NewEnglandFilm.com

Who hasn’t scoured the closets of friends and family looking for something to wear? But it might not have occurred to you to use the same tactic when that “what to wear” crisis concerns the costumes for a slew of actors in a low budget film. In fact, the remedy is the same: shop your own closet, shop each other’s closets, and round it out with custom items, loans, and cheap vintage finds.

Some may think that with low budget productions the costumes would be the last thing to worry about, but Jennifer Scharf of Dysfunctional Book Club (shot in Orion Point, Long Island) and Ti Alan Chase of Sharply Dressed Men (shot in Portsmouth and Barrington, NH) insist on the opposite, both resounding that costumes are of utmost importance to a film. After viewing each respective film and grilling Scharf and Chase (who each played multiple roles in their films, including that of costume designer) as well as compiling all of my well kept secrets of vintage shops in and around Boston, the following is a road map for anyone about to embark on the creative shopping integral to a low budget film.

Begin at the Beginning

For Dysfunctional Book Club, a film that is at base a love story despite many comical distractions and complications, Scharf gave her actors a general idea of what she was looking for, and they opened their closets to each other for the film. She used token pieces to instruct character personalities, such as the French “ladies man” Laurent wearing short shorts for the pool scene, and the character Adam wearing a turtleneck in the summertime to indicate how completely out of touch he is. Mercedes, the wild girl, looks the part in a leopard print dress, and the porn star’s costume is inspired by Ron Jeremy.

Meanwhile, Chase had a lot to live up to with a film titled Sharply Dressed Men, which is centered around a wedding and its related chaos. The tuxedos were donated by a Portsmouth, NH shop, which Chase says, “was their way of supporting the arts.” The wedding and bridesmaid dresses came from a cast member’s closet. Chase advises, “One of the best costume decisions the director can make is to hire dedicated actors. It may not seem like costuming should be dependent upon casting, but on a film in which many of the actors are expected to provide their own costumes, it is essential for those actors to be completely committed to the project. An actor who is invested in your film will not only go out of his way to provide his costume, but he will also understand his character so well that he will know what that character would wear (as opposed to what the actor himself might wear) in any given situation.” Wise words, Mr. Chase. His actors brought clothes to set, and then Chase chose what he thought would work best on camera.

Continuity and Challenges

On the set of Dysfunctional Book Club there were a number of challenges in costuming. One growing problem, so to speak, was that Scharf was pregnant at the time. Having to disguise a belly is tough, but empire waists, layers, and loose fitting clothing do help. The film has quite a lot of character development, and the costumes greatly reflected this. One character, Dominique, falls fast in love, and her outfits change from relaxed to very sexy. Scharf admits “continuity is a problem, it gets crazy,” and in fact, during the production they lost one of the character’s dresses and ended up having to rewrite the script.

Chase says that costumes went rather smoothly on set, except for one character who had a drunken ink drawn face on his chest and stomach, which began to rub off on his shirt during filming. Since scenes were shot out of order, there is some disparity in the amount of stains on his shirt at any given time. But Chase concedes, saying by the end, “ultimately we really had to just ignore it.” Continuity and mishaps concerning costumes and props appear even in Hollywood blockbusters. On a low budget production, with minimal funds and time constraints, there is only so much you can do. It’s unlikely that the audience will notice such negligible details, and if they do, they will hopefully be forgiving.

Make a Wish List

Scharf considers costumes “extremely important” confessing that she “wishes she had more time to develop them.” Ideally, she would suggest finding someone willing to volunteer to do costumes. Why not seek out a committed film student from Emerson College? Or even an interested, supportive fashion friend? If that is impossible, her method is to break down the characters and make a wish list. Everyone shares in looking, hunting, and shopping closets and stores or asking favors of friends to find essential costume pieces.

Chase says “costumes were absolutely essential to the film.” Beyond shopping everyone’s closet, he believes that thrift stores are great, since the clothes have been worn before that eliminates the possibility of having to artificially age any of the pieces. And again, choosing actors and crew members who will pull their weight and really put effort into finding costumes for themselves and other characters.

Shopping Strangers’ Closets

While most only trek to the Garment District for Halloween costumes, this warehouse is open year round and chock full of vintage clothing, cheap stock, costume pieces and a million accessories and shoes to outfit any actor or actress (200 Broadway, Cambridge, www.garmentdistrict.com).

Boasting designer consignment pieces, Second Time Around tends to be a bit more pricey than the rest on the list, but is worth a look for a special item (176 Newbury St., Boston, www.secondtimearound.net).

Dame in Jamaica Plain is a darling little store of vintage dresses, bathing suits and shoes, mostly dated from the 40’s and 50’s, so perfect for a period piece, or a modern day fairytale (68 South St, jamaicaplaindame.blogspot.com).

Just steps further is 40 South Street, a larger vintage cave with a lot of guy’s jeans, blazers, shirts and shoes, which can be rare (www.fortysouthst.com).

With new merchandise everyday, Boomerang’s is a place to visit often for all your costuming needs — and all your dollars spent benefit the Aids Action Committee. Women and men’s wear, new and vintage (716 Centre St., Jamaica Plain; *new location to open soon in West Roxbury, www.aac.org).

Café Society specializes in retro gear and accessories for women with a little for the boys as well (131 Cypress St., Brookline).

Poor Little Rich Girl holds a large variety of second hand women’s clothing, for gloriously low prices (255 Elm St., Somerville, and 166 Newbury St., Boston, www.shoppoorlittlerichgirl.com).

If in the New York City limits the Antique Garage flea markets in Chelsea every weekend occupy two parking garages, and have some unique furs, leather gloves, vintage clothes and a lot of one of a kind accessories and props. As cheap as you want it; feel free to bargain with the sellers (West 25th between 6th and 7th Ave, for this and other fleas in NYC visit www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com).

Happy Shopping!