by Alison Freer
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
INTRODUCTION: GOOD CLOTHES OPEN ALL DOORS
CHAPTER 1
MOVIE MAGIC: OR, WHY MOVIE STARS LOOK LIKE MOVIE STARS
First, You Have To Prepare | It’s Time to Shop | Let’s Have a Fitting | How Do They Make a TV
Show, Anyway?
CHAPTER 2
FIT: THE TRUE ENEMY OF GREAT STYLE
The Right Pants | A Better Skirt | A Brilliant Blouse | A Jacket Fit for a Queen | The Perfect Dress
CHAPTER 3
ALTER YOUR CLOTHES, ALTER YOUR LIFE
The Totally Worth-It Alterations You Really Need to Know About | But Sometimes, It’s Just Not
Worth It | How to Find a Great Tailor | Basic Tailoring Terms
CHAPTER 4
BE YOUR OWN COSTUME DESIGNER
Your Style is Your Signature | How to Search Out Pieces That Are So Totally You
CHAPTER 5
DUMB FASHION RULES THAT WERE MADE FOR BREAKING
DUMB RULE NUMBER ONE: Always Fear Wearing Stripes—Horizontal or Otherwise | DUMB
RULE NUMBER TWO: Don’t Wear White after Labor Day | DUMB RULE NUMBER THREE: Don’t
Wear Black with Brown or Navy | DUMB RULE NUMBER FOUR: Don’t Mix Your Metals | DUMB
RULE NUMBER FIVE: Don’t Wear Leggings as Pants | DUMB RULE NUMBER SIX: Don’t Wear
Boots in the Summer | DUMB RULE NUMBER SEVEN: Short Boots Make Your Legs Look
Stumpy | DUMB RULE NUMBER EIGHT: Don’t Mix Your Patterns | DUMB RULE NUMBER NINE:
Don’t Double Up Your Denim | DUMB RULE NUMBER TEN: Redheads Can’t Wear Red—and
Blondes Shouldn’t Be Wearing Yellow, Either
CHAPTER 6
WARDROBE TOOLS TO KEEP YOUR LOOK TOGETHER
The Holy Trinity: Safety Pins, Topstick, and Moleskin | Even More Tools to Keep Your Look
Together | But What about a Busted Zipper? | Ironing is for Suckers
CHAPTER 7
DRESSING FOR SUCCESS IS DEAD
Are My Clothes Dirty? | Are My Clothes Wrinkled? | Am I Showing Something I Wish I Wasn’t? |
Are My Clothes Covered in Lint, Pills, or Stray Threads? | Are My Shoes Scuffed, Dirty, or Worn? |
Does This Fit Me Properly?
CHAPTER 8
CLOSET HACKS: STORE YOUR CLOTHES LIKE WARDROBE GIRLS DO
When in Doubt, Just Hang it Up! | But What if I Don’t Have Enough Rail Space?
CHAPTER 9
UNDERTHINGS: YOU REALLY ONLY NEED A FEW
First Things First: Throw Your Shapewear in the Trash | Don’t Fear the Panty Line | Your
Grandma Was Right: Slips Rule | Don’t Burn Your Bra Just Yet… | How to Frankenstein a Bra
That Works for You | Hand Washing Your Bras and Undies
CHAPTER 10
LAUNDRY: YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG
Get the Most out of Your Washing Machine | Is Dry-Cleaning Really Necessary? | To Skip the Dry
Cleaner, You’d Better Learn How to Hand Wash | Stains: Or, Spit Removes Blood Like Whoa
CHAPTER 11
SHOE CARE FOR ALL YOUR FOOTWEAR
Help Your Shoes Keep Their Shape | Spring for Protective Rubber Soles—and Replace Your Heel
Caps Often | Remove Salt and Slush Residue Immediately | Avoid Heat and Other Drying
Conditions | Rotate Your Footwear | Don’t Forget to Waterproof | Maintain, Maintain, Maintain
| Bring Your Shoes Back from the Dead | Keep Your Shoes from Killing Your Feet
CHAPTER 12
OLD STUFF: A GUIDE TO SHOPPING VINTAGE AND THRIFT
Thrift Stores and Charity Shops | Vintage Stores | Consignment or Resale Shops | Used Clothing
Stores | To Start the Hunt, Prepare and Plan | Then, Know What to Look For | Also, Have a Plan
of Attack | Be Sure to Try It All On (and Check It Twice!) | Finally, Get Ready to Wear It
CHAPTER 13
DUDES, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU
If the Jacket’s Not Right, the Whole Thing Is Wrong | This Is How Pants Should Fit | Let’s Talk
about Shirts | How to Measure Yourself Properly | You Can Thank the Duke for the Suit | With
Buttons, it’s Sometimes, Always, Never | Can I Take My Jacket Off Now? | Whoops, This Suit
Doesn’t Fit! | How to Fix Your See-Through Shirt | How a Tie Should Look | How to Wear a
Tuxedo
GO AHEAD, SIT ON THE GRASS: STAIN GLOSSARY
TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU’VE GOT: FABRIC CARE GLOSSARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INDEX
Introduction: Good Clothes Open All Doors
I am a costume designer living and working in Hollywood, California. You might be wondering what a costume designer even does, which makes sense—I wondered the same thing, even as I was agreeing to be one! If you’ve ever thought that your favorite character’s wardrobe on that really great show was the bee’s knees, you have a costume designer to thank for it. Because that character didn’t just wake up that way—a clever costume designer created the look you love so much.
Being a costume designer means I’m the one responsible for the designing, fabricating, shopping, fitting, accessorizing, altering, repairing, and customizing of every single piece of clothing that actors wear while on camera—right down to their underwear and socks. Whether I’m working on a film, TV show, or commercial, I’m pounding the pavement at fabric stores, boutiques, flea markets, shopping malls, and costume houses twelve to fourteen hours a day, every day. The jobs I take are particularly unglam—because there is a world of difference between a professional costume designer who dresses actors as the characters they play and a celebrity stylist who exclusively outfits stars for red carpet appearances.
One of us (the celebrity stylist) has every top clothing and jewelry designer in the world on speed dial, while the other (the costume designer, that’s me!) usually has only five hundred bucks and a pocket full of ingenuity to get the job done. You’re not likely to find me delivering ball gowns to hotel suites in glamorous locales or being name-checked in an actor’s Oscar acceptance speech. More often than not, I’m standing on a ladder in a dusty costume house looking for showgirl outfits or hunched over a folding table in my basement office on a studio lot, trying to figure out how to sew soda cans onto a furry seal costume in time for the afternoon’s shoot. But I wouldn’t have it any other way, because the thousands of hours I’ve spent in the trenches figuring out what works for my actors’ wardrobes has made me an authority on anything and everything having to do with clothes —from determining what constitutes proper fit to what to do when a wardrobe crisis strikes. I’ve also made a ton of mistakes along the way, so whatever your particular problem, I can guarantee it’s happened to me—and that I probably have the solution.