Period Piece Hard

"Oh my gosh, I didn't know what to wear since it was going to be 1960s!" the French baby lady gushed at my audition on Friday. "So to research it, I watched Grease, because that took place then, during 'Flower Power.'" She then modeled her getup: a far cry from the 50s of Grease, the 60s of 'Flower Power,' the 60s that the film actually suggests, or the more modern times the film is actually set in. One thing to do a vintage mash-up, as in a photo shoot I did where the 50s were suggested but not articulated on a literal, exacting level. Another entirely to pick up a banana, and since it is fruit, consider it a pineapple. While those aspiring young actors are out reading their very first tome, may I also recommend a picture book of changing fashions-by-era. "This is 80s!" I imagine little Girleen at a second Industrial Revolution sort of audition. "1880s," sighs the casting director, "Nice neon tights."