Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542297
"I like being out in the costume houses. I like being out in the mall and shopping and looking for things and being the person who finds that thing that no one else can find. That is what interests me, but I'm still part of making the movie. You're not going to have what you need on set unless I bring it back. As a Shopper, you're shopping for everything that doesn't exist. You're shopping in the wrong season. You're shopping for the wrong period. You need to know how to work for yourself, and you need to know how to stand up for yourself, because you're virtually alone." —TIFFANY RANDEL not to pull light colors that will blow out on camera, and nothing that's too contrasting, because they like their principal actress to be the star. They don't want anything that might pull focus from the background. Another Designer hired me to shop and ship for a week for extra scenes in a movie. They worked with me before, and they trust me, and they trust my knowledge base, but the last time I worked with them, they had very specific color palees for different scenes in the film. And so, I asked if there is a color palee for the scene and they said they wanted a 1979 color palee. They knew that I knew what that meant, and they could trust me to just pull it so there is trust there, especially once you've worked with somebody. I'll look at it and I'll think, 'I love this,' but they're not going to like it. So I set it aside. Sometimes I will put in a wild card, and sometimes it ends up being something that they didn't think about and they'll say, 'you know what? I really love that.' I like to throw in a wild card. But in general, once you've worked with somebody multiple times, you kind of already know what their parameters are. Also, they like to hire someone they've worked with before because you already know that they don't have to have that 'get to know you' phase. They know that they can just send you in. TR: With my Designers in New York, I've never physically met any of them. I've only been recommended. But the way New York works is that they don't know a lot of people out here so when they find one person, you get recommended to all of these people. They're really great about doing boards because you have to have these visuals that you're emailing back-and-forth. They hire me because I can pick up on the essence of what their boards are, and I'll have a specific conversation with them. When I'm looking at the boards, I tell them what I'm seeing out of the boards, and then that gives them a lile bit of a sigh of relief. AE: Sometimes you definitely feel like it never fully takes off if it's just two ships passing and you just can't quite get what they want, and other situations just gel immediately. KS: I think a lot of it comes down to communication styles. If the communication styles are in sync, it's easier to pick up on somebody's taste or preferences. It also depends on how good their boards are. If somebody's boards are really good and specific, it's easier. I can ask lile questions like lile clarifying questions to really get the full picture. If a board is just super general, that is really hard because it could be anything. TR: Each Designer has their own kind of lingo on specific things. We're kind of like mind readers, and one Designer might have a description for something, and you kind of have to figure out what it is they're talking about. Some Designers have their own words for an ankle bootie, and I have to decipher it, and I might call three or four different Shoppers that I know have worked with them and ask, 'Hey, what is this person talking about?' Aer so many times, you kind of pick up on it. You're listening to people in the costume houses as well, you're listening to their conversations and what they're like on the phone, because everyone's got their earbuds in and talking, so you kind of pick up on a lot of that lingo. Can you tell us about the relationships you've built with costume houses and vendors? KS: You never know, something could have been out on a show or on hold for like, two years, and it comes back and all of a sudden, it's new, and you've never seen it before. I'm constantly seeing new things at the costume houses, and much like Audrey said earlier. We are representatives of the show and in a lot of respects, I think that we almost work for the costume house. I need to maintain my relationship with the costume house because I'm always there, whereas the show will come and go, the Designer will come and go. I do really love geing to know all those people. I feel very close to those people, like the costume houses are my home. TR: One thing I want to make clear about when you're hiring one of us Costume Shoppers