Costume for the Englishman, from La Boutique Fantastique 1917

This costume design for an Englishman in *La Boutique Fantastique* by Léon Bakst, is all swanky lines and bold choices in black, red, and yellow. It has a theatrical flair that practically leaps off the page. I can just imagine Bakst, with his painterly eye, conjuring this character. What was he thinking as he was deciding to make the Englishman’s skin bright red?! Maybe he wanted to signal something about national identity, or just push against expectations? It is a kind of painterly thinking, where decisions are made on the fly, not so much planned as intuited. It’s all about the joy of making, really—playing with color, line, and form to bring a character to life. Bakst, like any good artist, wasn't just creating a costume, but an idea, a feeling, a whole world of possibilities.