How Mitzi Gaynor Changed My Life By Karan Kaufman Feder

How Mitzi Gaynor Changed My Life

By Karan Kaufman Feder

Ashleigh Prince, Mitzi Gaynor, and author Karan Kaufman Feder, 1987

One Midwestern winter's day, in the midst of my long three-year stint of completely unfocused study at the University of Wisconsin, a friend announced that she was leaving the university and moving to California in pursuit of a degree in fashion design. My immediate reaction was "Wait, what-that's a thing? Is that really a real profession?” Smitten and fascinated, I decided that I too would make a westward migration to the sunny paradise known as Southern California and try my hand in the fashion business. To my surprise, Los Angeles and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising welcomed me with open arms and I enthusiastically embarked on my quest to conquer the world of women's ready-to-wear.

Despite the theatrical tendencies of my completed school assignments and the recurring pleas from my design instructors that perhaps I should consider a career in stage costume rather than in fashion, I was thrilled that my first job upon graduation was as an assistant to fashion designer Gene Ewing. The BIS by Gene Ewing label was a big-deal in the late 1980s. The designer’s unique line of cool, embellished, sun-washed, denim sportswear was receiving a lot of editorial coverage and the brand was enjoying high sell-through rates in the mid-tier department store market. Although I was at first zealous on the job, the daily assaults from cut-throat personalities and the permanent industrial blight of LA's garment district proved oppressive and after just two short weeks, I uncharacteristically quit.

Courtesy Wikipedia Commons

L-Johnnie Ray and Mitzi Gaynor (1954), R- Mitzi Gaynor and her husband Jack Bean (1955)

The school then suggested that I might interview for a position titled "Wardrobe Assistant for the Mitzi Gaynor Show." I really didn't understand this job nor did I have a good sense of the sort of tasks I might be doing, but the word "wardrobe" was a part of the job's title and so I figured it was worth a shot. As this was pre-Internet, unfortunately, a quick Google search of "wardrobe assistant" and "Mitzi Gaynor" was not an option. I arrived for my interview fully expecting to meet with the "I Will Survive" disco star Gloria Gaynor who was the only "Gaynor" I was able to conjure up on short notice. Nervously waiting in the reception area, I kept myself occupied with fantasies about what it was that I would be doing with her impossibly cool disco wardrobe. My job interview took an unexpected turn when it became quite clear that the disco queen would not be making an appearance because, in actuality, the celebrity in question, Mitzi Gaynor, was a singing-dancing-movie star who had made a name for herself during the Golden Age of Hollywood and was best known for her award-winning role in the  1958 musical film South Pacific. Yes, I was terribly disappointed about the missed opportunity in working with Gloria Gaynor's disco wardrobe but as I had no other immediate prospects, I accepted the gig and within the week I was on an airplane en route to the first stop on our National tour- the enchanting Scranton, Pennsylvania.

 In Scranton, it was discovered that as a wardrobe assistant I would be responsible for dressing Mitzi Gaynor's male chorus line and for supervising the maintenance of their stage costumes. The ten singing and dancing men had a total wardrobe that amounted to well over 200 pieces with each performer donning a different costume about ten times per show. I straight away learned all about costume quick-changes, dance belts, and chorus line politics. Happily, this was an excellent fit for a fanatically organized girl with theatrical tendencies. I loved the work load, the pace, the music, the back stage choreography, and the thrill of a live performance.

Les Girls (1957) Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

During one of my very first tours with the Show, my immediate boss, the head of wardrobe, announced that she had secured a better gig for herself back home and she would be taking the next plane back to Los Angeles, quitting the show, mid-tour. As this was show business and, as you know, the show must go on, it was proposed that I, certainly by default, should be responsible for not just managing the boys' 200-piece wardrobe but for also serving as Miss Gaynor's personal dresser and supervising all of her elaborate stage costumes. It was the production's very good fortune that I was a naive, ambitious, over-achiever with not much else going on in life and so I enthusiastically yielded to the challenge.

