USD Magazine, Winter 2002

her Escondido Calif., shop - everything from Civil War-era southern belle gowns to military uniforms - easily can be mis– taken for the real thing. "Most of the clothing I make is for re-enactors," she says, referring to people who stage historical events with precision accuracy."The military uniforms, fo r example, could be taken back in time and given to the soldiers, and they'd never know the dif– ference ."

Cutting, who earned a master's degree in education in 1981, says one of her most challenging projects was creating, with her sister and co-owner, more than 200 uniforms for a film depicting the 1836 battle at the Alamo between Santa Ana's Spanish army and the Texas militia, led by Davy Crockett.The film plays at the San Antonio Alamo museum on an Omnimax screen. "Once we had the patterns created, the sewing went pretty

fast," Cutting says."Creating the patterns is the hard part." Cutting exhaustively research– es each pattern, consulting his– torical references and drawing on her knowledge of fabric and clothing construction tech– niques. "The buttons have to be of a specific metal, and the fabrics and insignias have to be authen– tic," she says."There was no polyester in those days, no syn– thetic fabrics at all."

Cutting began

her costuming career at age 13, when she was accepted into Ealing Arts College, a performing arts high school in her native London. She also did design work for a variety of theater groups and for the World Festival Ballet. After earning a degree in economics from the University of London, Cutting immigrated to the United States with her husband,John. She

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