A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford.
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“I try to be as accurate as I can. One of the stickiest eras is the Civil War, because there are so many Civil War reenactors, and they really know how far off the ground women’s skirts were, how thick the collars tended to be. If you’re out there and you’re dressed in period clothes without a corset, people will know. I like the characters like Louisa May Alcott, who said she could never keep her hair tidy or her clothes straight, so that gives me a little bit of license.
“Every time I do Jackie Kennedy, I have to make sure there are no runs in the stockings; everything has to be perfectly pressed and perfectly clean. We have the same shoe size—size 10. She had really big feet. I listened to recordings of her over and over, trying to get that sort of breathy voice. I looked into seeing if I could find her actual lipstick. She wore Adrien Arpel Perfect Pink. I don’t think they make it anymore.
