Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546058
38 FALL 2026 if you send things back in a rush, without checking whether or not the garments are clean and dry. "If you put something in the box, wet and wrapped in plastic, and then shipped for 4 or 5 days, by the time I unpack it, it is a science experiment. I got a box back once from Hawai'i and the stuff was wet when they put it in the box. I opened it up when I got it days later, and the fungus mold, whatever it was, was enormous. It looked like an alien, and I immediately covered my mouth. I had never seen anything like it. There was loss and damage on that, obviously. Just don't put anything wet back in a box, please." Gerber advocates for having union Costumers pack and ship costumes back to costume houses from location. "I've seen a lot of issues caused by simple ignorance. I'm not trying to insult anyone, ignorance is just not knowing. They don't have anyone teaching them, they don't have mentors like I was lucky to have. If you don't know, it gets worse and worse. If you don't do it properly, if you have PAs box something up and ship it, the L&D could be a lot, and if you have a union Costumer do the return in the end, you're going to save money. Producers need to remember their history. We have unions for a reason. The film industry has had over a hundred years of experience. We know what we're doing. Trust us and we will save you money in the long run by minimizing costly mistakes. Pay us a lile now or you risk paying much more later in L&D." When renting costumes that you know that may have to be aged, bloodied, shot at, torn or otherwise on set, Gerber wants Costume Departments to know, "I have clean 'marching off to war' all the way down to Night of the Living Dead costumes. We have 'shoot 'em up' stuff too. Don't surprise me. If you want to blow stuff up, just let me know, we have it all. Please be honest, and I will get it to you. I will take care of you." He goes on to say, "I love the aged stuff or bale torn. That's the golden stuff. It takes a lot of very talented Ager/Dyers to make new costumes look worn. These are very talented people: Jack Taggart, Ivory Stanton, TŸra Youland, and Melissa Binder. They call them Textile Artists for a reason. I have a ton of respect for them probably because I don't like costumes to look new. It doesn't look right on camera, unless they're marching off to war with a uniform that should be clean. and even then… That's why I love United's stock so much, we have it all."' When asked about favorite projects he has goen to pull for, Gerber laughs and says, "I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I used to really care about what I worked on when I was younger. Now everything honestly blends into one. Sometimes I'm at home watching TV and something comes on and I say, 'Hey, I did that.' I still get a thrill. But the truth is the costume house uniform guy is the man behind the curtain. The costume house schedule is more of a 9 to 5 as opposed to working on set, where the hours and locations can vary dramatically. That makes having a family challenging, and though I truly love my job and am lucky to have it, all I care about is taking care of my lile girl. Costume houses do a tremendous amount of behind-the- scenes work, then we hand it off to the Set Costumers and they go and work hard on set. I try to make it as easy for them as possible. I'll put the costume together and hand it to them, and then they're off and running." This summer has been interesting for Gerber as there have been instances where United American has gone against its policy of renting to the public. "We're renting a ton of Revolutionary War uniforms because of the 250th anniversary of the United States. We're sending some stuff out to a lot of civilians who want to dress up as George Washington for the anniversary. We generally don't rent to civilians, but occasionally for example, the Mayor of Edgewater, New Jersey, wants to be George Washington, so we're going to take care of them, we're going to make them very happy, I think." Reflecting on his time as a Uniform Costumer, Gerber muses, "When I first started working as a Costumer, they said that if you know uniform, you'll always have a job and I never understood that until recently. There's not a lot of Costumers interested in or don't want to do uniforms. I enjoy it a lot more than I thought it would, but I just kind of fell into it, and just surprised that I enjoy it as much as I do." He reiterates "It's all about educating yourself, doing the absolute best you can to get it as accurate as possible and doing the research. Some people don't like doing the research; I love it. I mean, I get paid to read a book. Really, it's amazing. We're very lucky to be able to do this, and I keep reminding myself every day because it is difficult work. People outside the industry might not think that working in the Costume department is hard work: but they've never done a night shoot, or le their families to go to another state or country, or worked 12-14 hour days for weeks at a time sacrificing time with their families, or unloaded a trailer full of E-Crates. Try dressing an army! Hollywood is not all glitz and glam. Behind the scenes, there is a tremendous amount of hard work being done. It's fun work, but it's work. And I'm thrilled to be able to help. Give the costume house as much information as you can and we will take good care of you. Just give us a call and we'll have it ready. Let us know who, what, where and most importantly, when?" "We have unions for a reason. The film industry has had over a hundred years of experience. We know what we're doing. Trust us and we will save you money in the long run ..." —GABE GERBER