Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/680832
Spring 2016 The Costume Designer 9 Words have power, as do job titles. I was just working on a commercial and received the call sheet. I went to look for the costumes section to check my call time, but instead of costumes, I found the "vani- ties" section, with costumes, makeup, and hair. My reaction was visceral. I immediately replied to the AD and explained how insulting and rude it was to label us "vanities" as if we were some fluff group with no value, instead of the trained artisans that we are. We are the Costume Department, not wardrobe. People have wardrobes, while actors wear cos- tumes. No matter what the character is wearing, whether it is an 18th-century gown for a woman at court, or a pair of dirty jeans and a work shirt for a mechanic, the actor is in costume as they are play- ing someone else. I know there is some debate amongst our colleagues as to the definition of what a costume is. One of the Costume Designers I worked with when I was an assistant costume designer didn't like us to use the word costumes if the clothes were contemporary. But by calling it wardrobe, it diminishes the work we do. Costumes are part of the storytelling process. The first moment you see the character on the screen, you know so much about them by what they are wearing. As Costume Designers, we are storytellers. Don't let anyone diminish the work we do. I want us all to be on the same page. We are the Costume Department, we work with costum- ers from Local 705, not wardrobers. So the next time someone yells for "wardrobe" on set, politely remind them, we are costumes. If we all do this, we will eventually train everyone and terms like vanities and wardrobe will disappear. Also, the letter "C" comes before "W" on a crew list so we are easier to find. The 2016 CDG Awards were a huge success, with the ease of online voting, we had the biggest turnout in CDG history with over 50% of our members voting. The revamping of the Commercial Design category—now called Short Form Design and including music videos, video games, short films, and webisodes—brought a whole new energy to the awards. I was so impressed with the images created by our CDG Illustrators for the Academy Awards Governors Ball, we must applaud Academy Governor Jeffrey Kurland for this wonderful idea. In this issue, we are celebrating the beautiful work of Ruth Carter on the remake of the miniseries Roots. From the images I have seen, it is like a beautiful painting. Her work with color is inspiring. This year's Legacy Luncheon is celebrating the careers of three legendary Costume Designers: Mina Mittelman, Rita Riggs, and Eilish Zebrasky, I look forward to honoring these three talented women. Also, the new CDG building is coming along. The Executive Board has settled on a contractor and work is progressing. Of course, as anyone who has taken on a remodel knows, it is taking longer than we planned, but the finished product will be worth the wait. We are now scheduled to move in by early fall. Lastly, with the passing of Ret Turner, we have lost a great part of our CDG legacy. Ret made us all proud to be Costume Designers. His enthusiasm and passion for the art of Costume Design was contagious. Ret has moved on to a better place, but he will always have a special place in our hearts. Whenever I see a red tassel, I will always think of the great Ret Turner. In solidarity, Salvador Perez sperez@cdgia.com UNION LABEL PRESIDENT'S LETTER "Some people like to say it takes a village, I like to say it takes a costume department." –Salvador Perez