NOEL COSTUMIER: Sewing history

Costume maker specializes in re-creating garments

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By JAN HOGAN

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Twenty years ago, Noel Payne's knowledge of sewing was so rudimentary, she laid her 2-year-old atop a bolt of cloth on the cutting table and told the store clerk, "I need that much fabric."

These days, Payne creates elegant costumes that conjure up the romantic image of Camelot. She specializes in historical garments. Her company is Noel Costumier (www.noelcostumier.com).

The self-taught seamstress only had one sewing lesson her entire life. It was back in eighth grade when she made an apron.

"I'm a crafts person. I pick up things easy," she said. "I'm not good at creating original designs but I can re-create what I see in a photo or painting. I like the challenge of seeing how close I can get."

Payne's in-home studio is filled with mannequins and dress forms cloaked in periodic costumes. There are Elizabethan jerkins, a Musketeer outfit, Tudor gowns and peasant girl and wench styles. At the forefront are the Henry VIII costume and an elegant gown suitable for Anne Boleyn. The two dozen examples help customers decide which style and fabric they'd like to order.

A former high school teacher, Payne moved to Las Vegas 22 years ago. She spent more than a decade as a lighting technician for the Siegfried & Roy show. During that time she helped the wardrobe department when costumes needed repairs.

When a divorce caused her to seek out a second income, she ended up making costumes.

It all started with her daughter Melinda. When she was a freshman participating in Bonanza High School's theater program, her group needed costumes for its production of "Once Upon a Mattress." Payne, along with her mother, Audrey, made more than 40 outfits, sewing machines buzzing away in her living room.

Payne's costume repair work once put Robert Goulet's outfits in her hands. He was touring with the show, "Camelot," at the time.

Payne saw an opportunity to learn something and scribbled notes on how the periodic garments were constructed. She showed the Goulet costumes to the person in charge of Siegfried's and Roy's wardrobe and asked how much they probably cost. The answer was $10,000 each, easy.

Word of her talent spread in theatrical circles. Before long, she had an order to make more than 20 sets of peasant outfits for a Renaissance Fair. After that, a theater company had her make up prototypes for a show they hoped to sell to the Debbie Reynolds casino.

Payne also has created the costumes for the living statues at The Venetian, supplied local costume stores, added an Elvis impersonator to her clientele list and finished designs for local musical productions like "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "42nd Street."

A stickler for detail, Payne researches each outfit for authenticity. She uses quality materials and goes to industry shows for hard-to-find laces and embroidered ribbons representative of those from 400 years ago.

Now that Noel Costumier is on the Internet, orders for period costumes come in from around the country as well as Europe.

Re-enactment groups are among her best customers. She also is sought out when it comes to private parties based on "Camelot."

In 2001, Payne was sent measurements for a bridal party. The wedding was to be based on the film, "Anne of the Thousand Days." Payne got promotional photos of the film, made up patterns and got the green light on fabric choices.

The wedding was held at a castle-like home, complete with moat, that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Payne was on hand to make alterations once the wedding party was assembled. There were 19 costumes in all but the main focus was the bride's 16th-century costume.

"I was still stitching her together just before she walked down the aisle," she said.

In Las Vegas, Jim McCoy, a casino event manager, uses Noel Costumier when themed corporate events or weddings are scheduled.

"Sure, you can go buy a costume off the rack but when you know it's an official pattern, one that has been researched to be historically accurate, it makes all the difference," he said. "People who have the means to pay for (such events) want every last detail to be perfect."

It can take Payne as many as 80 hours to create one costume, involving more than a thousand beads sewn on by hand. Her full costumes cost $1,500 to $2,000.

Major party store chains have cut into her business, especially when Halloween comes along. When she had a storefront shop, customers would try to haggle over prices.

"There are people overseas who get anywhere from 25 cents to $1.68 an hour doing (a cheap imitation) of this," Payne said. "It breeds a Wal-Mart mentality in America. There's not much skill needed to flip a hamburger, but it takes a lot of skill to do this. I'm not just slapping these things together."

The resulting costumes can weigh as much as 20 pounds and involve 10 yards of fabric.

Payne has gone through three sewing machines since starting the business.

"I killed them," she said. "Now I have an industrial one that can go through eight layers and not miss a stitch."

Not all Payne's garments in her display are used to promote the business. They've helped raise money for Ronald McDonald House, Girls Scouts and Opportunity Village.

Payne has taken them to various schools for reading week and career day activities. She also took them to Bonanza High School for an English class studying Shakespeare, and Payne let the kids dress up in them. It turned into a mini-parade through the hallways and instantly made her daughter Melinda, then a senior, famous.

"It was exciting to have her come out," said Melinda, now 24. "I got to show her off. I don't know of any other kid's parent who could do that, make something like that."