In Disney movies, princesses are gussied up by songbirds and mice who magically sew ball gowns in a matter of minutes. While on the stage, actors perform amazing quick changes at the pull of a string. But beneath all of the smoke and mirrors, there is an entire shop of people working for hours on end to complete the beautiful costumes you see onstage and onscreen.

As an employee in two costume shops in Fresno, yes in our little city there are multiple costume shops, I want to invite you in to understand what costuming looks like from the inside.

When I first applied for a job in the Fresno State Costume Shop, I thought I was signing up for some sewing and ironing. But wow was I wrong! In the year and a half that I've worked established costume shops, I've done so much more than sewing. From wig styling to dying fabric, to painting cowboy boots, to putting away more petticoats, ball gowns, and tuxes than I ever imagined could exist. Working in a costume shop is an adventure every day. Let alone working in two!

Of course, some tasks will run past your needle many times such as hemming and waistband tucks, but most of the day consists of doing things for the very first time and always learning more. I used to work in an office where I scanned papers all day, always the same papers, always the same scanner. I was thrilled to finally have a job after that where I am a little over here, a little over there.

In fact, since I loved the time I spent in the Fresno State Costume Shop so much when an opportunity arose to work in the Good Company Players Costume Shop, I jumped at the chance. With this ever-expanding love for costumes, my usual day during the school year has become a never ending rotation between the two shops and classes.

The process to costume an entire show is ever changing and requires many hours of labor. The satisfaction of seeing everyone on stage, however, is worth the hours as audiences 'ooh' and 'aah' along with you at the magic you helped put on the stage. It's an amazing feeling to sit in the audience and think, 'hey I made that!' Or wear your own costume and know that you made its existence possible.

The costume design process begins with measuring all of the actors as soon as the show is cast. From there, production meetings and private meetings with the director are held to establish the concept, and finalize the details based on research before the costume designer produces sketches and renderings. From the renderings, mockups are made, and already existing costume pieces are pulled from stock.

On the topic of stock, both Fresno State and Good Company Players have rack upon rack, box upon box of amazing costume pieces - built in the shop, bought, or existing vintage pieces that appear in shows across the board.

From there, fittings begin and for the next few weeks follow-up fittings and alterations flood the shop with all kinds of tasks, from polishing shoes to altering pants to hemming dresses. Then it comes down to the wire, tech week. This period of 3-5 days is a whirlwind of finishing touches, jewelry, hair, and makeup.

I have to say my favorite part of it all is tech week. You're busy, but then each night the costumes aren't just sitting on a rack, they're onstage, under the lights, helping each actor get into character and suspend the audience's disbelief. And finally, it is opening night!

The next day, though, the shop feels empty. There isn't much work to do, and you feel as empty as the racks around you. But it's about to all begin again in a few days, and the cycle gowns and gloves and garters repeat.

During my work in costumes, I have had the privilege of designing two productions, The Book of Liz by David and Amy Sedaris with Fresno State's Experimental Theatre Company, and Tar Beach by Tammy Ryan with Fresno State's University Theatre.

And man the pressure is on when you have to make all of the decisions yourself! Usually, when someone else designs the show, they tell you what they want, and you have to make their vision your reality. But when you're in the hot seat, you've got to know exactly what you want to put out there, and what to do when what you want isn't available.

I remember reading the script for The Book of Liz after I found out that I was designing the costumes, and coming across a scene where a character is dressed in a Mr. Peanut costume on the side of the road. 'What?! I don't know how to make that!' I thought. And as we got into building the show, it became an exciting experiment.

There wasn't anything I found in my research that captured the Mr. Peanut I wanted, so my assistant designer and I came up with an idea with advice from the costume shop. We took two giant galvanized tubs, taped them together, and steamed a batting-like material over the tubs to create a peanut shape. Then proceeded to spray paint it in the typical checkered pattern of peanuts. And it somehow looked like a peanut by some real theatrical magic!

The peanut costume has since become a weird addition to my resume and a rather funny headpiece to run across down in the basement. It's these mysteries that you have to solve in costuming that keep the whole process increasingly exciting.

But where did I gain experience for all of this, how can I do so many different things!?

I have great teachers. That's the true magic. These crafty ladies know how to get the best results for each costume problem that arises, and man if I could be half as experienced as them one day, I would feel like a real costume goddess.

At Fresno State, I work under the direction of Elizabeth Payne, who has taught me innumerable things about designing costumes, makeup effects, and how to prepare for the theater world outside of college. Also at State, Stephanie Bradshaw has been my mentor in the art of dying fabric; under her direction I have learned how to dye so well that I did most of the fabric dying for Fresno State University Theatre's productions of Blue Willow by Pamela Sterling and Passion Play Parts 1 & 2 by Sarah Ruhl.

And last, but certainly, not least, Kelly Pantzlaff Curry has guided me through many a difficult sewing project - including teaching me how to put in a zipper on my Titanic ball gown for Halloween, and sewing "my own dang costume" for the shows I'm cast in.

The atmosphere working at Fresno State is always fun with Kelly's pop princess dance party pandora station to help us get through the work day.

As for the other half of my life, Ginger Kay Lewis-Reed runs the Good Company Players Costume Shop in the Tower District with some of the most innovative and beautiful designs that I think represent the characters better than the pictures I've seen on Broadway. Her leadership and direction have helped me grow as both a designer and as a seamstress.

There is no turnover like the show turnover at Good Company Players, with 12 shows produced a year between 2nd Space and Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater, the costume shop puts out a show full of costumes about every three weeks.

With this time crunch, on top of huge casts and the combination of straight plays and musicals, my experience at GCP has been one of doing good work at top speed. My days at Good Company Players are some of my most rewarding, and the skills I have picked up there continually surprise me as more and more things come easier to me each day.

Working in these two innovative and ever entertaining costume shops has given me a new appreciation for the art of costuming, and the hours of work that go into getting the show onstage. It's a wonderful feeling to know that the audience will be awed by the beauty of Cinderella's transformation from rags to riches, and I am one of her little birds who made her fairytale a reality.