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Castoffs of theater have party potential
By MARY JANE PARK ST. PETERSBURG -- For six months, Ann Berdeen has sorted through clothing at the St. Petersburg Little Theater, separating women's business suits from ball gowns, organizing military uniforms, filling boxes with hats, gloves and shoes. The fruits of her labors are neatly stacked cartons with labels that reflect their contents: "Middy blouses," "Crinolines -- very short," "Priestly clothes and vestments," "Garters" and her favorite: "Bad faux "period' pieces (Use for parts)." "We have maybe 50 men's tuxedos," Berdeen said. "We had to match them up with pants, if we could." Not a simple task, pairing up black fabrics among differing materials and weaves. Having arranged the clothing inventory, Berdeen, who is the costume chairwoman at St. Petersburg Little Theater, will oversee a costume sale in the lobby of the theater at 4025 31st St. S from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 9 and 10. She pares down the theater's inventory for the sales, which sometimes have occurred near Halloween. With prom season approaching, it's an opportunity to select garments at thrift-sale prices. About 2,000 items of men's and women's formal wear, furs, hats and gloves will be offered, along with grab-bag items. On a walk-through of the costume department, Berdeen showed off 1960s-era sheaths and coats a la Jacqueline Kennedy; '70s caftans and resort wear ("some of it is so ugly"); mother-of-the-bride dresses; and bridesmaids' dresses abandoned by women who had no further use for the hideous choices of their so-called friends. Many of the women's clothes seem impossibly tiny. "That's why most people give this stuff away," Berdeen said, "because they outgrew it." "Look at this," she said over and over again as she sorted through racks of items donated to the theater: wedding dresses with exquisite detail; glittery, billowy confections constructed for ballroom dancers; a cascade of black and silver sequins over a slim silk slip; red fox stoles, their tiny heads biting their tails. "Some of this stuff is wonderful," Berdeen said. "But who's going to wear it?" Those with abundant imagination and limited budgets, perhaps? Information: (727) 866-2059.
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