Theatre de-clutter makes for great costumes

Venise St. Pierre, assistant costume shop foreman for Pitt’s Theater Arts Department, pulled… Venise St. Pierre, assistant costume shop foreman for Pitt’s Theater Arts Department, pulled out a long-sleeved, button-up shirt festooned with mallards from a costume-filled rack.

“Some of it was purchased. I did not make a duck shirt,” she said.

The racks of costumes — everything from a Minnie Mouse face and ears hat to a plush pink fur coat — are for sale in the Stephen Foster Memorial Theater lobby from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and tomorrow.

The Theatre Arts Department holds this sale — which includes a range of practical, ridiculous and vintage items — every five years or so, St. Pierre said. They do it to make room in the shop.

“We need to weed things out, otherwise costumes get ruined,” Cindy Albert, costume shop foreman, said as she wandered through the costume storage room, pointing out various aisles, like ones for suit jackets, petticoats and even a “weird stuff” aisle that includes items like chaps and serapes.

The Theatre Arts Department’s large costume collection is a necessity for the organization, which uses numerous costumes in each show. St. Pierre breaks it down by explaining that if the department has a show of 20 people and each person needs three costumes, that adds up to 60 costumes, not including the several options they like to have for the costume designer to choose from.

“We have to have a wardrobe shop. It saves us so much money,” Albert said.

Not only will the sale serve as a fundraiser, but the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Halloween. With the kind of bizarre duds that one could only find in a theater, it’s easy to make a disguise. St. Pierre pulled out a bright, plaid button-up and referenced a group of grandma dresses, explaining that there are some easy costumes to make. She’s excited to get these clothes, which have cluttered the shop, out of the way.

“I look at this stuff every day of the week. It makes me really happy that somebody else is going to enjoy it,” she said.

Nothing at the sale costs more than $10 and there are set pricelists broken down by article of clothing. What doesn’t sell will go to Goodwill, but inevitably, some gems that were previously hidden in the depths of the costume shop will be plucked up right away.

“They better hurry because who knows what’s going to be sold,” St. Pierre said.