The Learned Ladies, University of Houston, 2022
Director, Brandon Weinbrenner
Costume Designer, Paige Willson
Draper and Shop Manager, Laura Whittenton
University of Houston’s production of Learned Ladies took Moliere’s classic and reimagined it as an early 1990’s sitcom. The purple pantsuit and the floral Laura-Ashley style dress were both patterned by me and constructed with the assistance of undergraduate costume production students.
Marisol, University of Houston, 2022
Director, José Zayas
Costume Designer, JP Riddle
Draper, Shop Manager, Laura Whittenton
For Marisol, I had the opportunity to build a studded leather jacket for Marisol’s guardian angel. The rest of the clothes for this gritty, apocolyptic show were pulled or purchased, and then required aging and distressing. At the time UH was producing this show, I was also teach an undergraduate costume crafts class. I distributed the clothing amongst the students and used this production as an opportunity to teach aging and distressing techniques.
The Nutcracker, Houston Ballet, 2016
Choreographer, Stanton Welch
Costume Designer, Tim Goodchild
Draper, Laura Whittenton
This ballet was the largest build the Houston Ballet's costume shop had ever done. Some of the costumes were built in our show, and some were built by outside vendors, then shipped to the us to be fit and finished.
I draped Mrs. Stahlbaum's and the grandmother's dresses for the party scene and fit the men's costumes for the party scene once they arrived from New York.
The tunics for the Nutcracker prince arrived and were unusable due to their fit. Two weeks before opening, myself and my first hand patterned, cut, and built two new sets of tunics for the Nutcracker Prince.
My favorite build for this show was the Danish woman. We only had room in the budget to build one costume, yet the cast for the show would rotate frequently. This bodice and skirt had to fit multiple women of different sizes.
The 18th century style cage pannier skirt supports for the Sugar Court Ladies were also patterned and constructed by me.
Giselle, Houston Ballet, 2016
Choreography, Stanton Welch
Costume Designer, Roberta Guidi di Bagno
Draper, Laura Whittenton
Although each of these women's costumes look unique, they were actually built as multiples. A basic bodice and skirt pattern was created for Giselle and all of the peasant women. Each one was made to look unique by choosing different fabrics and trims.
For the bodices, the designer chose leathers and textured upholstery fabrics. The challenge for this ballet was not allowing these thick fabrics to make the bodices appear bulky and cumbersome.
Romeo and Juliet, Houston Ballet, 2015
Choreography, Stanton Welch
Costume Designer, Roberta Guidi di Bagno
Draper, Laura Whittenton
For this ballet, I patterned and built all of the leather tunics for the Montague and Capulet men. The designer's vision was that these tunics should fit very close to the body, yet they still needed to stretch and move with the dancers. These tunics were built on a base of lycra and jumbo spandex. The look of trim was created by leaving gaps between the leather panels and allowing the dyed lycra to show through. This also built some stretch into the garment.
Zaide, Wolf Trap Opera, 2010
Directer, James Marvel
Costume Design, Mattie Ullrich
Draper, Laura Whittenton
Zaide was a truly unconventional project. The opera is rarely performed, as it was unfinished at the time of Mozart's death. This version of Zaide was set in space. The materials I used were unconventional as well. Allazim's fur vest is created with feathers and human hair. Osmin's shoulder pads and collar are trimmed with zippers, and the faces of the alien guards are made with layers of blue plastic screening.
This three piece suit was created not as a costume for a show, but as a project for my tailoring class as a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.
No short cuts were taken in constructing this suit. The interior chest front of the jacket was not purchased pre-made, but cut and stitched entirely by hand. No fusible interfacing was used.
I used three drafting systems for this suit. The vest and sleeves were drafted from Poulin's Tailoring Suits: The Professional Way, the pants from Kawashima's Fundamentals of Fashion Design: A Guide to Tailored Clothes, and that jacket from Regal's The American Garment Cutter.
Love's Labour's Lost, The University of Texas at Austin, 2012
Directer, John Langs
Costume Designer, Proletina Veltcheva
Draper, Laura Whittenton
This blue party dress also had double as a bathing suit, as the actress plunged into a pool onstage while wearing it. The dress was made out of a lightweight polyester taffeta and polyester chiffon. The dress had to be made to withstand being spun dried in the washing machine after each show.
Although it is not my main focus, I have a passion for hat making. These hats were all made in my time as a graduate student. For many of them, I made custom hat blocks out by stacking and gluing sheets of foam, and then carving them into the shape I wanted.
My training as a graduate student at the University of Texas was extensive. In addition to draping and tailoring, I also studied fabric painting and dying, mask making, and armor making.
These pictures are completed class projects from my graduate courses.
