Breaking Down the Shirt

Breaking down the shirt had a bit of different process from the trousers and the puttees. I basically started breaking them down before I even cut them out. As in a previous post I had planned on doing a 'dirty-water dye' but then couldn't get the results I was looking for so instead I pre-washed the fabric before I cut it out. I learned then that the fabric wrinkled very easily, but for this project that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In my discussions with Rose about breaking down she had specified that the shirt didn't need to be as grubby as the trousers and puttees. To me this makes sense. The shirt would probably be the easiest thing for someone in the woods to was regularly and if he was wearing his coat over his shirt most of the time then that would take most of the heavy dirt as well. What  I was looking to do was just to make it looked lived in. Wear down the parts he would use the most: collar, button stand, cuffs, and elbows. Add some sweat stains under the arms and maybe a drip or a spill here and there. To build up this worn look I knew I would need to wash it a few more times. After I had finished making the shirt I put it in the washer and conveniently a load of whites leftover from a previous show also needed to be washed. This was good in my mind because even if it came out still looking white mixing with other fabrics and textures would help the breaking down. Then the shirt was worn in the woods and got very dirty around the cuffs and elbows. I was happy to see that when this was washed not all the stains came out, and better yet, they had set in more. When I went to air-brush my puttees and trousers I took my shirt with me. I took the medium brown and watered it down to be very very light. I did some spraying under the arm, around the collar and the button stand. It didn't really show up very well, but I didn't want to spray too heavily and make very intense under arm sweat so I left it to show Rose.

Some results of airbrushing on the first day

Some results of air-brushing on the first day

I showed the shirt to Rose along with the puttees and trousers. She was happy with how it was looking broken down so far but she said it could still use a little more work around the neck and the arm-pits. I was glad for a second opportunity to work more on the shirt. I diluted my dyes like before but not so much as the previous time; just to see the different results. This second time air-brushing was successful and broke it down a little more but not in any way to an extreme. Again I focused on the under-arms and around the collar. I also did a light mist the whole way down the buttons stand and a little mist around the back around the collar. I rolled up the sleeve and sprayed that as it was rolled just to give it a subtle variation. 

Air-brushing on a rolled cuff

Me air-brushing the shirt

Shirt before Dress Parade

Evaluation: I am very happy with how the shirt is finished for the dress parade. I think the dyeing is very subtle, but hopefully still noticeable. My main goal with the shirt was to make it looked lived in and between washing it and a light spray of dye I think that has been accomplished. Again I am excited to see how it looks on my actor and under the lights. Working on the shirt also showed me the versatility of the air-brush; by just diluting the dye a bit with water it changed it's affect on the costume in a positive way.