standing, however modest. The costume could represent a man who still insists on being himself, even under pressure.
E
EvaluateThis is effective because the audience recognise the Father's social position before a movement occurs. The waistcoat, rolled sleeves and grey trousers are a universally readable set of signals for a working man of a specific era and class. This is important because Bruce wants the family to feel real — and they do, immediately. The audience recognise these clothes as belonging to someone they know, not someone invented.
D — Describe
Pastel cotton blouse with short puff sleeves (echoing the Mother's) and a pleated front, buttoned. Blue/grey A-line skirt to calf. Hair in a ponytail. Bare feet.
L
LinkThe puff sleeves on the Daughter's blouse are a direct echo of the Mother's dress — both garments share this design detail. This is a deliberate link by Bruce, who designed both costumes. It creates an immediate visual connection between the two female characters, communicating their relationship as mother and daughter through design before any contact occurs.
The pastel blouse and A-line skirt combination has a quality resembling a school uniform — the pleated front, the buttoned blouse, the modest length. This links to the intent of showing a real family, with a child whose innocence is being threatened by the world outside. The costume establishes her youth and the vulnerability that comes with it.
I
InterpretIn my opinion, the contrasting hairstyles carry enormous meaning in a very small detail. The Mother's scraped-back bun is conservative and mature — the hairstyle of a woman who has responsibilities. The Daughter's ponytail is youthful and free. The contrast between the two hairstyles immediately shows the audience the generational gap between them and makes the matching sleeves even more poignant — they are the same yet different.
In my opinion, the shared puff sleeve detail could symbolise the emotional bond between the Mother and Daughter — love made visible in fabric. Bruce didn't have to make them match. He chose to. This small design choice suggests that even in poverty, the Mother has taken care to give her daughter something that connects them — and the Daughter, wearing it, carries that connection in her own body.
E
EvaluateThis is effective because when the Daughter opens the piece with her frantic solo, the school-uniform quality of her costume immediately creates audience sympathy. We see a child — dressed as a child, vulnerable and exposed — caught in a situation no child should face. The costume does not just show us who she is; it tells us what she stands to lose.
D — Describe
A loose-fitting collarless cotton shirt, untucked, top few buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Very pale pastel blue/white. Grey loose-fitting trousers. Bare feet.
L
LinkThe Son wears a similar base costume to the Father — a collarless shirt, trousers, sleeves rolled up — but every element is less contained: the shirt is untucked, the fit is loose, the top buttons are undone. This links directly to character — the Father's tidiness shows maturity and acceptance of responsibility; the Son's version shows youth and rebellion. The similarity makes the contrast even clearer.
The loose, untucked quality of the Son's shirt is consistent with the expansive, physically assertive quality of his solo. When he drags the table, stamps, and performs large upper body circles, his loose clothing moves with his body in a way a tucked shirt would not. Bruce designed the costume and the choreography — the physical freedom of the untucked shirt is integral to the movement he created for the Son.
I
InterpretIn my opinion, the untucked shirt could represent a sign of youth and rebellion — a teenage boy who doesn't care about his appearance in the same way as his father. This reflects the Son's character in the solo: defiant, angry, explosive. The untucked shirt is a small detail that says a great deal about his relationship with authority and with the controlled, dignified world his father represents.
This could suggest that the Son sees himself as wanting to take on a protective role — like his father — but hasn't yet grown into it. The similarity of the costume shows he is his father's son; the looser, more casual version shows he is not yet his father. This reading makes his behaviour in the solo more poignant: he wants to be the man who protects the family, but his stamping feet reveal the child still inside.
E
EvaluateThis is effective because the untucked shirt is immediately recognisable as an indicator of youth and informality — the audience know this type instantly. Placed next to the Father's neat waistcoat, the contrast tells us everything about the generation gap and the Son's character in a fraction of a second. It is a small detail but it carries enormous character information, and students who notice and discuss it in exam answers demonstrate real analytical skill.
6e.5.2 The Ending — Costume Change
At the end of the work, the family collect coats from the coat stand and pick up their suitcases. It is the only costume change in the piece — and one of the most powerful moments.
👩 Mother
Grey hat with trim. Dusty pink, knee-length overcoat.
👨 Father
Baggy green double-breasted overcoat — too long in the sleeves. Carries a suitcase.
👧 Daughter
Old knee-length coat — too big, a hand-me-down. Carries a bundle of belongings.
👦 Son
Blue oversized old jacket — too big. Carries a suitcase.
L
Links — The Ending CostumesThe coats hang on the coat stand and the suitcases sit beneath it from the very opening of the work. The audience can see them before anything happens. This is a deliberate structural and costume decision — Bruce links the beginning and the end so that the departure is embedded in the opening. The ending is always coming; the audience simply don't know yet what it means.
The coats on both the Son and the Daughter are too large — they are hand-me-downs the children have not yet grown into. This links directly to the intent of depicting a family in poverty and deprivation. They cannot afford new coats for their children. The oversized garments make visible a hardship that the muted everyday costumes had already suggested.
