In the play Fraulein Kost is indroduced as "Thirty-ish, possibly a whore", in the screenplay she is introduced as "Young, not bad looking, a little heavy and badly dressed" and in Goodbye to Berlin she is described as "A young, florid girl with large silly blue eyes". This gives me a rough idea of the character I would like to portray: a Lady in her mid to late twenties who is a prostitute. To narrow down her character a little I looked at the different types of prostitutes in Weimar Berlin and decided that I believe she is a Foshe- A prostitute who advertises her services in magazines disguised as a masseuse or a manicurist. She works out of Fraulein Schneider's home, meeting her clients at a nearby location or at the door and bringing them in to her room. This explains why she is regularly caught by Fraulein Schneider, and also the fact that she picks up sailors goes along with the idea that they could have seen her advertisement while at see and can subtly arrange to meet with her.
On the left is an image of Marlene Dietrich who was a famous actress in Weimar Berlin. I chose to look at her as many trends and styles among the public originate from famous people of the times. On the right is Jean Harlow who was an American film star at this time. Like Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow would have influenced fashion and trends at this time as she was in the public eye, even though she was not a German film star.
The first image on this slide is of a travel brochure advertising Germany which was printed in 1931. The brochure features a woman posing provocatively on the front, which I thought was interesting as it was known among tourists that Berlin in particular was a place of growing sexuality and debauchery. This brought the tourists in because as the country was in a troubling financial state, prostitution was cheap so it was a great place to go for a weekend of indulgence.
The second image is a poster advertising Marlene Dietrich's "Die Blonde Venus" I thought it was interesting to look at this poster and how Marlene Dietrich has been painted- with large curly blonde hair which seems quite different to the bobbed, tight finger waved styles I am more used to seeing. I also thought the makeup and clothing in this poster were interesting to note as it gives an idea of the kind of clothing people found appealing and the kind of beauty ideal in that time.
The third image is a painting by Earl Christy who was an American painter at this time. I really like the texture of the hair in this painting, as well as the flushed cheeks and lipstick.
The final image is a painting by Jean Gabriel Domergue tutled "The Black Widow". I initially thought this painting was from the late 20's/early 30's as a few of his paintings are, and this was interesting to me as it seemed to be quite a different style to both German and American paintings of this era, but put this down to it being a Parisian woman. I now understand it was painted in the 50's which explains why there is such a difference.
The second image is a poster advertising Marlene Dietrich's "Die Blonde Venus" I thought it was interesting to look at this poster and how Marlene Dietrich has been painted- with large curly blonde hair which seems quite different to the bobbed, tight finger waved styles I am more used to seeing. I also thought the makeup and clothing in this poster were interesting to note as it gives an idea of the kind of clothing people found appealing and the kind of beauty ideal in that time.
The third image is a painting by Earl Christy who was an American painter at this time. I really like the texture of the hair in this painting, as well as the flushed cheeks and lipstick.
The final image is a painting by Jean Gabriel Domergue tutled "The Black Widow". I initially thought this painting was from the late 20's/early 30's as a few of his paintings are, and this was interesting to me as it seemed to be quite a different style to both German and American paintings of this era, but put this down to it being a Parisian woman. I now understand it was painted in the 50's which explains why there is such a difference.
The image on the right is of a regular lady in Weimar Berlin. I included this image as I wanted to see images of women who weren't showgirls, but just regular people going about their day to day life. I also chose this image as you can see a side on view of a hairstyle that would've been used in that day.
On the left is an image of Helen Vita who is the woman who plays Fraulein Kost in the 1972 film Cabaret. Helen Vita was a German actress who played in theatres and cabaret through the late 1940s to the 60s. I chose to look at Helen Vita as I thought her background as an actress, as well as her casting in the film, could help me start to think of a look for Fraulein Kost.
This slide features a few images from my Pinterest boards which can be found here and here.
On the left is an image of Helen Vita who is the woman who plays Fraulein Kost in the 1972 film Cabaret. Helen Vita was a German actress who played in theatres and cabaret through the late 1940s to the 60s. I chose to look at Helen Vita as I thought her background as an actress, as well as her casting in the film, could help me start to think of a look for Fraulein Kost.
Feedback
Face chart:
Use more shades of red in the face
Are the eyebrows round enough?
Experiment with different eye shapes
Play around with lips more- look at Pat McGrath "crushed berry" fade out lips
Red wine stained lips- helps with ageing
Reddening cheeks
Research:
Lots of pictures
What have you picked up from your research?
Interesting that you picked up on the type of prostitute
Think about styling- Kost always wearing a coat to cover her fetishes or services?
To do:
Do more face charts & look back at images and pinpoint what you like from each one
Work on hair ideas
Rehearse makeup & work on ageing the face- what age you want her to look
Talk about products you use
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