This past week I had the pleasure of doing the wardrobe styling for a music video starring a young Canadian singer, the up and coming country vocalist and song-writer Stacey McKitrick. As I went to research her, I saw that one of her idols was Reba McEntire. Interesting co-incidence.
Years ago, when I was just starting to make a name for myself as a designer, I got a phone call from a personal manager who was looking for someone to design an outfit for another up and coming country singer, namely Reba McEntire. Reba and I met for a coffee to see if we were a good fit and though I had never much listened to country music, Reba was so down to earth and engaging I felt I could do a good job.
In looking for inspiration, I turned to a current passion of mine, patchworking, and decided to design for her a high end “log cabin” patchwork skirt, made out of cotton prints in rusts and browns, which I then had lightly beaded to add that show business sparkle. The blouse was a peasant style, again in a lacy fabric that was also embellished with some beads.
The tricky part for me was that I chose to have the outfit constructed at Bob Mackie’s company, Elizabeth Courtney Costumes. It was tricky because, on one hand I knew that the workmanship would be brilliant, but awkward, as Bob had been my first employer and mentor, and now I was expecting to be treated as an equal while bringing my client to his costume workroom.
Everything went well, Reba loved the outfit, and on the evening of the CMA Awards I watched anxiously from home to see my outfit. Horrors! When I first spotted her she was not wearing it! But then later she changed, and when the 5 nominees for Entertainer of the Year were announced, and Reba WON for the first time in her career, I got to see my outfit go up on that stage to accept that award!!
Many years later I was filming a TV series at Sony Studios and saw that she was also filming her sitcom “Reba” a few sound stages away. I was nervous about dropping by to see her, because now she was a huge star, but she was extraordinarily gracious and kind, and sang praises for that costume, telling me it was now on display in the CMA Museum in Nashville.
So then last week, I got to meet and outfit the lovely Stacey McKitrick, for her first music video. From a small town just outside Vancouver BC, Stacey is tall and stunning, and I and everyone on the crew had a ball working with her. Her music is great and I hope when she is up for her first CMA award, she will call on me!
For information on online costume training, please visit me at http://hollywoodmentors.com
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