Real Women Have Curves 2019 Dallas Theater Center Director: Christie Vela Photos by Karen Almond Scenic Design: Arnulfo Maldonado Lighting Design: Amanda West Real Women is a comedy about 5 Chicana women in a sewing factory in East LA in the mid 1980s. The director wanted to dismantle stereotypes of Latina women in the USA by showcasing the diverse and profound impact Americanization and the “American Dream” has had on Latinx peoples in the USA. The costume designs showed a range from folkwear aesthetics to assimilated styles depending on the character. For the finale, the director requested designs for a runway show that were “Mexican-folk costume meets couture”. Using archetypes of Mexican women as a silhouette base, I then used pre-Columbian art and symbolism on top of modern Latinx aesthetics (as transformed by the immigrant experience) to create the runway looks.
