Costumes for a 1940's Character

Video Transcript

"Hi. Welcome back to the last segment of this particular character. We're here at Expert Village and I'm showing you how to put together a one woman show. This particular show is kind of patriotic and it's big band and it's all 1940's and the World War II tunes. The outfit was completely matched to the outfits that the Andrews Sisters wore when they used to go overseas and entertain the troops. One good thing about this costume, when I used to have to change very fast from one costume to another, I figured out tie the tie once and then you can slip the tie up, because tying the tie is kind of tricky. So if you keep it tied and just make it go over your head, then you can slip it and you've got this perfect knot and you tuck the rest of it in like that. Well the shirt was just bought from the store, that's all. It's nothing particularly clever about the shirt. However, finding the skirt did take some doing. In fact, I had to get a pattern and have the skirt made. It's kind of A-line and, what I really like about topping the whole outfit off is the shoes. I put on these, they call them wingtips. And boy, when you do that boogie woogie everybody comes alive and they say "look at those shoes." And most of the time I have nylons with the seams up the back and, if you're doing a show very close to your audience, you'd be surprised how the littlest details, like seamed hose, I hear them in the audience say, "do you remember when we used to wear those?" It's such a great costume and such a great costume and such a great character. Come on along and be a Hatty Andrews with me."