ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about milliner Arnold Levine, the crafts department at Parsons-Meares, milliner Deborah Nash, craftsman Yann Boulet and craftsman Brian Russman. In a costume shop 'crafts' are the catchall term for accessories and other nonstandard costume pieces: belts, jewelry, armor, masks, or wings. If a performer can wear it, it's a crafts item. Milliners make hats from all sorts of materials, spiraling straw into sunhats, molding felt into fedoras, and covering structured bases with fabric to create satin bonnets and velvet top hats. The millinery team experimented, creating samples using the fabrics in different ways. They layered the colors in varying order, tried frayed and smooth edges, and different kinds of stitching around the central wire spine. Parsons-Meares costume shop in New York makes plenty of traditional clothing, but they specialize in unusual costumes. Brian Russman paces the concrete decking behind the Santa Fe Opera's costume shop.
