[ccpops] request for costume help

[PHILBELINK at aol.com]

We are looking for help in finding costumes for Ragtime.  Below is a list of 
things we are currently looking for.  Contact us-- Susie Schmidt at 
978-287-0194 or Karen Belinky at 
>978-371-0994 if you have anything you can lend or donate. 

If you have a child in the show, please talk to them about what they need and 
see if you can provide any of it.  If each parent could help costume their 
own child, it would be an enormous help.  Call us if you aren't sure what 
your child needs.  

Ragtime is a very costume-rich musical. The storyline follows the 
>intermingled destinies of three groups of people starting in 1906.  So 
costumes are basically turn of the century.  

>There are the middle and upper class white people, who wear fashionable 
>clothing in pastels and creams. Image needs to stay light for all the 
characters.  For this group we are currently looking for:
    >Men's straw boater hats
    >Ladies floorlength skirts, straight or tulip-shaped
    >Women's Gibson Girl-style blouses with puff sleeves
    >Dresses with long skirts and high necked bodices
    >1 women's suit with fitted jacket and long skirt, size 12
    >2 elegant dresses for the period, size 12
    >Short white or beige women's gloves
    >2 nice shawls in neutral light colors
For all these clothes, we are particularly in need of sizes from 12 up to 16.
>
>Then there is the black population. The theme here is stronger but muted 
colors and patterns of deep red, green yellow, rust, etc.
>For this group we need:
    >Women's long skirts, full, straight or tulip shaped i
    >Women's Gibson-girl style blouses in white or colors
    >Dresses with  long skirtsand  high necked bodices 
    >Men's long driving coats
Once again for the women, we are looking especially for larger sizes from 12 
to 18.
>
>Finally there are the immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, Ireland, 
>Germany, etc. who are "just off the boat". This group will be wearing dark 
>colors, deep grey, and brown with touches of deep or bright red. They will 
look quite raggedy.  For them we need:
>Large shawls, in dark colors or ethnic prints
>Long dark women's skirts plain and ethnic
>Dark overcoats for men and women
>Dark colored hats or head scarfs for women (also deep red)
>Mufflers in red or gray or brown.
>Fingerless gloves ( any old gloves we can cut fingers off will do also.)

Other items we are looking for include:
    >4 baseball mitts
    >old fashioned baseball caps
    >a pair of men's leather riding boots, size 10 1/2 to 11
    >lots of bow ties, lots of different colors
    >6 pairs of suspenders.  Any color
    >Somewhat fancy traveling dress for a female vaudeville star, size 0 up 
to size 4
    >A brown haired wig, preferably long straight hair.  Not too large head 
size.  Needed       child.  Curly short brown would be second choice.
    >Shop aprons, preferably gray or a washed out color in the blue family
    >2 watch fobs

>The costumes for this play are very important. In many cases the costume 
>defines who the person is. Just be aware that anything you lend us will get 
>hard use. We will try to keep them in as good a condition as possible, but 
>in the heat of performance, they will be subject to a lot of wear and 
>tear. Do not offer any cherished family heirlooms! Please mark any pieces 
>you lend us and we will see that they get cleaned before they are returned. 
If you do not wish to have them back, let us know and we will keep them for 
our costume closet. Thank you for your help!