My First Saloon Girl Dress
When I was growing up, Old Tucson was a very different place for me then it is now.
It's still Old Tucson, but it used to be an actual working movie set. I actually worked there.
We would wake up super early and enjoy the scenic drive and hairpin turn, revealing the desert from above, and then decend into the special land, a hundred years from all my school work and regular friends, into the world of movie magic. That lady there, that's my mom. She was my hero.
The thing about "movie magic" is that it's actually just fancy terminology for fake.
Ice cream cones, were really just mashed potatoes. They couldn't melt, and they didn't even taste good, they were just for pretending to be delicious.
My favorite part of Old Tucson was the wardrobe department.
It smelled like an antique store and it was full of possibilities.D
Blanca knew what everyone would wear. Background players came from all walks of life. Blanca decided if a young man would be a gentleman, or a rancher. She picked out your wardrobe. This was my first dream job.
You could be Mary Poppins or Laura Ingalls Wilder, Blanca held your fate in her capable seamstress hands.
There was so much nuance. The clothes made you who you would pretend to be for the entire film. Sometimes there would be a wardrobe change, and you could be somebody else, and this added to the excitement. Anything was possible.
But whatever you were, you could count on one thing, you would be warm. The wardrobe of that period had many, many layers.
I think this was because the elements were so harsh.
The desert is hot, and wool coats, with all those layers of wool and thick cotton and leather boots, heat stroke was a real hazard. The saloon girls had it made, they were a scantily clad bunch. I longed to be a saloon girl.
My mom was usually a saloon girl.
But, sometimes she went even higher on the ladder of possible characters.
The ultimate thing was to be a Can-Can Dancer.
They were happy and full of life.
I was just a kid though. Kids were never allowed to be Can-Can dancers.
This was a new scene all together.
Blanca was not there.
Tombstone was a big production, they brought their own wardrobe, and their own wardrobe ladies.
See, now, there was a little bit of a mix up with these wardobe ladies.
My mom hastily sent in my resume and head shot so that I could work on the picture.
Sure, I had a 24" waist when I was 12. but not when I was 16.
The wardrobe ladies were very professional.
They decided I should be a saloon girl! I was pretty happy to see it. It was plum colored with black pleated ruffles and fringe around the collar which was off the shoulder and very scandalous.
But uh, there was one little problem.
It's just a simple matter of numbers on paper.
The wrong numbers.
We made it work. I got the dress on.
I was a professional. I was a working girl! I was also very, very uncomfortable.
When I got home, and undressed, I could see bruises forming on my torso. I had to work for at least a week, maybe more. I was unsure because in the movies, anything was possible. What if I had to wear that dress for two weeks? Or four?
Each morning, I drove to the set in Mescal, AZ. I had to leave my house in the cold dark and watch the sun rise from the freeway. Thinking of hot chocolate and donuts.
It was sort of a daily challenge.
And it was also a privilege to be able to wear a dress valued at 4 thousand dollars by the wardrobe department. A dress that was so beautiful, the color of a bruise.
It definitely attracted the boys, or should I say men?
It was kind of an amazing time for me. I was in high school. No one had ever even asked for my phone number, much less offered me a room key!
I was feeling pretty good.
What a jerk!