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Post by flossieskid on Jun 25, 2021 5:26:42 GMT -5
In watching some Walton’s reruns, I noticed my Mom in the same costume in 3 different shows. She was wearing the purple dress (or skirt and blouse) that she wore during the final scene in “The Firestorm”. I saw her in the same outfit during, I think, the show about John Boy’s graduation and I think one or two other episodes. I know money was tight on Waltons mountain, but surely she could have ordered some fabric from Ike and gave herself a new look once in a while!!
I know Flossie couldn’t have been a fashion plate, but I wonder if, because she was my Mom, that I am the only Walton fan who looks at wardrobe during the episodes?
Mom would always tell us that she couldn’t lose any weight because then her career would “disappear.” She would say, “Nobody would hire 115 lb. caregiver!” She seemed to get a lot of roles as maids, caregivers, housekeepers and similar roles. She always felt she needed those extra pounds for her character. I wish I had the same excuse for mine!
Mom was in a classic “Twilight Zone” entitled “Night Call” where she took care of invalid Gladys Cooper who keeps getting these strange phone calls at night. Since she played a nurse caregiver, she had to dress in a nurse’s uniform. Mom felt she looked like “an exploded marshmallow!” But, it’s a great Twilight Zone!
So please reach out, Walton fans, and let me know if wardrobe is anything you, as a viewer, really notices or cares about. THANKS!
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Post by Brenda on Jun 25, 2021 6:36:07 GMT -5
I haven’t paid much attention to Flossie Brimmer’s wardrobe, but no, you are not the only one who looks at wardrobe during the episodes. We have discussed it several times here on the forum. I’ll try to find the threads and post the links here. What many of us have noticed is that the same dresses or outfits have been worn by different actors on different episodes. Back in the 1970s when we only watched The Waltons once a week, it probably wasn’t as noticeable, but now that we have the opportunity to watch several episodes a day back to back, it becomes more obvious. There was a young woman’s dress that was worn by at least 4 characters at different times. John Boy’s date, Audrey Butler, wore it to a dance, and it was also worn by the schoolteacher Rosemary Hunter, the air mail pilot’s wife Sue Cooper, and Patsy Brimmer. There was a pair of bib overalls with a bleach stain on the front that was worn by several characters. In an early episode, Jim Bob wore a “blouse” that Olivia had made from one of Erin’s old dresses. Aimee Godsey was later seen wearing that same blouse. I’m sure there are many more examples. Maybe it was typical of the times for a woman to have only a couple of dresses that she wore over and over. After all, it was during the depression, and people didn’t have a lot of money. Olivia seemed to have only a few dresses too, especially in the early seasons. Erin often wore dresses that Mary Ellen wore, but I don’t think that is unusual. My sister and I used to wear each other’s clothes when we were teenagers because we wore the same size. I will start looking at Flossie Brimmer’s wardrobe more closely now that you’ve brought it up. Here are a couple of threads where we have discussed wardrobe: Wardrobe used and reused Recycled costumes
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Post by Easton on Jun 25, 2021 7:44:51 GMT -5
As Brenda said, when we watched The Waltons back in the 70s, we saw it once a week in first-runs. If we missed an episode for one reason or another, we had a second chance to see it during summer reruns. If we missed that broadcast, there was little hope of seeing it again. Syndication and video recording formats have made it possible for us to watch The Waltons for hours at a time. We can watch episodes which had been broadcast over several months in just a few hours. If we binge watch, we can watch an entire season in just one day (2 if we take time to sleep). It's easier to notice things.
The other thing to consider is budget. From what I've read, there was a stock wardrobe to clothe all of the characters and extras. Subtle changes were made occasionally, I'm sure, but, for the most part, it was a matter of needing a size 'X' and pulling it off the rack with no thought of who wore it last time. If it was suitable, it was used.
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Post by Brenda on Jun 25, 2021 7:48:56 GMT -5
Tracey, your comment about your mother’s weight reminded me of the episode, The Wedding, when Mrs. Brimmer went to see the new doctor, Curt Willard, about her aching feet, and he put her on a diet. “Dr. Willard, you are forward!” “Mrs. Brimmer, you are fat!”
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Post by goodnight on Jun 25, 2021 11:59:36 GMT -5
Mom was in a classic “Twilight Zone” entitled “Night Call” where she took care of invalid Gladys Cooper who keeps getting these strange phone calls at night. Since she played a nurse caregiver, she had to dress in a nurse’s uniform. Mom felt she looked like “an exploded marshmallow!” But, it’s a great Twilight Zone! Was she also in another Twilight Zone episode where she played the owner of a boarding house in Washington DC at the time that Lincoln was shot. I recall seeing that one. But not the one you mentioned.
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Post by flossieskid on Jun 25, 2021 12:42:48 GMT -5
Yes, Goodnight - My Mom was on that Twilight Zone called “Back There” when Russell Johnson (the Professor from “Gilligan’s Island”) goes back in time and tries to warn people about Lincoln’s assassination. She ran the boarding house ….ah, sounds familiar!
I forget that the Waltons took place around the Depression, so of course people wore the same clothes more than once. Wardrobe departments at every studio housed clothes from every show filmed on that lot, so since the Waltons was a “period piece” the clothes needed to reflect that.
I remember so clearly the place called “Western Costumes” that I must have visited a hundred times with my parents. It was a central place where every actor from every TV or film would go to get their clothes for the role they were going to play. It was a magical place for any kid! I think I saw it for the first time when I was 7. When you walked in, you were in fantasyland! There was an unending array of every necessary piece of clothing from Roman gladiators to the roaring ‘20’s, to cowboys and Indians garb to dresses that the Queen of England would wear. Since so many costumes were not used, the owners found it more advantageous to their bottom line if each studio would develop their own wardrobe to be used over and over again and Western Costumes disappeared. Many studios did buy a lot of the inventory of Western Costume, but I was sad to see it go.
Studios were always trying to save money, so sometimes actresses were asked to bring in their own clothes to be used in their scenes and the production company would pay them a “per deim” charge for each day they used their own clothes. I have a very funny story about my Mom, her own dress and Steve McQueen when they were filming the original “Thomas Crown Affair”. I have to dash now, but will share it later.
Thanks for all the insights about wardrobe!
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Post by Easton on Jun 25, 2021 13:29:51 GMT -5
^ This probably won't mean anything to anyone, but Mr. Dressup would have loved to have had Western Costumes in his Tickle Trunk.
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