Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542297
American Costume Company By Erin Wenrick L Nestled in an industrial neighborhood in North Hollywood, American Costume Company spreads across a full city block with two warehouse facilities hosting multiple collections. The Raymer Street building holds the Civilian Collection, 24,000 square feet of wardrobe from the 1750s to the 1970s. The Fulton Avenue warehouse holds 20,000 feet of both domestic and international military uniforms, as well as civilian uniforms like police, firefighter, and chauffeur. This building is where Costume Departments can also rent office and preparation spaces, as well as aging and dyeing facilities. Owner Diana Foster tells us the origins of this long-running costume house and the legacy her father, Luster Bayless, le for her to carry on. American began in 1977 when Costumer and Costume Designer Luster Bayless took out a DBA license and broke away from the studio system to develop an independent costume company. Bayless started his costuming career at Western and moved into working on studio film productions, working with many actors, most famously John Wayne. Foster explains, "Western Costume was the only costume company outside of the studios at the time, and of course, everyone knows that it was owned by the studios. So, my father broke away from that with the approval of John Golden, who was President of Western Costume and with his support, my dad was able to start American Costume Company." Foster explains that the first productions that Bayless costume designed out of American were The Sackes and Tom Horn. "My dad did Tom Horn in 1980 and then he proceeded to build the costume house on pieces that he had from shows. He bought out a lot of the studios in the 1980s that were selling off their stock, and he was able to purchase collections around the country and that's how the company was formed." Foster worked for the company while in school for broadcast journalism, leaving to work for KCAL and then moved on to Extra and worked in their clearance and acquisitions department. "I worked my way up in that department, and I licensed and acquired all the photos and footage for the show. I really enjoyed it, but I didn't like working for someone who didn't know who I was. I didn't like how dispensable people were. It didn't maer how long you had worked there or how many hours you had given, as a salary employee, and you're siing there working 14 to 16 hours in a day. Once sweeps were over with, they would just get rid of people that were higher tiers for no reason besides the fact that they could. I didn't like that, and I wanted to go back and be able to spend every day working for something, for someone who would appreciate what I was doing on a daily basis, something that I could be proud of and where I felt that I was valued. I decided to come back here. I took an enormous pay cut because my dad was not going to pay me a dime over minimum wage. And as a maer of fact, 40 SPRING 2026