By Travis Taylor
Reporter
Andie Day, a 2011 Baylor graduate, has succeeded where many college students have failed: finding a job straight out of college.
Just one year after graduating, Day works as a freelance costumer and has served on the sets of two cable television shows, as well as numerous independent films. Day said she advises students to use their time in college to gain on-site work experience.
“Intern as much as you can while you’re in school,” Day said. “I think you are best to get all that working-for-free stuff out of the way while you’re in school. You’re getting ahead of all of the kids who don’t think they have to work.”
Day, who said she comes from a big Baylor family, graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in fashion design, but she didn’t wait until graduation to begin her career.
Day worked as an intern in fashion shows and a number of small-budget movies. When Day was a senior, she worked as a dresser in the halftime show for Super Bowl XLV.
Day said her big break came as a senior in college, working as an assistant designer at the 2011 Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas.
Day said networking is important. “I got to know everyone in Dallas, so that by the time I graduated, everyone in Dallas knew me,” Day said. After graduation, Day began to work in television, starting with the TNT program “Dallas.” Day worked closely with the actors and the producers in order to get the costumes to fit the style of the show. While costume design may seem like a small part of the show, Day said 10 people work with her to help design for the show.
“The cool thing about film and television is that you see two people on screen, but there are really 50 people around them,” Day said.
After the first season of “Dallas,” Day worked on the set of the show Longmire, which was filmed in New Mexico, as a costume production assistant.
Both shows involved large casts with a variety of different costumes, with production days lasting up to 12 hours. “It’s definitely not glamorous,” Day said.
Dr. Jeong-Ju Yoo, assistant professor of fashion merchandising and design, said it was Day’s undergraduate work that helped her secure a job post-graduation. “She had a great experience,” Yoo said. “She was well prepared, and she was able to take some risk as far as the complexity.
“I was very impressed by her professional work,” Yoo added.
Day said working as a freelance costume designer is difficult, but her Baylor education gave her a number of skills that she uses on set. Day’s knowledge of different fabrics and her ability to take care of costumes came from classes that she took at Baylor as a fashion design major.
Mary Elliot, consumer sciences professor, said the knowledge of fabrics and textiles gained in class is essential in the entertainment industry.
“In terms of how it’s helped her in costuming, a costume director or a costume designer will be told by a director or a producer, ‘this is what we need, this is what needs to happen’,” Elliot said.
“It gives you a very in-depth knowledge on fabrics,” Elliot added.
Currently, Day lives and works in Dallas. Day is getting ready to work as a costumer for season two of ‘‘Dallas.’’ Dr. Rochelle Brunson, a family and consumer sciences department professor who teaches introduction to apparel industry, said it is important for students to listen to someone who has experience outside of college.