I
Interpret — The Ending CostumesIn my opinion, the act of putting on a coat could symbolise preparing to face what lies outside — the coats are a kind of armour. Throughout the work the family have been in their domestic space, bare-footed and unprotected. The coats signal that they are now crossing the threshold into the danger they have been so afraid of. The moment of dressing is a moment of reckoning.
This could suggest that the weight of the family's situation has always been too large for the children to carry. The coats are literally too big for their bodies — and the fear, the poverty, the threat they face is also too big. The oversized coat is a visual metaphor for a child being asked to carry an adult's burden. This is effective because it is specific and physical rather than abstract.
E
Evaluate — The Ending CostumesThis is effective because the dance concludes in silence, with the Mother helping the children into their coats. This powerful image evokes immediate sympathy — the audience see a mother doing the most ordinary, domestic thing, dressing her children, in the most extraordinary and terrible circumstance. The costume change prompts the audience to think about everyone in history who has made this kind of departure, and the work becomes a memorial as well as a narrative.
Examiner's Eye — costume AND set working together
Note that the coat stand and suitcases are part of the set — but they become costume at the end. This integrated approach (Bruce designed both) means set and costume overlap in the ending. In exam answers, you can discuss the ending costumes as both costume AND set design — and note that this is only possible because the same person designed both.
6e.5.3 💜 What Does the Costume Make You Think or Feel?
Your Personal Response
These prompts ask how the costumes in Shadows affect you personally. Tap to see model responses, then write your own.
1
👗 Do the ordinary clothes make the family feel more real to you?
The costumes are not theatrical. They are not spectacular. They are just the clothes a family might wear. The Mother's floral dress, the Father's waistcoat, the Daughter's school-like blouse, the Son's untucked shirt — these are recognisably real.
Does the ordinariness of the costumes make you care more about what happens to the family — or does it feel like not enough effort has been put in?
👁 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…In my opinion, the ordinary quality of the costumes is what makes Shadows so emotionally effective. These are not theatrical costumes — they are the clothes a real family might have worn. The faded floral dress, the waistcoat, the school-like blouse: these are garments that carry a lifetime of use. Because the clothes are ordinary, the family feels ordinary. And because the family feels ordinary, what happens to them feels like it could happen to anyone.
This could suggest…There is a way in which the ordinariness of the costume creates a kind of distance initially — these are not dramatic, striking clothes that immediately engage the eye. But this could be deliberate: Bruce is making you look past the surface, past the clothes, to the people wearing them. The costumes refuse to entertain. They insist on being ordinary. And that insistence becomes its own kind of power.
✍️ Your response:
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.2
🧥 What do you feel when the family put on their coats?
The dance concludes in silence. The Mother helps the children into their coats — too big, hand-me-downs. The Father puts on his baggy green overcoat. They pick up their suitcases and walk.
Which detail in the ending costume moment has the most impact on you — and why?
👁 Tap to see model responses
In my opinion…In my opinion, the most devastating detail is the Daughter's coat being too large for her. Throughout the work she has been frantic, frightened, childlike — and now she must put on an oversized coat and carry a bundle of belongings and walk into whatever is waiting for her family outside. The coat that is too big is a visual statement: this child is being asked to carry something too large for her. This makes the ending unbearable to watch.
This could suggest…The most powerful image for me is the Mother helping her children into their coats — in silence, in near-darkness. This is the most ordinary act of care: a mother dressing her children before they go outside. But the context makes it extraordinary. This could be the last time she does this. The silence and the darkness say everything that words and dance technique cannot. This is effective because the most human moments are the ones that stay with us longest.
✍️ Your response:
💡 Copy into your ePortfolio — not saved automatically.6e.5.4 Revision Activities
🎭 Activity A — Which Character?
Read each costume detail below. Click the correct character — instant feedback. Work through all six clues.
"A calf-length dress with a grey and pink floral pattern on white. Fitted bodice with buttons from hip to neck. Round neck with simple frill. Sunray pleats on the back."
"A loose-fitting collarless shirt, untucked, top few buttons undone and sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Very pale pastel blue/white. Grey loose-fitting trousers."
"A faintly striped collarless shirt, neatly tucked in. Brown waistcoat. Grey trousers. Sleeves rolled up to the elbows."
"A pastel cotton blouse with short puff sleeves and pleated front. Blue/grey A-line skirt to calf. Hair in a ponytail."
"At the end of the piece, this character puts on a blue oversized old jacket that is too big, and carries a suitcase."
"At the end, this character puts on a baggy green double-breasted overcoat that is too long in the sleeves, and carries a suitcase."
✍️ Activity B — Fill in the Blank
Click a word from the bank to select it, then click the blank to fill it in. Each word is used once.
Christopher Bruce
cotton
bun
waistcoat
puff sleeves
untucked
hand-me-downs
poverty
The costumes for Shadows were designed by
___________.
They are 1930s–40s everyday
___________
clothing in muted, washed-out colours suggesting
___________
and deprivation.
The Mother wears her hair in a low
___________,
while the Father wears a
___________
to suggest maturity and working-class dignity.
The Daughter's blouse has
___________
that echo the Mother's, while the Son's shirt is
___________,
showing his youthful rebellion. The children's end-of-show coats are oversized
___________.