A Vital Resource
Western Costume remains a vital resource for costume designers in the 21st century, providing costumes as varied as uniforms for Zero Dark Thirty and minidresses for Mad Men. This era of prestige television has left no shortage of beautifully costumed productions, and designers continually come to Western for research, rentals, and custom work. Western was involved with costumes for The West Wing, Boardwalk Empire, Orange is the New Black, Agents of Shield, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and 1923, among many others.
Dykeman-Young
In 2009, Western acquired the Dykeman-Young Collection, which necessitated six 53-foot containers to transport the costumes from Jamestown, New York, to their new home in North Hollywood. Several years later, they purchased Rick’s Costumes American and a beautiful collection of menswear from the 1930s to 1960s from Amalgamated Costumes.
100 Years
Western Costume celebrated its centennial in 2012 with a pageant of historic clothing and film costumes, hosted by the Costume Council at LACMA. That same year, the Costume Designers Guild presented Western with a special Service Award for a century of contributions to the industry.
Streaming Services
The past decade in the entertainment industry was defined by the rise of new media and streaming services. Apple, Netflix, and Amazon became major players in production, and Western names all of them as clients. The costume departments for Stranger Things (Netflix), Palm Royale (Apple TV+), and Man in the High Castle (Amazon), among others, all worked with Western Costume.
Western expands!
When business halted due to the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020, Marks used the opportunity to relocate Western’s expansive uniform department to a larger space in an adjacent building. In the space the uniforms had previously occupied, he added cages and more fitting rooms to accommodate the growing clientele, and expanded the Supply Store to make room for more products costumers depend on.
Gilbert Moussally
Marks passed away in September 2023 and was succeeded by Vice President Gilbert Moussally. Like his predecessor, Moussally grew up in the costume business. He worked at American Costume Corp. and as a Vice President at Motion Picture Costume Co. before taking over Western Costume’s uniform department in 2018. He shares a dedication to keeping Western’s rental departments stocked with fresh pieces, and has focused on bolstering stock in periods that are underrepresented.
Western is the last “one-stop shop” costume house left in Hollywood.
It still boasts the best costume research library in the world, and houses a fabric store with a great selection of vintage and modern fabrics and trims. It features four made-to-order workrooms: a men’s tailor shop, women’s clothing shop, hat shop, and shoe and leather shop. Rentals include four major departments: the uniform department, men’s, women’s, and The Collection (which features designer garments and premiere pieces). Office space and fitting rooms are available to rent for prep and wrap, and Western has an on-site shipping department to help costume departments get their costumes where they need to go.
