A History of the Theatre Costume Business: Creators of Character

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
An Invitation
Notes on Terminology
Introduction: How Costumes Have Saved Choreography and Created Characters
	“I Would Hear the Audience Gasp”
	“Something Red and Gold and Glittery”
	“Skill and Sensibility”
	“Blown Away By What She Took From the Sketch”
	“Shared Experiences, Capabilities, and Ability to Deliver on Time”
	“The Happiest Place”
	“I’ve Never Been Let Down By a Costume”
	“The Stage Was Like a Bowling Alley”
	Keeping Secrets, Distributing Rhinestones
	A Beader From Heaven
	“There Is Research, and a Back Story”
	An Inspired Improvisation
	Never More in the Character
	A Fitting Fitting
Chapter 1 Orientation: How Costumes Became a Business, and How It Works
	From Antiquity to Equity
	The Costume Just Clicked
	True Colors
	The Dancing Jefferson
	Each Costume Built Confidence
	Spending Green for Witches and Ogres
	From Memphis to Newfoundland
	The Place Was Full of Beads and Feathers
	Costumes From Concept to Clothes
	Not Much Like a Pattern From the Fabric Store
	Fit and Finish
Chapter 2 A Stitch in Time: The Early Designer-Drapers
	Designer, Draper, Painter, Teacher, Mother, Lover
	“You Must Be an Astute Businesswoman”
	An Early Atelier
	First to Dress Showgirls in Sports Attire
	Co-branding With Bergdorf-Goodman
	The First Big Integrated Shop
	Casting Changes, Costume Crises
	“Be Back By 4:30!”
Chapter 3 Thread and Circuses: The Rise and Fall of the Big Rental Shops
	“With the Rubbing of a Lamp”
	Three Generations of Geolys
	Designers, Stars, and a Tattoo
	And Then There Were None
	Send in the Gowns
	Fade to Black
	The Goodman Matzo Noodle Building.
	Riding on a Tiger
	Michael-Jon’s
	From Divine to Pavarotti
Chapter 4 The Coming of the Continentals: Lighter Hands for Ballet and Opera
	A Vast Bodice of Work
	Balanchine Invokes the Bard
	“Any Idiot Can Thread a Needle”
	With Style and Grace
	Curating the Fitting
Chapter 5 Broadway as a Business: The Syndicate, the Shuberts, and the Unions
	The Boys From Syracuse
	Costumes as a Cause Célébre
	International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
	International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
	Make Money, Not War
	Only a Fool Fights in a Burning House
	From Tenderloin to Times Square
	A Better Business Model
	Common Ground in Vaudeville
	A Chorus Line and Cats
	A Brief History of Vaudeville
Chapter 6 The British Invasion: The Legacy of Ray Diffen
	An Introduction By Katharine Hepburn
	Painting With Willa
	The Rise of the Designers
	A Break With Sharaff, Over Hats
	Salvaging the Situation With Streisand
	Drama at the Met
	Founding a Dynasty
Chapter 7 A Leading Lady Herself: Barbara Matera
	Passing the Crown
	“Half Stanley, Half Barbara”
	Rebuilds and Rebilling
	Learning How to Deal With Impossible People
	A Backstage Legend
	“At Matera’s I Could Just Be Still and Be Professional”
	Lee Roy Reams Redux
	A New Dress for Tracy Turnblad
	A Cavalcade of Designers
Chapter 8 Nights (And Weekends) on Broadway: The Current Commercial Shops
	An Unscripted Quick Change in Rehearsal
	Caterpillar to Butterfly
	The Shop That Cats Built
	The Second Generation
	“The Best of Barbara in Her Bones”
	All He Ever Wanted to Do
	Dodging Fireballs in a Tux
	Matching Matters
	Rebuffed But Resilient
	From Freelance to Matera’s
	“Show Him the 17th Floor”
	Opening Out of Town
Chapter 9 Thoroughly Modern Milliners and Makers: The Modern Atelier System
	Finding Joy
	Negotiating With the IRS
	“I Was the Costume Department”
	“I Needed to Be in New York”
	Not a Good Match
	Heads Will Roll
	“Out of My Own Savings”
	Clicking With Designers
	From the Old Globe to the Long Wharf
	Flowers From Werner
	“We Have a Great Shorthand in Fittings”
Chapter 10 Angel Wings and Dancing Candlesticks: Craft and Specialty Shops
	“I Do Weird Stuff”
	On Wings of Angels
	Susan’s Blue in the Refrigerator
	“First of All Darling, Congratulations”
	“Worse Than Gambling”
	Seeking Braid, Finding a Career
	Where the Streets Have Great Names
	From 300 Down to Three
	Whether It Is MoliÈre Or Chekhov
Chapter 11 Tinkers and Tailors: Old Machines Soldier on and Can Be Spied in New Shops
	“Finally He Got the Thing Somehow”
	An Adventurous Spirit
	If She Can Make It There…
	Family Tradition
	“So Much of What We Do Is About Clarity”
	“You Are Not Wearing Khakis to the Tony Lunch!”
	A Buddy’s Bus for Buttons in Baku
	Earning His Chaps
	“I Just Showed Up With Scissors”
	The Money Jackets
Chapter 12 West of 12th Avenue: Commercial Shops Across North America
	Kudos From the Kiddos
	“The Largest Research Library in the World”
	The Barn Where It Happened
	Yes, Those Slippers
	Crystal Cowboy Boots
	“Your Body Is Your Tool, Your Instrument”
	“Sewing Is Part of the Competition”
	Dressing the Pope, on Stage
	Wrapped in Christmas Lights
	Fifty Years Treading the Boards
	London Calling
Appendix A Timeline of Broadway Shops With 
Landmark Shows
Appendix B Award-Winning Broadway Shows and Shops
Bibliography
Index