Costuming the Everyday: Interview with James Keast

The interview was undertaken as part of a broader research project that investigates both the creative and industry practices employed by costume designers and how the results of those practices are received and ‘decoded’(Hall 1973, 1997) by audiences. The specific focus of the broader research is on ‘ordinary’ clothing viewed within the context of television drama. This is informed by a research degree currently being undertaken at the University ofthe Arts, the outcome of which will add to newly emerging literature around television costume (Warner 2013). The research considers and integrates both theory and creative practice and positions the subject of current clothed screen representations of the working class firmly within the field of cultural politics.The interview has subsequently been thematically coded post transcription. Of particular relevance to the broader project already mentioned are the collaborative nature of the approach and method undertaken by costume designers, issues around ‘embodied’ screen costume, costume signifiers ofclass position and the audience’s relationship with and understanding of ideologies embedded within screen costume.

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