Internship Diaries - Feeling Green
After a long semester in Italy, I have returned to the United States ready to take on my summer semester and internship requirement. This will be my second fashion internship, the first being two years ago at a local vintage boutique in my hometown. While that focused more on content creation and understanding the flow of a small business, my current internship is essentially more hands on.
The Nashville Repertory Theatre kindly took me in as their summer intern in the costume and rental department, combining my love of theater and my need for more practical sewing skills. Having grown up in the world of theater, I have always been fascinated with what goes on behind the scenes, or more accurately, in the wings.
My first day was somewhat tame, focused more on understanding the layout and daily schedule of the costume shop. The current show in production and rehearsals is Waitress and we will be constructing and organizing costume pieces for the next month while prepping for photoshoots and first dress. It is essential that the costume department meets with all cast members, notes or updates any measurements on file, and discusses the vision for their character. This collaborative process is to ensure that the actor is comfortable and can fully become the character while onstage. Summer is typically the slow season, so along with a couple fittings and one rental appointment, I restocked and tagged costumes that had been returned to the REP.
On my second day with the REP, I was a little bit more hands on. We finished all of restock quite early in the day and were able to get started on more measurements and repairs from the last costume return. I was tasked with fixing a green silk victorian-style gown that immediately caught my eye. It was returned, or donated, seemingly cut in half with the bodice very badly altered. I started by carefully seam-ripping the entire waistband apart so that we could make alterations to the damaged skirt. As uneventful as that sounds, the repairs and prep for re-fitting took me almost the entire last half of my shift but I finished the day feeling quite accomplished.
