The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 49

'tiiiir. Elizabeth Ross Haynes Hollywood inspires designers By BARBARA DE WITT of the Los Angetes Daily News Wednesday, March 19, 1997 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE A catalyst in the ctevetopment and desegreyaticn of Young Women's Christian associations riattonwide, Haynes was the daughter of slaves; her studies of black women in the work force are pivotal. Written in the 1920s, her research showed that black women were relegated to menial jobs. Even in groups such as the YWCA, where Haynes was the first to hold a national post segregation was the norm. Haynes fought for change, serving on everything from the New York Planning Commission to the National Association of Colored Women.

She also published books. Born in 1883, she died in 1953. Thit biography i in honor of Women's Hittory Month. SB Send comments and tips through e-mail to baylifeprodigy.com or write co The Tampa Tribune, P.O.Box 191, Tampa, Fla. 33601 Photo from "Notable Black American Women" Petite women face the challenge of shopping for clothes in styles they find appealing.

Alterations often are a way of life. From left, Thy To, Lois Mallah, Brandy Jacob, June Kittay and Yvonne Trammel have trouble finding stylish petite sizes. In proportion By RENEE GARRISON of The Tampa Tribune TAMPA Shopping for clothes can be a tall order for Lois Mallah "tall" being the operative word. Trouble is, she isn't At 5 feet Vi inch tall, the 48-year-old mother of two finds alterations are a way of life. Jackets fall off her shoulders and "dresses are impossible." "My tastes are tailored because that's the style of clothing I find that fits," says Mallah, who shops for casual sportswear in the Eddie Bauer and L.L.

Bean catalogs. The fashion industry labels women who are 5-foot-4 or shorter as petite. Statistically Many small women have a tough time finding clothes they like that fit properly. At 46, homemaker June Kittay doesn't want to dress like a teenager or wear matronly petite clothes. "All the clothes I really like are too long," interjects Yvonne Trammel, a 46-year-old secretary who stands 5-foot-lVi.

Properly sized pants are the nemesis for Thy To, a 23-year-old marketing administrator of advertising and promotions for GTE Mobilnet. "I usually just buy regular size 2 slacks and have them hemmed, because petites are difficult to find," says To, who stands 5-foot-2. "I hate shopping, but my sister in St. Petersburg is an avid shopper. So she finds clothes for me." The good news is the fashion industry has shown increasing interest in specialty sizes both plus-sizes and petites over the past decade.

Most department stores have petites sections, stores such as Talbot's Petites and Petite Sophisticates cater to their special needs, and major labels such as Liz Claiborne, Dana Buchman and DKNY have churned out See PETITES, Page 3 Lois Mallah's jackets almost always require alterations. Thy To, left, rolls a sleeve while June Kittay, right, adjusts a shoulder pad. LOS ANGELES Paris may dictate fashion, but films inspire it. Over the years, Hollywood costume designers have sent women running for Joan Crawford's swagger suits, Marilyn Monroe's white halter dress and Audrey Hepburn's little black dress. This year, the trendsetters are the empire dress from "Emma," safari suits from "The English Patient" and that whole 40s "Evita" glamour thing compacts, red lipstick, fitted suits and furs.

Ruth Myers, a veteran costume designer with 50 films and an Oscar costume nomination Addams under her belt, was surprised by this year's nomination and the instant popularity of the high-waisted dress with scoop neck and puffed sleeves she created for "Emma," the film adaption of Jane Austen's novel about a young English matchmaker. "It's an honor to launch a trend," says Myers. "But the dress is meant for young women with perfect figures like Emma (Gwyneth Paltrow), as the style is not very forgiving." The designer says her major challenge was to create a watercolor type of picture through the use of pastel-colored clothing and to do it in a hurry. "We had five weeks to create 150 costumes, and we were constantly working on the set, ripping apart dresses to make new ones," she says. Speaking of ripping apart, two-time Oscar winner Albert Wolsky says his biggest challenge this year was designing clothes for Demi Moore in "Striptease" that would come off quickly.

