Our theater asked us to create costumes for Newsies’ Medda Larkin, a 19th Century Vaudeville actress who worked in New York and also provided haven to the “newsies” or news boys who had no place to stay. (1) Medda is a dynamic, high-spirited character and needed to bring a jolt of life to the stage. Our director, Bobby Tschoepe, requested jewel tones and predominantly pink.
Like most community theater, our costume budget was small and our costuming needs were large, so we headed off to the thrift stores. I found the PERFECT blue dress base on sale at the thrift store and paid $8 for it. A friend donated some fabric, and I combed through our theater’s costume bins – I’d say this is a great start! I also found a petticoat in the costume room, and folded it over onto a waist band to create her bustle shape.
Someone donated this GORGEOUS jacket to the costume room, and although it was not our style, I could see it was a perfect base for Medda’s business outfit, and it concealed the panel I added to the blue dress to make it larger. Because I knew this opening would be covered up, I added a panel in a similar fabric – sewn on one side and snapped on the other side. This panel can easily be removed to use the dress in a different show, with a different actress. I also added more beads and sequins to the embellishment at the front of the blue dress, as some had fallen away.
Now the zhuzh begins! To modify the jacket, I shortened the sleeves to hit right above the elbows, then added a beautiful satin ruffle. I cut the jacket up the back to the waist, then cut away the corners into soft curves, again adding a shiny satin ruffle that really contrasted against the matte finish of the pink suiting. I cinched in the waistline, and rolled the the jacket collar back, tacking it down, in a more open style. Onto the jacket lapels I pinned, then hand-stitched a braided, rhinestone, white trim. (The third picture above shows jewelry that Chloe created for the costume, and a sequin shirt we used for another Medda outfit.)
To add charm, I used the cut away pieces of the jacket, to make waist plackets, and embellished those with the jacket lapel trim. I added that same trim onto the sleeve, above the ruffle. I wanted the dress and jacket to look like one, on-purpose suit, so I added the same satin ruffle to the bottom of the skirt as I added to the jacket sleeves and hem. I also added a 1/4″ turquoise sating ribbon onto the sleeve and jacket hem ruffles. After another step back, I decided to add the delicate lace extended below the sleeve as a faux shirt sleeve, and added more delicate lace as a sort of train at the back of the dress. The icing on the cake was creating a big white satin bow for the back of the jacket, along with full length white satin gloves, jewelry and that gorgeous wig!
My sweet friend is a gifted performer, and we were proud to clothe her in something bright and beautiful to enhance her Medda Larkin.
Historical Reference
(1) https://newsboys-of-1899.home.blog/tag/medda-larkin/
