Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542297
fiings here. We start them off with maybe an independent or a nonunion personal rental or something like that, something where they can build their confidence in a fiing room. We teach them how to hang up and clean up aer themselves in a fiing room. So, when they go out there, they should be very well versed in everything that it takes to be a Costumer." The costume stock ranges from the 1750s through present day so costumers have a vast playground of American history to pull from. "People will go where the clothes are and they come here because we have a great product. I think that I also offer the product at a competitive rate and I am willing to work with people within their budget. But the main reason why people come here is because we've got a great product. Having a talented staff that is knowledgeable and able to help them pull being helpful, I think that's all icing on the cake. But when it boils down to it, you have to have a product." merican Costume Company is known for its extensive historical stock and the protective nature they have for their costume pieces. Foster says that it stems from her father establishing this business on his own, independent from the studios and that, "he fought bales that I can never imagine, with different things just being a new company, not having great product, having to build that product, dealing with runaway productions, dealing with a competitive market, whatever it was, and he was known to rule the place with an iron fist and that was because he wanted a product that would be here for years to come. The reason why we're still here is because he wouldn't waver on that. He only wanted to rent to people who would respect the clothes, and if he felt as though his clothes were in danger, if you will, of being mistreated, then he just passed [on the project]. It wasn't about what he could make financially. It was about having something here for generations to come, for people to be able to use and I think it's been easy for me to continue that philosophy, because he le me a very well-established and well-respected company that stands on principle. I prefer to make sure that my clothes are being used by people in the industry who will benefit from them directly. I want to make sure that they're cared for. I want to make sure that they're returned to me in the same condition, if not beer, but at least that they're respected while they're being used." She adds, "I'm here to make sure that American Costume is here for generations to come, and all I have to do is continue the philosophy that was already set forth, and just keep adding into the collection, to keep improving it, to keep replacing things that are lost and damaged, so that people continue to come here for the product, because we have a great product. It's well made and it's complete." Over the decades, American has been a fantastic resource for historical film and television, and this year they worked on two large projects. The first was with Costume Designer Mitchell Travers—a Lile House on the Prairie remake in Canada. "[Travers] had never done a Western before, and he came here and really impressed me by, I guess it was his willingness to trust me that we would take care of him, and I'd like to say that we helped him create a look for his project that he could be very proud of, and we made things for him, for his lead actors, in order to help him with his budget." They also worked with Costume Designer Katie Irish on some manufacturing recreations of their historical pieces and rented a "That's what we were founded on, and it's my dad who always used to say this company is a work box for the Costumers. This is their work box, they add to their work box, and they take from their work box. He provided this company for them, for their careers…" —DIANA FOSTER A MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 43