A past president of the Costume Designer Guild with awards for costumes in "Bugsy" and "All That Jazz," he says costume designers have a variety of challenges from theme to technical construction, but the most important aspect of the job is defining a character through clothing. And sometimes it's a not a pretty sight. IN "THE BIRDCAGE," Ann Roth gave us lessons on what to wear when you're a middle-age guy who wants to be a femme fatale but needs to dress like a matronly mom while designers Anthony Powell and Rosemary Burrows had to turn "serious" actor Glenn Close into a raving maniac with over-the-top fashions for "101 Dalmatians." But it was a sassier task than the one Ha Nguyen had for "The Nutty Professor." Those "Nutty Professor" costumes designed for Eddie Murphy's 400-pound appearances were so voluminous that they were simply stuffed with bubble wrap instead of hung on a standard museum mannequin, says Maggie Murray, who has organized an exhibit of Oscar-worthy costumes at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. The free exhibit, open through April 12, features 78 movie costumes, including designs from four best costume nominees: Paul Brown for "Angels Insects," Myers for "Emma" Roth for "The English Patient" and Janet Patterson for "The Portrait of a Lady." Also up for this year's Oscar is Alexandra Byrne for "Hamlet." The winner will be announced during the 69th annual Academy Awards, which will begin at 9 p.m. Monday on ABC.

"Angels Insects" designer Brown made more than 20 original gowns to illustrate the development of the film's main character, Eugenia (Patsy Kensit), beginning with peacock blues and bumblebee yellows as an ingenue to pale beige and lilac when she takes over the mantle of queen of the colony. At the other end of the fashion spectrum is Matty, a poor relative dressed in gray throughout the film. Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Matty, used those drab costumes to get into character. "The skirts I wear are very heavy and I can't slouch so that really helps in defining the character I play (since) all my movements have to be very precise, very subdued and contained because the costumes are so restrictive," she says. Although Murray selected the costumes for the exhibit long before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees, she thinks she has pretty good instincts.

"As soon as I saw "Angels I wanted the costumes. The picture is obscure so an Oscar might be a long shot," says Murray, "but the costumes are exquisite and colorful like gleaming jewels so I immediately contacted the studio and said I'd be willing to store the costumes for free for the entire year in order to feature them See COSTUMES, Pago 3 speaking, 55 percent of adult women in the United States should be wearing a petite size. But the fact is, many don't. Many full-figured women in this height category don't wear a petite size because they don't feel petite, according to the technical design team at Talbot's, a retailer and cataloger of women's apparel based in Hingham, Mass. Five-foot-3 Sheryl Smiles owns Sheryl Hope, a Tampa store devoted to sizes 12 and up.

Yet Smiles doesn't sell petite clothing because the 24-inch skirt lengths pose a problem for her customers. "The petite size runs too short for me," says Smiles, who recently dropped from a size 18 to a 14. "Plus-size women often avoid short skirts because their legs tend to be a bit heavier than the average petite size." Sometimes the shoulders are cut too narrow in petite jackets and pants that fit are difficult to find. I hate shopping. Plus-size petites are concerned about short hemlines.

Yvonne Trammel checks the for Brandy Jacob. Thy To GTE Mobilnet marketing adminstrator 99 4 DAVID KADLUBOWSKITribune photos By BOB ROSS of The Tampa Tribune 'Crash speeds straight ahead despite Turner's stop sign "He saw the movie and freaked out" is how Cronenberg describes; Turner's reaction. "He tried to lean on New Line," referring to the film's distribution company. "Turner had bought New Line" and he tried to interfere," says the quirky Canadian, who makes all his movies in Toronto. 'Crash' would have had an Oct.

4 release," says Cronenberg, "but Turner held it up. He finally realized that there was a contractual obligation, and he admitted that he had been overruled." AFTER IT DID quite impressive business in other countries, "Crash" is coming out in the United States in "350 to 400 theaters," Cronenberg reports. "That's a healthy release. New Line would have done 1,000 screens, but they can't find that many theaters." Film fans know why: "Crash" carries an NC-17 rating because of explicit sex scenes, and many i American theater operators will not exhibit or advertise it. The rating doesn't bother the- filmmaker.

"It means I don't have to cut anything." But he concedes that he's puz Sm CRASH, Page 2 TAMPA Writer-director David Cronenberg has never talked to Ted Turner, but the mogul and moviemaker have crossed paths, after a fashion. Cronenberg's latest movie, "Crash," opens nationwide Friday. It's an opening that Turner tried vainly to prevent. The controversial movie, based on J.G. Ballard's 1973 novel, is about oddly obsessed people who find fulfillment sexual and psychological through car wrecks: watching them, causing them, even re-creating and dreaming about them.

The film, which stars James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Unger and Rosanna Ar-quette, was shot during 1995 and premiered last May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize "for originality, for daring and for audacity." Not everyone in the Cannes crowd was pleased by the announcement. While some cheered, others were openly appalled including Turner. "People with warped minds are going to love this movie," he told reporters. "I worry about the first teens that try it." mil i mi 1 1 1 I i Judy HiU't Baylife column will resume soon. Photo from Fine Line Features David Cronenberg'u movie "Crash" tells the story of people enthralled by car wrecks.

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