Media:

• Click here for a slide show of Lesley @work

External Links:

• Official site of The Chronicles of Riddick


• Official site of Pirates of the Caribbean


• Official site of The Postman


• Costume Designer's Guild Website

Other Stories:

• Tom Bollag brings his style of five-star cuisine to Eugene through his Chef’s Kitchen.
• Linda Burden-Williams, an actress who lives in Veneta, teaches her students that acting is self-exploration.
• John Canzano gives the scoop about journalism, sports and life outside his Oregonian column.
• JR Gaddis, like his father and grandfather before him, knows a lot about printing.
• Giancarlo Guerrero is helping make magic every time he picks up the baton to lead the Eugene Symphony.
• Toby Hill-Meyer, a University of Oregon student, is an activist in the area of gender identity.
• Rick Hogue finds that salesmanship and guidance are the elements of success in financial consulting.
• Carl Hosticka juggles a university teaching position with a political career spanning 20 years.
• Bill Hunter's long journey has led him to satisfaction, working for the parks department in Eugene.
• Mona Lindstromberg has a lot to say about the land watch groups she’s involved in and development issues.
• Thaddeus Moore owns and operates Sprout City Studios, a recording studio in West Eugene.
• Lesley Neufeld, who has designed costumes for movies and television, now owns a boutique in Cottage Grove.
• Robert Parrish wouldn't give up after an educational setback, and in four months he will be a paramedic.
• Rick Pettigrew's Archaeology Channel is a well-visited Web site devoted to bringing archaeology to the masses.
• Catherine Reinhart has watched Sweet Life Patisserie grow from a small garage shop into a well-known bakery.
• Neal Zoumboukos, longtime offensive line coach, has been molding bodies and minds in Eugene for a quarter century.

Retirement living tailored to a love for designing

While some dream of retirement on beach-front properties, Lesley Neufeld wants to continue pursuing her passion for design in the small town of Cottage Grove, Ore.

By Meredee Switzer

In Cottage Grove, Ore., small shops and boutiques line the streets, giving this all-American town its down-home feel. One boutique, Victoriana’s, sells everything from vintage clothing to antique record players, and the store’s atmosphere gives you a glimpse into the life of its owner, Lesley Neufeld. Lesley didn’t start out with dreams of owning a boutique, but her career choice eventually led her to this quiet little town.

	Lesley Neufeld organizes a costume rack at Victoriana's while donning one of her favorite vintage hats for sale at the boutique.

As a child, Lesley moved with her family to Santa Barbara, Calif., where her father pursued an acting career. Surrounded by the Hollywood acting buzz, 12-year-old Lesley decided to try her hand at acting and auditioned for a part with the youth theater. Although she was not picked for the part, she took pride in accepting a few roles outside the spotlight. Lesley managed lights, props, sound and costumes for the theater.

“It was then that I knew I loved the art of sewing and designing,” she says.

From that time on, Lesley wanted to pursue her passion and left for the San Francisco School of Fashion Design after high school. Soon after moving to Los Angeles, she continued her work in theater. She says that costume designing is very competitive and a difficult business to break into.

“I met television directors while doing theater that would tell me about upcoming projects and ask me to do them,” she says.

Lesley worked at getting her foot in the door by starting at the bottom taking small jobs.

“One producer saw something in me when I was just the lowest man on the totem pole,” she says. “He asked me to do every picture after that with him.”

As “the lowest man on the totem pole,” she says, she had to age and dye the costumes for Robinson Crusoe. But that job eventually led to costuming for other movies, such as Waterworld, The Postman and The Chronicles of Riddick.

“Too many people try to start at the top right out of fashion school. That’s just not the way it works,” she says.

Lesley says that going to fashion school is a good place to start.

“I would tell anyone who is trying to get into the business that they should go to Cal Arts or the Fashion Institute of Design Merchandise,” she says.

However, Lesley believes that hands-on experience can often be just as useful as an education.

“If you can’t afford to go to school, then move to Los Angeles and work at a union costume shop just to get into the union,” she says. “Most of the time, you will meet people that will get you in. It’s all about networking.”

Lesley has loved sewing since she was just 12 years old. She discovered her love for designing during her participation in youth theater.

During her years of working in Los Angeles, Lesley met and fell in love with a movie producer who would become her husband. After marrying, she realized how difficult it would be to have a family and work in the business.

“If you want to have a family, don’t go into the film business,” she says. “Not in any capacity.”

Lesley did not get married until she was 40, and never had children. But, she is happy with the choice she made. She says that being away for months at a time is too hard for anyone with children, and that bringing them on location is not always an option. Lesley had to be away from her husband for eight months in order to work on costumes for half of the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean.

“We only saw each other a couple of times during that eight months,” she says.

Lesley’s husband bought a piece of land in Eugene during the 1970s, and they eventually moved there as they approached retirement age. They still owned a home in Burbank, Calif., where the couple stayed while they were working. Once they were finally ready to settle down and work less, they decided to sell both homes and move to Cottage Grove for retirement living. Then, because of her love for costume designing, Lesley opened Victoriana’s in the spring of 2004, which allows her to continue her creativity.

“I originally wanted to open an antique shop but had a garage full of costumes and decided to make it a little of both,” she says.

The shop has been open for eight months and Lesley says business is great. She often tailors dresses for high school girls looking for a prom dress or fancy clothes for couples looking to dress up for a night on the town. She cares about helping people and loves to be able to go home to her husband for dinner at night—a big change from

her days as a full-time designer in Hollywood. But she says that opening your own business is never easy.

	A mannequin outside Victoriana's displays one of Lesley's creations. Lesley also designs many of the costumes for the annual Bohemia Days costume contest.

Even though she had most of her product in her garage, the start-up costs were still high. She says that the most difficult part about having the boutique is finding a target market and aiming it directly at them. She attributes the store’s early success to just that. Lesley makes her business personal, keeping in mind what her customers want and like when she comes across an article of clothing. She tailors to plus-size women who may not be aware of how many types of dresses can look good on them too if they are tailored just right. Lesley also spends time preparing for the small town’s Bohemia Days, where a group of the locals dress up in period clothing for a costume contest each year. She says that retirement life has been enjoyable because Victoriana’s allows her to continue designing.

Lesley is happy that her love for designing has carried through into retirement, but she noted that if just the right film came along, she would close up shop and head to the location to do what she’s been doing since her early days at the youth theater.

“I enjoy the shop,” she says. “But I will never fall out of love with my work in Hollywood.”