A Change of Scenery for Western Costume : Relocating: Entire stock of about 3 1/2 million costumes and props is being moved to new North Hollywood location.
Paul Abramowitz admits he hasn’t slept much lately.
As president of Western Costume Co., he’s supervising the move of its entire stock of costumes and props--about 3 1/2 million of them--from Hollywood to North Hollywood.
The move, expected to take 28 days, started last week.
“How do you move all of this and still do business at the same time?” Abramowitz asked recently as he walked through the 65-year-old structure on Melrose Avenue that Western is vacating so Paramount Studios, which owns the site, can put up an office building.
“It’s probably the largest collection of vintage clothing in the world, and it has to be preserved,” he said. “Most of the clothes are genuines.”
That morning, he had spotted, among the packed boxes of more than 3,000 swords, two authentic European weapons imported by Western in the 1920s for the Eric von Stroheim classic, “The Wedding March.” They were pulled from the regular collection and placed for packing with the special items.
“We find those kinds of items all the time,” said Abramowitz, explaining that no piece-by-piece inventory has ever been done of Western’s apparel and props. “And it never will be. It would be a monumental task and too costly.”
He estimates the company has at least 2 1/2 million costumes, prompting his stepson Adam, 11, to ask: “Do you know you have two costumes for everybody in the state of Maine?”
Chief costumer Bob Pecina, who has worked at Western on and off since 1945, observed: “We’ve started an inventory many times but never finished. But this place was always No. 1. All the biggest designers were here, Walter Plunkett, Edith Head, Adele Palmer, Irene Sharaff, Renie, Yvonne Woods, Eddie Stevens. And all the stars. My favorite was Barbara Stanwyck. She was such a lovely person. And Errol Flynn and Gilbert Roland. Gilbert is still a friend of mine.”
As for props, probably a million have been acquired by Western since it was founded by Indian post trader L.L. Burns circa 1912, when cowboy star William S. Hart, complaining about the accuracy of the garb he had been given, hired him to be official supplier of Indian clothing for his pictures.
Burns’ company originally was housed in downtown Los Angeles at 7th and Figueroa streets in a tiny building. Western moved several times before taking up residence in 1932 on Melrose Avenue in a former furniture warehouse. Burns lost control of Western during the Depression; the company went through several owners until Abramowitz, author Sidney Sheldon and agent Bill Haber bought the collection last year.
“Five and half miles of racks of costumes, two more miles of boxes of props,” Abramowitz commented, showing a shining rack of space suits, copies of the Mercury astronaut suits used in “The Right Stuff.” To allow Western’s costumers to authenticate the suits, the Smithsonian, where the originals are stored, loaned the company Scott Carpenter’s suit.
“I have anxiety about all of this every night,” Abramowitz said. “But it’s exciting because we’re going to have the flexibility to operate properly. . . .”
When the first shipment of costumes arrived at the North Hollywood site, there weren’t enough lights to see to unload the dresses; Abramowitz climbed a large ladder and changed the florescent fixtures attached to the 24- foot ceilings.
“This place is like three airplane hangars,” he said of Western’s new building. “But when it’s finished, it will be a lot better for our business to have everything on one floor, instead of crawling around six floors trying to find something. . . .”
Hired to transport what Abramowitz calls “the lifeblood of Hollywood” were John Marshall Movers of Van Nuys. The cost? “Well into six figures,” Abramowitz said.
Marshall said: “We’ve done jobs this huge, but never this type. Nobody’s ever done this.” He explained that most of the moving would be done at night because Western will be open during the move, adding, “Traffic wise, it will be better, too.”
Although it’s only a 20-minute drive from Hollywood to Western’s new headquarters in the 125,000-square-foot former printing plant on Vanowen Street, Abramowitz said he regrets having to move from Hollywood.
He said he had tried to find a nearby Hollywood building: “We held out hope to the last second that we could remain here. We looked at more than 30 buildings. But there are very few buildings in Hollywood that could house us.” The new site is nine acres and cost $10 million.
“The only thing is, we’re leaving Hollywood,” said George Santander, the women’s clothing department director and a Western employee for 25 years. “It will probably be good for business, but I still hate to go. I don’t think about it much right now. I’ve got too many problems carrying on business.
“Here’s an order,” he continued, picking up a form from his worn wooden desk. “I’m supposed to ship stuff to a guy at the end of April. But I don’t know where we’ll be then.”
Western isn’t leaving Hollywood completely. It plans to open retail outlets to rent and sell “conventional Halloween-type costumes” throughout Los Angeles; it hopes to have a Hollywood site for Halloween.
Besides clothing and props, all of Western’s other facilities will move too, including its library--a rare collection of 10,000 books and periodicals dealing with costumes--shoe, dye, millinery, tailor, paint and leather shops, and laundry and dry cleaning facilities.
The clothing is being packed in garment boxes and loaded on sealed trucks, which will be opened at the new site by Western employees.
Why the emphasis on security? Because, Abramowitz explained, so much of the clothing worn by Hollywood’s famous has simply “walked out the door.” An entire rack of Marilyn Monroe’s original movie clothing, for example, disappeared years ago. Remaining is a blouse she wore in “The Misfits” and a backup copy of a dress fashioned for her for “The Seven Year Itch” in 1955.
The Monroe blouse is part of Western’s Star Collection, apparel worn by famous movie stars. Abramowitz plans to build a public museum at Western’s new home for the collection, which is unavailable for rent and includes:
* Rudolph Valentino’s gold-filled suit of lights worn in “Blood and Sand” and his robe from “The Sheik.”
* Charlie Chaplin’s uniform from “The Great Dictator” and his clown suit from “Limelight.”
* Charleton Heston’s robe from “Moses.”
* Dresses from the “Sound of Music”; items from “Gone With the Wind,” including five original bonnets; an Elvis Presley jacket, and outfits worn by John Wayne, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Natalie Wood and Clark Gable.
Last year, Western began producing from original molds--made by its boot and shoemakers--replicas of Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.” So far, it has sold 10 pairs at $5,000 each.
Western owns thousands of pairs of other shoes, all of which will be moved. “Just look at these shoes,” said Richard Eastman, a stockroom employee who was packing the items. “You think Imelda Marcos has shoes? Not like this.”
There are, however, one set of tracks Western hopes to leave behind: those of the company ghost, who, employees say, has been heard, off and on, for years stomping around the second floor at night. “I’ve heard him,” Abramowitz admitted. “I don’t know who he is, but I’ve heard him. Maybe he’s a satisfied customer who never wanted to leave. But I’m hoping he won’t move with us.”
