Yes, it’s day four of The Off Hours and I haven’t written any “confessions” yet. (Actually, by the time this posts, it will be day five). First thing to know about a Costume Designer on a cool indy film is that…it is non-stop for the week before and two weeks in…so, I must “confess” I haven’t had time to blog. But in pre-production we encountered mostly triumphs and a few hiccups in our search to merge sustainability with design.

Yikes, the main costume. The “leading lady” in my world is the key costume of the film…not clear yet if I should give it away. In planning, my intention was to go all “Sound of Music” and use drapes. After searching all the thrift and fabric stores in the city, I was trying to stay local, I couldn’t find just the right fabric. Darn. I ended up having to ship a made in the USA piece of fabric and combining it with some canvas, made here and bought in Seattle. phew. Our department will still have to off-set. But the costume rocks.

Second pre-pro dilemma? Hangers. Plastic hangers are not sustainable. However, VICS (Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association), four years ago developed a recycled, oh so stylish, black hanger. Fabulous! But, we aren’t in a hub city and would have had to ship them from the closet one in LA. Darn again. Luck would have it that we don’t have a ton of costumes like some films so my les Egoistes hangers were used. That’s good, because I only have 300 in storage. But, seriously, retailers and stylists, please go for the VICS recycled hangers.

Okay, gotta go. 5:30 a.m. call tomorrow. RL