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Jean Engstrom gallery

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• Indianapolis Civic Theatre

She may be the costume guru at one of the nation's oldest community theaters, but Jean Engstrom's life is not all buttons and bows.

A tall, animated doctor's widow, Engstrom raised two sons before going back to school for a master's degree in fine arts. Meanwhile, she parlayed her volunteer work for various theater and opera companies into a 22-year career that has taken her from Midwest costume shops to New York fashion shoots.

Engstrom, an Ohio native, lived in Indianapolis when her first husband was stationed here as a doctor in the Army. She moved back last year after freelancing in New York to become Indianapolis Civic Theatre's resident designer.

Since then, she has treated theatergoers to 471 costumes -- from the imposing pharaoh's crown in "Aida" to the whimsical lobster outfits in "Alice in Wonderland." If Engstrom didn't build the costumes from scratch, she pulled them from storage or found them at thrift shops.

As visible as Engstrom's costumes are on stage, she lives an almost reclusive existence at Civic, tucked away in the vast basement in the Civic Theatre building at Marian College.

Her office is a cramped cinderblock affair, where a computer shares space with a 1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog and a Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star."

Step outside her office, and you confront Engstrom's chaos: rack upon rack of gowns and suits, and shelves crammed with jewelry and shoes from every era.

Do you personally have a vintage clothing collection?

I do, because people give me things. For the past 10 years, I have had a separate storage space. I have vintage '40s gowns. I have a '40s coat that was worn by Barbara Stanwyck. I have antique furs. I have ties and other menswear. I have turn-of-the-century evening coats. They're all treasures.

When I first started out, I used them for shows, because I used whatever I could get my hands on. Now I don't use them so much, but I still wear a couple of suit jackets from the '50s because the cut is so beautiful.

Which designers have inspired you?

There were many fashion designers. (French designer Coco) Chanel was an innovator. (Italian designer Elsa) Schiaparelli has this wonderful, surrealistic design ability. (California native) Bob Mackie has always been able to capture all the glitter of Las Vegas.

What skills should a costumer bring to the theater?

The costume designer has to have endurance, and a vision. A costume designer has to love what he or she does, because it's not a 9-to-5 job. It never was and it never will be.

You have to have a sense of story, a sense of history. I really feel a costume designer needs to know how clothes go together.

It helps to be able to draw. I always try to do quick sketches. You don't have to be able to sew to be a designer, but I absolutely can. I actually started as a sewer. In high school, I sewed all my clothes. A designer who does not sew needs a special creative team.

What do you do to prepare for the opening of a show?

First, I look at the budget and talk to the director about his vision -- if it's going to remain in the era it was written in. Color is big. Is it a minimal show? A realistic show? These are the basic questions. I look at all of my resources. I always start with swatches of fabric, so I get an idea of darks and lights in terms of how the story changes. Costumes might begin in neutrals and end up colorful, especially in musicals. I analyze characters; then I start pulling everything and anything I think would work.

Talk about your transition between raising a family and getting into costume design.

My first husband was an M.D., a gastroenterologist who worked at several hospitals. He was a workaholic and died at 37. It was a real shame. He was a brilliant guy, and I wish he could see his kids grown.

After my husband died, I married a classical symphony conductor (they've since divorced). My first theater experiences were doing opera with him, and he conducted in Saginaw, Mich., which is how I met Bob Sorbera (Civic Theatre's artistic director).

How did you get to New York?

I graduated with my MFA in 2001, and my two sons had moved to Manhattan. John (Engstrom) is a photographer and Erik (Engstrom) is in the culinary arts. I wanted to be near them.

I lived there for seven years, and worked in fashion styling for print products including a New York Times cover ..... I also styled (vacuum cleaner manufacturer) David Oreck for five years -- not for TV, but for his mailers and billboards. What he's wearing on a billboard on 82nd Street -- I dressed him for that.

I also did a couple of terribly low-budget independent films. Zoe Beloff did a trilogy over a period of about four years on insanity in the 19th century. Two are silent films. One was filmed at an insane asylum.

You signed on at Civic in July 2007, and "Aida," a big costume show, opened Sept. 14. Sixty days doesn't seem like a lot of time to get ready.

That was intense -- 97 costumes in 60 days, and that was a build (meaning Civic created most costumes from scratch). I hired two part-time people and we had five volunteers.

I would get here around 8 in the morning, and I would leave at 10 at night. I took one day off the entire 60 days. I missed the State Fair. I missed everything.

Even now, I still like Aida's dress, a fitted sheath made out of a very natural, dirt-colored knit, that I designed for her. It had a shawl-like wrap that could be draped in various ways. Amneris' dresses were more regal and fitted, with built-in corsets. For Radames, I designed a whole wardrobe.

Was "Aida" Civic's big gun for costumes last season?

There were a couple of big guns. "Leading Ladies" was a huge costume show. I got my biggest kick out of it. It's a comic farce about two English Shakespearean actors who are down on their luck. They discover that a wealthy woman with two English nephews is dying, and decide to become the nephews, who end up being "nieces." It's similar to "Some Like It Hot," where the two men are made up as women. You start with Shakespearean costumes. The wealthy woman has a sense of style from the 1920s and '30s, and the fake nieces wear '50s dresses.

What big costume shows are coming up for 2008-09?

"Little Shop of Horrors" (Sept. 12 to 28) will be fairly easy. Those costumes I will find here at the costume shop and at thrift shops. "Golda's Balcony" (about Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, Oct. 31 to Nov. 16) is a one-person show, and we know how she looked. She was sedate. I've been going through costumes for "The Wizard of Oz" (Dec. 12 to Jan. 4, 2009), and they are very worn. There are 50 Munchkins, and that scene will have to be redone. "Enchanted April" (Jan. 30 to Feb. 15) is a romantic comedy about friends who have oppressive husbands and vacation in Italy. Vintage clothing from Italy has to be light and airy.

Jean Engstrom

Occupation: Resident costume designer, Indianapolis Civic Theatre.

Age: "Over 50."

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio.

Residence: Indianapolis.

Education: M.F.A. in theater/costume design and a B.S. in elementary education, both from the Ohio State University.

Family: Sons John and Erik Engstrom.