Mitzi Gaynor's husband-manger-producer, Mr. Jack Bean, scheduled a test-run before the evening performance in an attempt to mitigate the star's apprehension concerning my competence to dress her in the right costume at the right time. With Miss Gaynor’s elaborately beaded, opening-number costume in tow, I was instructed to station myself directly outside the closed door of Mitzi's exclusive and restricted star dressing room until further notice. Nervous minutes passed as I worried about what would happen next. The nuts and bolts of the forthcoming proceedings weren’t explained in any sort of detail and I didn’t quite understand why Mitzi Gaynor wasn’t able to dress herself. Would the famous movie star behind the door be in the nude? Should I attempt conversation? My anxieties were pierced when I heard a loud elongated syllable barked from behind the closed dressing room door: "COME!" What? In confusion, I look to Mr. Bean, who has also been stationed at Mitzi’s dressing room door. With a lift of his eyebrows, he indicates that this “bark” is my cue to enter Miss Gaynor’s exclusive dressing room.

Inside, I carefully presented the fantabulous Bob Mackie-designed, bugle beaded gown that Mitzi is to wear during the show’s opening number. The gown included an oversized, plastic, center-back zipper and Miss Gaynor directed me to zip her up and so I did…until I couldn’t. It appeared that the gown didn't properly fit the star…at all! And that, if I was to have any hope of getting the two sides of the zipper to meet, I would need to somehow compress a healthy four inches of back flesh. I began to panic. Do I tell the movie star that her costume isn't fitting properly? And how do I respectfully word this observation? Perhaps, I was overreacting to the vast expanse between the edges of the zipper and indeed there were some tricky, hidden elastic properties built into the gown. Determined, I manage to pull the zipper up to Mitzi’s waistline but at this point it defiantly refuses to advance another single tooth upward. I stole a glance at Miss Gaynor’s personal hairdresser who was gleefully watching this show from the cushy star dressing room couch. I returned my focus back to the plastic beast and executed a newly devised finger grip on the zipper pull. Surprisingly, this new technique seemed to provide better leverage and the zipper surrendered to my control, sealing itself to reveal...a-perfectly-fitting-gown!

Mitzi Gaynor is seen backstage dressed in her opening number costume designed by Bob Mackie and poses with her wardrobe crew Ashleigh Prince (left) and Karan Kaufman Feder, 1987

In this moment, filled with wonder and admiration, I wanted nothing more than to learn everything I could about stage costume from whom was obviously a genius wizard, Mr. Bob Mackie. My gig working as the wardrobe supervisor for The Mitzi Gaynor Show would prove to be a transitional moment in my life and career and would serve to inform, support, and influence my career opportunities in the years to come. Thank you Mitzi Gaynor for changing my life…

By the way, if you're curious to learn the secret to changing out a dancer's pantyhose in under 5 seconds, PM me.

About the author:

Karan Feder is a leading expert in the field of entertainment costume history, preservation, and exhibition. She is an experienced museum professional with expertise in the development and execution of compelling costume exhibitions. Feder excels in all aspects of archival costume collection care, management, database administration, and mounting. She is a veteran of the entertainment industry with additional professional experience and resources in the museum, attraction, fashion, and marketing fields. Her unique range of expertise offers the knowledge, contacts, and resources required to execute the varied complex details of costume acquisition, interpretation, preservation, and exhibition.

Feder contributes commentary and expertise for numerous national and international media including competitions, exhibitions, film, news programs, podcasts, print publications, professional symposiums, and television series.

Karan Feder serves as the Guest Curator of Costume & Textiles at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. She is an active member of the Costume Society of America, the Costume Designers Guild, and a voting member of the Television Academy (The Emmys).

Feder is author/co-author of six publications focused on classic entertainment culture and costume. Author page: amazon.com/author/karanfeder