Dressing Film, TV Sets, Chintz-N-Prints Is Newtown's Rising Screen Star
When you watch a visually stunning Oscar-winning film like Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, or you recall indelible elements in film like the sweeping emerald curtains that unveiled the real Wizard of Oz, or the stark contrasts and complementing patterns that make television shows like Sex and the City pop, you begin to appreciate the supporting roles that colors, patterns and fabrics play in their popularity and success.
When it comes to discovering and employing some of those patterns, colors, and materials, Newtown’s own Chintz-N-Prints is quickly becoming a rising star in the eyes of film and television designers, who are flocking to Newtown to poke through tens of thousands of different fabrics the store warehouses — seemingly enough to wrap around the earth…maybe twice.
Since the South Main Street store became a destination for “movie folks” like Paul Newman, and it began retailing fabrics to dress the movie set of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee in 2009 (which included Newtown among its many local shooting locations), more and more production designers have been calling, according to owner Laura Gardner, and store manager and avowed movie fanatic Ivy Chirco.
“Since my grandparents opened the store in 1957, we have been providing materials for costumes and sets for local plays,” Ms Gardner told The Newtown Bee one recent morning as she stepped away from the Chintz-N-Prints business office which occupies most of her time.
“But then local designer Mary Fellows, who was a longtime customer – was tapped to assist on the set of Pippa Lee. She used some of our fabrics on that production and word started getting around New York about us. Then we started getting calls from LA,” Ms Gardner recalled.
Ms Fellows said designers and decorators always find their own “special sources” for materials and supplies, and Chintz-N-Prints has been her own personal fabric gold mine for many years.
“I love their vintage materials — they’ve been my go-to place,” Ms Fellows said. “They have a truly amazing archive of vintage fabric. So when you start working with production designers, they start asking ‘Where do you go?’ And pretty soon, I learned that more and more of the people I was working with started going there, too.”
According to a pre-Oscars blog by Anne Reagan on porch.com, production designers plays an important role in how a movie looks and usually work closely with the director and producer to ensure that the visual look and feel of the set coordinates with the script. Ms Regan says, “people working with the production designer may include costume designers, interior designers, prop masters, hair and makeup designers, visual effects, set decorators and set construction crew.”
Proximity A Plus
Being so close to New York, and with Connecticut recently ramping up its availability and film tax credit benefits for production companies, she said there are a lot more film and TV design professionals seeking set fabrics. But there are a dwindling number of retailers left stocking authentic and original materials actually dating back to the mid-1950s.
Ms Chirco, who is Ms Gardner’s “left and right-hand” floor manager at Chintz-N-Prints, said she has been trying to screen the growing number of films and shows using the fabrics she helped place with production designers.
“Lately we’re seeing a lot more interest from TV designers,” Ms Chirco said. “It’s too bad that we don’t find out too often what shows will be using us before they air, or even for some time after they are airing.”
She said 20th Century Fox recently purchased a variety of fabrics for their television productions and motion pictures. Among the programs using Chintz-N-Prints fabrics are the FX series The Americans, Showtime’s The Big C, and The Affair.
Then there are the movies, which include: St Vincent starring Billy Murray; A Walk Among The Tombstones with Liam Neeson; Golden Globe winner American Hustle; Life of Crime starring Jennifer Aniston and Tim Robbins; Blood Ties with Clive Owen and Billy Crudup; Silver Linings Playbook with Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Robert DeNiro; and Not Fade Away featuring the late James Gandolfini.
The upcoming movie Carol starring Oscar frequent flyer Cate Blanchett has also acquired fabrics from the Newtown store.
“More and more we’re seeing production teams coming in to get swatches,” Ms Gardner said. “Then they get back to us weeks or months later and let us know which fabrics they want.”
Poke, Click, Pick
Today, with Internet capabilities, it is much easier to administer the process because swatch patterns can be photographed and sent immediately to the store for a quick delivery turnaround virtually anywhere around the globe — although most of the fabrics from Chintz-N-Prints end up in production facilities in New York or Hollywood.
“They use these fabrics more for slip covers, furniture, curtains, and tablecloths, but once in awhile they are looking for patterns for clothing,” Ms Gardner said.
“We have a lot of cottons and silks that are great for costuming,” Ms Chirco added. “There are a lot of period patterns and designs in our inventory.”
“And they can obtain these at a fraction of the cost of having them milled custom for their productions,” Ms Gardner said. “The quality of these original fabrics is so much better than what you can get today. And many of them come Teflon coated or Scotchgarded already — where if you ordered these fabrics today, you’d have to pay even more to get them coated.”
Ms Chirco said she recently screened St Vincent, and thought she spied Chintz-N-Prints fabrics being used for curtains and to cover couches in some of the interior scenes.
“But it’s hard to pay attention to those details when you get lost in the story or the characters,” she said. “It’s a real credit to these designers and technicians when you’re actually looking for design elements and you completely lose track of these details because you’re so wrapped up in the film.”
These fabrics from Newtown may have also been responsible for helping some of the actors deliver their award-winning performances. According to Ms Regan on porch.com, “Production designers help create the ambiance of the set, enabling the actors to fulfill their role. There are the famously epic set designs like Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Ben Hur (1959), Marie Antoinette (2006) or Metropolis (1927). But even realistic sets like Fargo (1996) or To Kill A Mockingbird (1967) wouldn’t have been as amazing if it weren’t for it’s iconic set designs and attention to detail.”
Chintz-N-Prints is at 39 South Main Street. It is open Monday through Saturday at 10 am, and closes at 5 pm except for Thursday when the store is open until 7 pm.
Call 203-364-5333, e-mail chintznprints@yahoo.com or visit chintznprints.com.