I take it back. There is talent on Broadway, it was just hiding at the Lincoln Center. South Pacific was amazing! I had forgotten how much I love that musical. I started tearing up in the first scene when Emil started singing “Some Enchanted Evening.” South Pacific followed by an interview over a quiet drink with Martha Smith, who was so wonderful and so enthusiastic and had such an amazing spirit, was a good ending to a hard and stressful day. Wow. Longest sentence ever.

I ended up going to Barbara Matera Ltd. by myself, which was only scary when I was taking the little elevator up to their floor. I felt bad because they were expecting a larger group and seemed a little surprised when it turned out just to be me, but they were very nice and very willing to show me around their shop. I spoke to the owner of the shop and to a draper and they were very helpful in explaining their roles in the shop in addition to the whole process from bidding for costumes to making them.

The next stop of the day was Izquierdo’s. People other than myself showed up for this tour, which made me very happy. Their shop was amazing; it was just full top to bottom with projects of every kind. Though our tour guide was an actress in addition to working at the studio, and so directed a lot of the conversations towards the topic of acting–at least that’s how it came across to me.

Carelli’s was the final stop of the day before the evening show. I met with Meg Weedon who is a Mary Washington graduate and who is currently working there. It was a good interview, I think, but I started getting a migraine in the middle of it, which is so strange because I don’t normally get migraines. I went back to the hotel afterwards and slept until I had to go to the theatre.

So that was all on Thursday. I don’t know how it ended up that all my contacts wanted to meet that day. I was exhausted afterwards, needless to say.

They seem to think that just because they are little old ladies they can get away with pushing and shoving without needing to acknowledge or apologize for it, or for the fact that they almost knocked me into an exhibit. I almost pushed them back, but I couldn’t because they were little old ladies. They must realize this… Conniving.

This was all at the Exoticism exhibit at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. It was a smaller exhibit than I expected but it was still worth going to see. I got to see how Western fashion has been influenced by other cultures and they had dresses in the exhibit that dated back to the eighteenth century. They had a robe à la française from 1755 that had some similar aspects to the dress that I have to make for She Stoops to Conquer, but it was made with what Molly Sorkin, the assistant curator of costume, called a bizarre silk. It had a traditional Western floral pattern, but it also had a leopard print on the pattern. Which I found incredibly amusing. I think Emma’s dress should be made with a leopard print. No?

So I had a very literary day today. I started off the morning going to Strand Books, one of my favorite places in New York because it’s “18 miles of books.” Bought a couple of things for myself and a present for Diane. I stayed in Union Square for a while and went to a couple of other bookstores before heading back Uptown. I stopped in at the Drama Book Shop and I was standing at the Costume/Fashion and I think Robert (the one who’s always crying) from this season’s Project Runway was standing next to me. At least it looked like him. I then moved on to the New York Public Library. I said hello to Patience and Fortitude, patted Patience on the rump, and I went to the Rose Main Reading Room to write up a rough draft of my blog post. But when I sat down I realized when I switched purses this morning, I hadn’t packed anything to write with. So I came back to the hotel and here I am, blogging on the fly. Right now I have a break before I go to the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology for a guided tour of the Exoticism exhibit. And then Gypsy tonight!

Currently stacked under my bed is my weight in books. I’ve started research for my senior project and I now have more than I know what to do with. But at least now I know what my dress looks like, I got my assignment yesterday. I won’t go into any of the specifics of it right now, I’ll only say… that I’m nervous. I don’t want to worry you, Emma, it’s a beautiful design and I’m going to work my hardest to make it a beautiful dress. I’m just worried about my ability. I mean, I know I’m a good stitcher and I’m understanding what I’ve learned so far in my patterning class, but I’ve never made anything this big. Just pre-senior project jitters, I hope. Now I just have to figure out how to transport my research to New York without it being the only thing in my suitcase.