(From Donna Richards, TODAY Wardrobe Department Supervisor)
Hello people of blog world. Since I have never blogged, this is all new to me. As a matter of fact today is the first time I have ever been to any blog site. It's quite interesting.
My name is Donna Richards. I'm the wardrobe department supervisor for the TODAY Show.
Since the mid '90's I have worked in the wardrobe dept of "Saturday Night Live.".Different than the Today show, "SNL" falls under the category of Entertainment TV where as the Today Show falls under the NEWS category. Both are live shows, but very different. I will try to explain.
On an entertainment show you have a costume design department, with a designer or a stylist who is responsible for the clothing that talent is wearing which means he or she has either gone out and shopped for the items or has designed them and has them made. The next step would be the Wardrobe Department. That's where I come in. The wardrobe department’s job is to prepare and maintain the clothing for the talent: press, steam, spot clean, polish shoes, set, and asst. with dressing the talent (hence the term "dresser".)
On a news program, the talent is responsible for getting their own clothes. There is no design dept. (so don't write me when you don't like what they're wearing!) Our day at TODAY starts very early!!!!!!!! Our main talent brings to my dept. what they want to wear that morning and we prep it. We also coordinate outerwear: coats, gloves, scarves, hats, etc. Oftentimes we add warmers (portable heat packs) when it's very cold. Because our show is live, we are both inside & outside of the studio. What you see is happening in real time. Often that means putting a coat on the talent while they are walking out the door reading their notes for the next segment and having their microphones adjusted sometimes in less than 60 seconds!
During commercial breaks, we check the talent and guests to be sure they are "camera ready" meaning no lint, stray hairs, make up powder, coffee spills, food crumbs, crooked ties, rumpled lapels (I could go on & on. Let's just say No wardrobe malfunctions!)! After the show, we work on maintaining the clothing that our talent has worn before it goes back into their closets so it's always ready to wear.
Next time I'll explain what my dept. has to do to prepare for Special Events segments - fashion shows, makeovers, concerts, etc. I have to go. I'm going into overtime!! This blogging stuff is kind of fun. Good-bye people of blog world!!!