Wardrobe/Costuming
About Molly
Making outfits out of fabric scraps for her Barbies was Molly’s beginning in the world of wardrobe and costuming. Learning the ropes during her college and graduate school years through classes, costume shop work, and extracurricular experience, Molly gained costuming and wardrobe skills that she has put to use in the professional world as a wardrobe lead and crew member at The Juilliard School and The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Molly has also continued to do tailoring work and home designing and sewing projects to keep her skills sharp.
Testimonials
“I have worked with Molly on several projects over the last few years at Juilliard. As one of our lead wardrobe crew, Molly approaches every show with the same care and attentiveness. She is organized and calm, even under the most hectic of circumstances that come with live theater. Not only does she keep a show running smoothly, she also tactfully supervises our crew of multiple work study students. Molly is trustworthy and always a pleasure to work with!” — Amelia Dent, Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor, The Juilliard School
“Molly Shimko worked in the Boston Conservatory Costume Shop as a Student Assistant and Stock Manager. She was a great asset to the Shop, with her attentive and careful work. She was a quick learner, and was always willing to step in when she saw a need. Molly was an independent and intelligent person, with curiosity that drove her to learn more about whatever she was working on. She always went above and beyond, and filled many different roles in the Shop over the years she worked with us.” — Rebecca Butler, Costume Director, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Wardrobe Crew & Lead
Molly has had the privilege of working as a wardrobe crew member and wardrobe lead on a number of dance, opera, and theater productions, most recently with The Juilliard School.
Leading teams between one and eight people, Molly has experience in being in charge of prepping costumes (ironing/steaming/coordinating pre-sets), creating and executing tracks for team wardrobe during a performance, including choreographing dressing and quick changes, on-the-fly-repairs to all manner of coordination, and after-show care, washing or vodka-spraying costumes so they are ready for the next performance!
A few of Molly’s favorite shows to run have been Nora (Design: Jessica Ray Harrison, Juilliard 2018), Don Giovanni (Design: Olivera Gajic, Juilliard 2018), and Spring Dances (Design: Branimira Ivanova; Pilar Limosner after Martha Graham and Halston, Juilliard 2019).
Photos via The Juilliard School Website & Charlie Erickson Photography
Shop Skills
Molly’s build skills have improved drastically from the first off-kilter, one-shoulder top she made in elementary school. Working in the costume shops at Connecticut College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Vermont, and The Boston Conservatory, Molly has helped build costumes for a number of shows and gathered an arsenal of costume shop skills.
Skill List: Hand stitching (whip, invisible, hooks/bars/snaps/buttons), machine sewing (straight, french, flat-felled, piping, curved, darts, zipper), cutting, pinning, serging, rudimentary draping to name a few!
Designed by Sabrina Notarfrancisco
Photo by Andrew Nathanson
Designed by Trevor Pierce
Pieces Molly helped build:
Harvey, Connecticut College, 2011 (Yellow Dress)
Children of Eden, Pennsylvania Singers, 2011 (Jewel Tone Outfits)
Coolsville, The Boston Conservatory, 2015 (Male Cardigan)
Designed by Rebecca Butler
Photo by Max Wagenblass
Costume Build & Design Skills
Piece Design and Construction
Molly has built a few pieces entirely on her own for various projects. From patterns, she’s designed & built a 1950s Scottie-Dog poodle skirt and a 1970s jumpsuit. She also measured, draped, and built from scratch a skirt featured on Eve in Children of Eden (Pennsylvania Singers 2011) and an early 17th century Restoration gown fit for a Barbie doll.
Show Design
Molly has worked as the costume designer for a few productions. Gaining design experience in the classroom, she has put that knowledge to use in designing the look for a couple of productions, including The Last Five Years (Connecticut College, 2010) and The Fling LP (New York Theater Festival Summerfest 2019.) Molly’s more recent design project focused on The Fling LP’s themes of home, nostalgia, late adolescence transitioning to adulthood and were designed to evoke the feeling of the show’s location in southeast Alaska, taking the audience through a variety of seasons through one year in the late 2000s.
Photos by Andrew Nathanson (The Last Five Years) & Alycia Kravtiz (The Fling LP)
Show Design Illustration Samples
Molly’s designs for Arsenic and Old Lace, Costume Design Course with Martin Thaler, University of Vermont, 2013
Personalization
Molly also has experience personalizing items with her illustrations for clients. Of especial note, a bag bearing her work was featured in Four Dead in Ohio: Antigone at Kent Sate at Connecticut College, 2012.
Makeup, Hair, & Wig Work
Molly has been fortunate to also gain experience in stage makeup, hair, & wigs. Putting classroom skills to work, Molly oversaw hair & makeup for a few productions including The Threepenny Opera (Design: Sabrina Notarfrancisco, Connecticut College 2011), and worked as the hair & makeup coordinator and wig-master for a few productions at The Boston Conservatory including On the Town (Fall 2014) and Rake’s Progress (Spring 2015). She also assisted with hair and designed and perfected the art of applying zombie makeup during a quick-change for Zombie Prom at The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (2012.)
Photos: The Threepenny Opera (Andrea Nathanson & Miguel Salcedo), On the Town (Eric Antoniou), Rake’s Progress (Max Wagenblass), Zombie Prom (The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts)
20th Century American Social Movements and their Relation to Fashion
Independent Study Project
At Connecticut College, Molly created her own independent study based on 20th Century American Social Movements and their Relation to Fashion. She delved into the correlation between the fashion the birth of the teenager in the 1950s, the hippie movement of the 1960s, and the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s. In addition to academic research papers, she created a look book and physical pieces for each social movement.
