From Dressing Wounds to Dressing Actors: The Retired Nurse Turned Community Costume Designer

Whether repairing costumes or comforting patients, Esther Evans is a master of mending. A volunteer costumer for Pine Plains’ Stissing Theatre Guild (STG) and recently retired public health nurse supervisor, Evans seamlessly transitioned between both occupations for nearly 30 years. “When I worked, it was with old, sick people,” she said. “It’s so wonderful to be around kids and nice costumes.”

Evans’ interest in creating fashion goes back to her childhood in New York City. “When I was 8 years old, my mom took a summer job at a senior citizens’ camp [formerly at Bard College], and brought me and my sister with her,” she said. “The camp had an old treadle sewing machine, which they probably used as a decoration. I really wanted to learn to sew, so one of the campers taught me how to use it. I’ve been sewing ever since!” (These days, Evans stitches outfits on her Husqvarna Viking sewing machine.)

It wasn’t until the March 1998 STG production of “Meet Me in St. Louis” that Evans made her first costume. “My daughter was in the show, so like lots of parents back then, I sewed her [outfit],” she said. (STG has staged annual musicals — and recently plays, too — at Stissing Mountain High School since 1989.) Evans’ expertise was spotted by one of STG’s former costumers, Betty Schroeder. 

“Betty was a fabulous seamstress and very particular,” Evans said. “She asked me if I washed the fabric before I made the costume, and I said that I did. The next thing I knew, I was asked to mend and readjust [the wardrobe].” A year later, Evans not only joined the STG board but also assumed the role of costumer. When the romantic comedy “Almost, Maine” opens on Friday, Nov. 14, it will mark the 30th time she has outfitted an STG production.

Her reputation with STG has made Evans the go-to costumer for other local productions. She dressed actors for Dyan Wapnick’s play “Widows Weeds,” (performed in September at the Stissing Center); she outfits volunteers for Pine Plains’ Evergreen Cemetery tour every October; she also lends costumes to other theaters. “Organizations like Rhinebeck [Center for Performing Arts] borrow STG’s costumes, and we borrow from them — that means no rental fees,” she said. Evans has managed costumes for Stanfordville’s Haunted Fortress for 20 years. “For other groups, I launder the [wardrobe] at home,” Evans said, “But the Haunted Fortress has 200 costumes: they go to the laundromat once a year.”

A resident of Stanford since 1983, Evans started her nursing career in a hospital. After taking a break to raise her daughter, she worked as a visiting nurse. “I liked going to people’s houses,” Evans said. “It was quite different from the hospital, where you know what happens to a patient 24/7. Home visits could be more challenging  — you only know what happens when you’re there.”  

She was quickly promoted to nursing director, and then managed two different visiting nursing agencies before being hired away by Dutchess County’s Office of the Aging Medicaid home care program. “Working in public health was very fulfilling,” she said. “I was able to help some people, and maybe make some lives easier.” Evans ended her 40-year professional career in 2020, but not before earning a master’s degree online in nursing science with a specialization in healthcare management from Loyola University New Orleans.

Stitching wardrobes together presented a new test for Evans. “One of the most challenging costumes I’ve made was the spandex body suit for [the STG’s 2018 production of] ‘Will Rogers Follies’,” she said. “There was a fabulous scene where Will was surrounded by 12 dancing girls in half-and-half colored spandex costumes — with matching gloves and shoe covers. They were all different sizes and they had to fit well. It was a lot!”

Sarah Griffin, a Stissing Mountain High School graduate, was one of the 12 spandex-garbed performers. Now in her sophomore year at Ithaca College, she first wore an Evans costume as a third-grade Munchkin in STG’s 2015 staging of “The Wizard of Oz.” “Esther is great — I got to know her as I grew up,” Griffin said. “She taught me how to make patterns, sew, and understand how costuming worked.” If there were any wardrobe malfunctions, Griffin added, “Esther would come to the rescue. She did that a lot!” 

The velvet costumes Evans created for the March 2025 “Something Rotten” were equally challenging: “Sewing spandex is not fun, but it got easier once I got the hang of it. Sewing velvet is ghastly — it slides,” she said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done — but every year there’s another ‘hardest thing I’ve ever done.’”

Stissing Mountain High nurse Juliana Zengen is an STG volunteer. “I first met Esther in 2019, when my daughter was in ‘Annie’,” Zengen said, “Esther is a constant [at STG]: Directors and technicians may change, but Esther’s always there.” She added that Evans’ commitment to STG goes beyond sewing: “Esther is known for her costumes, but she does way more behind the scenes — including phone calls and emails to vendors and volunteers, writing press releases for local media, and helping to collect donors for program ads.”

Insisting that her work at STG is a team effort, Evans said, “I don’t do this all by myself: Volunteers like [Zengen] and [STG President] Keeia Hicks sew too, and keep things organized. Parents help find, iron, and repair costumes.”

Evans is a fierce advocate for theater arts in school. “It’s a wonderful experience for students: They learn teamwork, develop self-confidence, and acquire a lot of skills they didn’t know they needed,” she said. “STG is a real advantage to the school system, too. The cost of a musical is $25,000 to $35,000 — but because we fundraise, it isn’t part of the school budget.” 

In her rare free moments Evans sews for her family — she enjoys creating Halloween costumes for her 7-year-old grandson. “I’ve made him three action hero bodysuits so far,” she said. “All of them out of spandex.”

STG’s production of “Almost, Maine” will be performed at the Stissing Mountain High School auditorium at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14; at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15; and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16. More information and tickets can be found here.