Fashion Forward
After GUIDING LIGHT wraps in August, the soap is donating a portion of its massive wardrobe to Bottomless Closet, a charitable organization in New York that helps dress women in need. GL Costume Designer Shawn Reeves gives Digest the inside scoop on the project and reveals what will happen to Reva’s memorable Cross Creek wedding dress. 
Soap Opera Digest: What prompted you to donate the GL wardrobe to Bottomless Closet?
Shawn Reeves: I have a lot of clothes to get rid of [laughs]! I wanted to try and make sure I gave stuff to places that could use it instead of just selling it. I wanted to make sure it was going to good use. I just happened to be reading the Styles section of the New York Times one day about a month or so ago and ran across an article about Bottomless Closet, which helps women reenter the workforce. It’s local and they’re very involved with their clients. I wrote the woman who wrote the article and she passed me on and it all just fell into place.
Digest: What exactly are you donating?
Reeves: The women’s work attire: suits, blouses, shoes, jewelry and other items that are appropriate for the work environment.
Digest: What will happen to the rest of it?
Reeves: Some of the actors are buying stuff. I’m also donating stuff to the fan club for the luncheon and things are being parsed out and donated to theaters. We’re also having a sample sale to sell stuff to the staff here [at GL]. We have a whole mix of stuff here.
Digest: How big is the GL wardrobe anyway?
Reeves: There are probably over 100,000 pieces of clothing here! Thousands of purses. That sounds weird but it’s true! There are racks and racks of clothes. We edit all the time but we have stuff that goes all the way back to the late ’70s.
Digest: What’s the most outrageous fashion item in the closet?
Reeves: We have some Lycra disco pants in bright pinks, purples and turquoise. They’re real and they don’t fit anybody and they’re really high-waisted because that’s what they wore back then. They’re really gross [laughs]!
Digest: Are there any special vintage items that will be kept?
Reeves: There are a few odds and ends that are floating around from the ’30s and ’40s and ’50s. We have a bunch of turn-of-the-century lace wedding dresses that I’m passing on to a couple of libraries where it becomes more of a research item.
Digest: What memorable GL pieces do you love?
Reeves: Of course, one of my favorite pieces is the princess Cassie wedding dress because it had such a story to it and a big design piece to me. I look at it and I go, ‘Well, what in the world do you do with this?’ That and Reva’s Cross Creek wedding dress. Proctor & Gamble are holding on to those because there’s a possibility they might end up in a museum or something.
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