Paul Taswell

She made my white suit.

It was a double-breasted suit I love.

It was a sharkskin suit and a white cape with green lining.

Oh, my God.

You know, there was a gold lame pleated cape and dress that I designed for Glinda.

That was my continuing evolution of problem solving and the creation of worlds that I continued to fall in love with.

Once I graduated, I ended up going to Pratt Institute to study fashion there.

And the reason I wanted to be in New York was because I wanted to continue to pursue an acting and dancing career.

But I didn't create a bond with the world of fashion at that time, so decided that I really wanted to get back into costume design.

And for that, I went to North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

And while I was there, I made the conscious decision that I would...

put myself whole hog into becoming a costume designer.

Because I was still grappling with, how can I be seen in the way that I want to be seen?

As a performer, you know, how can I get the roles of a leading man in a musical on Broadway in the way that I want to do that?

And will I ever be able to?

Because the climate at that time was just, it didn't feel as inclusive.

It wasn't.

I mean, one of the things was just how difficult it was to...

Because I was trying to double major, and it seemed like at every turn I wasn't able to merge both of them together.

And what was really encouraged was my design ability, meaning I was getting a lot of encouragement.