Fabric Fantasy Unveiled
Fabric Fantasy Unveiled: Exploring the Beauty and Sensuality in Lynn Nottage’s Play – Intimate Apparel
From delicate dentelles to luxurious lingerie, our special guest, Madame Olivia Vidal’s clothing and fabric presentation was a stunning finale to our study of Lynn Nottage’s poignant play Intimate Apparel. As a fashion specialist, she showed us an array of exquisite fabrics designed and produced by her exclusive and organic clothing line, sold in her two boutiques: Excuse My French, Repulse Bay, and Hollywood Road. Mrs Rowley’s BFI literature Premiere students were in awe of the diversity of textures and sensations that each piece of fabric aroused. The play’s fabrics, colours, apparel and detailed corsetry symbolise intimate relationships between men and women.
Intimate Apparel play follows the story of a humble black seamstress, Esther, working in early 20th-century New York. One day, she receives a romantic letter from a Barbadian construction worker posted from the Panama Canal. They court each other through an exchange of letters and decide to marry. As Esther’s love story unfolds, the relationships she fostered before her husband came into her life underwent severe changes, and ultimately, she lost almost all that she held dear.
Fabrics play a central place in Nottage’s production, and feeling similar textiles in class was a wonderful experience as the sensory imagery of her play was an essential part of the narrative. In the scenes where she converses with the merchant of her textiles, Mr Marks, an Orthodox Romanian Jewish immigrant, the fabrics transform into something more intimate. The unrequited love between Mr Marks and Esther can only be realised through the intimacy of touching gorgeous fabrics. Their mutual appreciation of the array of fabrics translates into the gratitude, respect, and love they feel for each other.
Esther uses Mr Marks’s fabrics to craft intimate apparel for her two disparate patrons: the upper-class white Mrs Van Buren from Manhatten and an established Black prostitute called Mayme from Tenderloin. The exquisite corsets she crafts with embroidery, lace, and luxurious fabrics enable her to become close to her two customers as she intimately measures, designs, and fits the undergarments. Both women share this friendship and are curious to know what the other is ordering from Esther.
At the play’s end, Esther gives Mr. Marks the smoking jacket. For him, as for Esther, the jacket has levels of meaning. He found the fabric and immediately thought of Esther. Both admire its intricate embroidery and are fascinated by its provenance. Just as Esther appreciates Mr. Marks’s efforts in finding the fabric, he admires her fine craftsmanship in turning it into intimate apparel. Thus, the smoking jacket embodies a secret love between soul mates who can never be together.
Madame Vidal’s generous and immersive presentation further enhanced the study of this lavishly written play with twists and turns and a bittersweet ending. Our afternoon ended on a high as Madame Vidal shared with us her stunning lace wedding dress she designed and sourced herself. Madame Vidal then showed us her latest lace collection of lingerie and `intimate apparel.’ There was plenty of blushing and laughter as we passed around the elegant and delicate undergarments.
Thank you, Mrs Vidal, for helping us learn and appreciate the different types of old-fashioned garments, beautiful lace and diverse fabrics. Thank you also to Madame Rowley for organising.
