Uhhhnnnnnn...
Still on the costume hunt for my film. Still not heard back from the opera, and I have heard some discouraging news about them to boot (basically that they put multi-thousand dollar insurance values on their costumes, meaning that even a snagged thread or popped button could be considered $900 in damage.) Still, they seem my best hope -- they're the only place in town in which I see any real promise for authenticity. Perhaps I can at least get wigs, shoes and corsets from them. My dad says he'll call up his rich friend (the richest lady in town, who owns some of the property I'm interested in shooting on, so we have to call her anyway) and see if she might have some influence on them.
I was encouraged multiple times to contact a local costume shop. Now, I had seen their website and didn't want to even bother them, as from the site photos I suspected they had nothing I could use. However, I met with someone who seemed like she knew what she was talking about, and she encouraged me to get in touch with the place because she assured me they'd done some theater work and so had more accurate costumes than the ones on the site (which she acknowledged all looked like "drag queen stuff.") Alas, I called and frankly would have had a happier day had I not. If there's anything more accurate available, the owner doesn't know the difference -- and in fact does not even know the difference between a corset and a gown. I asked if I could come to the shop to look at what was available and she assured me that everything was up on the website. I made the mistake of remarking that I wanted stuff that was more authentic looking -- she then began to babble and babble at length that her stuff is TOTALLY authentic other than using synthetics and machine stitching (it is not, not at all -- she has a few men's outfits that would be okay if I were doing a pre-1750 setting, but that's it.) In any case, I suppose I can take some comfort that she was probably as unhappy to talk to me as I was to her.
I have one other possible lead before I have to resort to buying used wedding dresses at thrift shops to scavenge for fabric. I'm told the College of Santa Fe has a ton of costumes that are suitable, the one big trouble is finding someone to talk to as there's no one in charge of the theater department right now. They're also going through their own well-publicized financial troubles are aren't exactly eager to lend things out for free, but I hope if I can get as far as finding someone who pretends to be in charge of the costumes, I can convince them of the merits in lending them out for the production.
Still on the costume hunt for my film. Still not heard back from the opera, and I have heard some discouraging news about them to boot (basically that they put multi-thousand dollar insurance values on their costumes, meaning that even a snagged thread or popped button could be considered $900 in damage.) Still, they seem my best hope -- they're the only place in town in which I see any real promise for authenticity. Perhaps I can at least get wigs, shoes and corsets from them. My dad says he'll call up his rich friend (the richest lady in town, who owns some of the property I'm interested in shooting on, so we have to call her anyway) and see if she might have some influence on them.
I was encouraged multiple times to contact a local costume shop. Now, I had seen their website and didn't want to even bother them, as from the site photos I suspected they had nothing I could use. However, I met with someone who seemed like she knew what she was talking about, and she encouraged me to get in touch with the place because she assured me they'd done some theater work and so had more accurate costumes than the ones on the site (which she acknowledged all looked like "drag queen stuff.") Alas, I called and frankly would have had a happier day had I not. If there's anything more accurate available, the owner doesn't know the difference -- and in fact does not even know the difference between a corset and a gown. I asked if I could come to the shop to look at what was available and she assured me that everything was up on the website. I made the mistake of remarking that I wanted stuff that was more authentic looking -- she then began to babble and babble at length that her stuff is TOTALLY authentic other than using synthetics and machine stitching (it is not, not at all -- she has a few men's outfits that would be okay if I were doing a pre-1750 setting, but that's it.) In any case, I suppose I can take some comfort that she was probably as unhappy to talk to me as I was to her.
I have one other possible lead before I have to resort to buying used wedding dresses at thrift shops to scavenge for fabric. I'm told the College of Santa Fe has a ton of costumes that are suitable, the one big trouble is finding someone to talk to as there's no one in charge of the theater department right now. They're also going through their own well-publicized financial troubles are aren't exactly eager to lend things out for free, but I hope if I can get as far as finding someone who pretends to be in charge of the costumes, I can convince them of the merits in lending them out for the production.