<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Costume Shop Manager Jeanie Kimmel tries on a Donald Duck costume to show the variety of costumes available for rent to the public and to other theaters at The Driftwood Players Costume Shop in Edmonds. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Customer Margo Walker (left), of Margo Walker Designs in Kirkland, goes over each garment she wants to rent with costume shop manager Jeanie Kimmel at the Driftwood Players Costume Shop in Edmonds. Walker is renting costumes for a play entitled "The Skin of Our Teeth," which opens Nov. 7 at Kennedy High School in Burien. Walker rented over 30 items.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Halloween one-stop shop

By Lauren Thompson
Enterprise writer

The first thing you notice when walking into the Driftwood Players Costume Shop in Edmonds is the chairs.

Tucked into corners, hanging from the walls, rightfully placed by desks and dinner tables, there are chairs of every variety.

The large room, the entrance of the shop on Dayton Avenue, has the air of a ballet studio combined with an estate sale storage unit.

“Oh, but that's just the messy set stuff,” says costume shop manager Jeanie Kimmel, walking past the stacks of furniture.

She walks into another room connected to the first, just one in the labyrinth of closets and hallways that hold the costumes and set pieces for Driftwood Players. In one corner is a bookshelf filled with the shop's growing library. Across the room is a bookshelf filled with top hats. “This,” she says, looking around, “is my field of dreams.”

Revenue raiser

Kimmel has been costuming for Driftwood Players since 1996. The theatre recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Despite the milestone, Driftwood found itself on the brink of financial failure like many other businesses. So far, they've weathered the worst. Jeanie ascribes their survival to the membership: “We have the greatest membership in the world – they're so loyal.”

To generate revenue apart from support from members, Driftwood rents out its costumes and sets, mainly to schools and churches putting on productions.

What many don't know, says Kimmel, is that they rent to the public as well.

“Somebody's got to be Donald for Halloween,” she says, pulling an oversized duck head from the back of a room labeled “Pre-1900s and Unique.” Twenty-five dollars will get you the entire outfit for Halloween, including the bloated duck body covered in thick marigold feathers and donning a striped sailor shirt.

“We have everything from Oompa Loompas to 1900s ladies dresses,” says Kimmel.

She's not exaggerating. There are uniforms for nurses, soldiers and bellhops. An alcove wall hosts stacks of plastic bins, each labeled with a different accessory: “Tiaras,” “Bow ties,” “Religious collars.” A men's room with a rainbow of plaid blazers, and a women's room stuffed with tacky bridesmaids dresses. An enlarged closet filled with shoes, organized by sizes marked on peeling pieces of masking tape to designate footwear of every color and style. She points out a particular hallway: “This is the spooky room. I don't think the coffin helps too much.”

Most of the offerings far surpass the average thrift store find. “We have museum-quality pieces here,” says Kimmel, showing off a flat vintage 1940s black ladies hat, which she appraises at around $500.

With her endless costumes, what is Kimmel going to be for Halloween?

“A naughty nurse,” she says. Fitting, as the mother-of-two is currently in nursing school.

A passion for costumes

On top of school, Kimmel has been renovating the costume shop, which moved to its current Dayton location three years ago. Costumes used to be stuffed into an attic room above the James Wade Theatre, where props are now stored. The theater is currently being prepared for the company's November production of “A Christmas Story.”

“It used to be too sad, too dreary,” Kimmel says of the current shop. “When we got here, they said ‘Jeanie, you do what you want.'”

And so Kimmel did. Carpets were ripped out and replaced, new paint was applied. Despite the upgrades, Kimmel has more she wants to do, including preparing the space to run costuming workshops for local kids interested in the craft. “If we don't teach kids, we won't have sewers for the theater,” she says.

Kimmel's love of costuming – and theater in general – is the subtext of everything she says.

“I think I sewed before I walked,” she says. After studying fashion and design, Kimmel interned at the Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, ironing clothes for major productions. She brings over 20 years of experience to Driftwood Players, and is excited to pass it along to others through renting, teaching and mentoring.

“Call me and I'll bring you down and mentor you through a show. I know there are costumers out there – I know there are,” she says. “Even if you just want to come down and hang out in the shop.”

A second family

Like many involved at Driftwood – set builders, ticket takers and more – Kimmel's work is now done as a volunteer, a time commitment she says many find difficult to understand. But seeing her commitment to the artistry of costuming, to the community of theater, it's clear her passion outweigh consideration for financial gain.

To be a costumer, “You have to know why a person felt that way that day, know why they chose the clothes they did. You have to be a historian, a philosopher, a psychiatrist. You have to be very, very quiet and observant,” says Kimmel. “It's that big.”

“Not everything you do has to be for money,” she adds.

Though she encourages people to visit the shop for their Halloween costume, Kimmel emphasizes that theater can be about more than that.

“Driftwood is like a family to me – and I don't like saying cheesy stuff like that,” she smiles, leaning against a worktable housing bolts of donated fabrics.

“It's a lonely world, but when you come to the theatre, it's so real. It's such a unifying experience.”

It's time to get involved, Kimmel reiterates. “And you'll never be lonely again.”