Current Conditions
23°F - CLEAR
The local designer, known internationally for her bridal gown designs, has been given the task of creating period costumes for Theater of the Seventh Sister's historical drama, "Seed of a Nation: Lancaster & Penn's Holy Experiment."
The project demands 250 finished outfits and about 1,000 pieces — including shoes, hats and hosiery.
To boot, the costumes must be historically accurate, spanning the years 1644 to 1776, covering styles that would have been worn by Quakers, Mennonites, early African Americans and the Susquehannock, the Iroquoian tribe that lived along the river and gave the Susquehanna its name.
Berté said she began the project in May — and that every piece of clothing and all accessories must be complete for a private viewing of the play scheduled for July 3.
The trained fashion designer said there's a lot of work left to do, but amazingly, the project hasn't exhausted her — yet.
"What's my secret? Well, I don't drink coffee," Berté said with a smile. "I guess I keep my energy up with my diet.
"Let's see, I've been through three bags of Oreos and some gummi penguins that I've had in my pantry for about a year. I guess chocolate is my coffee."
But Berté said her genuine enthusiasm for the project is what has really kept her going."I love the research I've been doing for the play," Berté said. "And I already know the clothes are going to be a success."
A lot of the action is taking place at her factory (also the location of her bridal salon) at 248 E. Liberty St.
The 10,000-square-foot former warehouse is covered in Berté's creations, which include handmade corsets, bonnets and men's waistcoats.
"The clothes need to be finished with details, and more actors need to be fitted," she said Friday. "Also, they intend 'Seed of the Nation' to run for years — so each outfit has a preconceived lifespan."
Berté showed off a corset fitted with steel staves.
"This is exactly what women wore — except we sneak zippers in the back so the actors can put them on themselves," she said. "We put in hidden touches like that for the sake of time. And, of course, I picked colors that would make a dramatic impact."
She also pointed out that the native Susquehannocks' clothing threw her for a loop, once she began to research their clothes.
"There's no deerskin boots and clothes, no feathers," she said, grabbing a brightly colored dress off one of the racks. "See? The style is almost colonial. The colors are brighter than what white colonists wore, but the Native Americans absorbed those styles very quickly."
(446) (273) (208) (73) (19) (6) (5) (4) (4) (3) (3) (2)Then there's the paniere, a bustle-type piece worn by women in the 1700s for more formal occasions.
The piece is worn underneath the gown to make a woman's hips jut out dramatically — in a Marie Antoinette kind of way.
"Sometimes women kept things like orange peels and flower petals in the compartments of the paniere," Berté said. "Most people bathed only twice a month back then, so they used anything to, uh, improve their smell."
Men, on the other hand, liked to show off their calves, even fitting their stockings with padding to make their legs more shapely. "It was scandalous for women to show their ankles, though," Berté said. "But they could show all the cleavage they wanted to."
Berté's sewing team consists of volunteers around the state and employees at her textile factory in China.
But the staff at her Lancaster factory is made up of only 10 people.
"Only two of us are full-time," she said. "But I've had every intern who has ever worked for me helping out."
On Friday, she fitted actress Eliza Martin, who will play a German colonial and the mother of state founder William Penn.
"You have to do this in the right order," Berté said, as she dressed the actress. "The shift (slip), jump (the colonial version of a sports bra), shortgown (cropped jacket), kerchief and bonnet.
"Dressing in a certain order was a part of society," Berté said. "In fact, when you research these clothes, fashion becomes interconnected with culture. You learn about the clothes, you learn about the people."
"Seed of a Nation" was written by Seventh Sister's co-artistic director, Mary Adams-Smith, and directed by her husband, Gary Smith, also a co-artistic director for the theater.
"The play is a historic drama about the people who formed Pennsylvania from the beginning," he said. "It's five families from different cultural backgrounds — from Quaker to Native American.
"Just imagine all that diversity coming together," Smith said. "This play is about all those energies converging. It made Pennsylvania one of the most diversified out of the 13 colonies. They created a tide of change."
Smith described the play as a "novel unfolding on stage."
"We have 36 actors playing multiple roles," he said. "They're fictional characters set against factual events, though there are some historical figures that make appearances — like Ben Franklin."
For Berté, working on the project has brought her out of the "world of white."
"It's all the wedding gowns I make. That's a lot of white," she said. "And I've made a lot of period costumes, but my specialty is usually the '20s up until the '70s, so this was a fun challenge."
Berté started her career more than 17 years ago on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood. A few years later, she founded her own business in southern California and began designing debutante dresses.
After her move to Lancaster, she managed to keep her business booming. Berté even designed 23 gowns for the 2006 film "Something New," starring Simon Barker.
"With local plays, I'm usually asked to work with a budget that's somewhere between $500 to $4,000. My budget for this play was considerably more, close to a small off-Broadway play, which is great."
She said "Seeds of the Nation" has definitely pushed her harder than any previous challenge.
"This has been a journey," Berté said. "With this play, we're not just recording history — we're making history."
Janell Berté discusses the costume designs for TSS's "Seed of a Nation."
"Seed of a Nation" will open July 5. For more information, go to www.seventhsister.com or www.SEEDofaNATION.net.
E-mail: cdifonzo@lnpnews.com
