Tazewell, who’s worked 26 years in the business and has designed costumes for “In the Heights,” “Memphis,” and “The Color Purple,” calls “Hamilton” his proudest project.
When Tazewell first received a copy of the script, he understood immediately this was not a typical production for writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who he had worked with on “In the Heights.” Still, he approached it like any other project — by turning to Google.
He built out a catalog of images created in the 18th century, gathering paintings of civilians and historical figures from the internet and his personal library. The challenge was then integrating these looks, which Tazewell says most people have been familiar with since grade school, into Miranda’s contemporary, hip-hop presentation.
They decided everything from the shoulders down would reflect the period, and everything from the neck up would be modern.
Actors dressed in traditional silhouettes — men with the long, frilly coats, and women in corsets — but wore their hair and makeup as they would in a normal production.
“[We were] also trying to figure out how [to] get the cast to relate to their clothes in the way they relate to jeans and t-shirts and sneakers,” Tazewell says.
Tazewell and his team modified the costumes so they were conducive to singing and dancing on stage. The female ensemble, for example, wore modern-cut leggings with stretch panels built into them. In place of running shoes, the cast sported riding boots, which are allegedly just as comfortable.
In those early stages of design, Miranda made only one request.
“Hamilton had to be in green,” Tazewell says, “the green of money.”
While the ensemble wears a creamy neutral tone (like parchment paper, Tazewell explains), the leads stand out using bold pops of color.
Thomas Jefferson is remembered as a grounded man, so Tazewell originally dressed him in an earthy brown. But actor Daveed Diggs brought such rockstar status to the role that Tazewell eventually swapped his drab threads for a purple coat inspired by Prince and Jimi Hendrix.
The Schuyler sisters, played by Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones, bring sexy back to 18th century.
Their gowns are made of silk taffeta, a popular material used in wedding dresses in that era, fit snuggly around the bust, and flow from the waist to maximize mobility.
King George III, originally played by Jonathan Groff, is the only character whose look is pulled from the pages of the history books.
His outfit is a replica of one worn by the British ruler in a famous portrait. Its over-the-top frivolity helps turns the character into a caricature of himself. In the show, he’s depicted as being rather silly.
“It was pretty organic, the way it all came together,” Tazewell says of the show’s costume design.
