DUNEDIN GIRL’S SUCCESS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22309, 25 January 1938, Page 2

DUNEDIN GIRL’S SUCCESS

THEATRICAL COSTUMIER Oraou our own correspondent.) LONDON, December 29. A New Zealand girl who has carved out an unusually interesting career for herself in London is Miss Kathleen Forbes Primmer, formerly of Dunedin, who was recently appointed costumier and wardrobe mistress for the Westminster Theatre, London. Miss Primmer, who is still in her early twenties, is the youngest nolder of such a position in any London theatre. ■ Her work involves the making, mending, and general care of ali the costumes, and in addition, she supervises the work of her staff of dressers As a rule, a new play opens at the Westminster Theatre every three or four weeks, so Miss Prlmmer’s task is a quite monumental one. Later, Miss Primmer hopes to graduate to the still more interesting work of designing theatrical costumes. Her interests are bound up with the theatre, and the lack of scope in this direction in New Zealand is likely to prevent her bringing her talents back to the Dominion in the near future. As well as good looks and a charming personality, Miss Primmer brings a thorough training and extensive experience to her present position. Leaving Dunedin about nine years ago, she studied for -four year in Paris at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs, her work there including most branches of commercial art. Here she won a diploma with medals in Applied Perspective, and for the year’s best work in general poster and publicity iines. She was also the winner of a medal offered by the Royal Society of Arts in open competition in jthe British Empire for the best textile design, and at the same competition she won a special prize for the best set of textile designs in a group of 12. These were exhibited at the Imperial Institute. In 1933 Miss Primmer returned to London as a student at the Royal Academy of Arts, and during the next few years she exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Renaissance Galleries, in Regent street. In her spare time she “free-lanced” with gratifying success in designs for materials, and later she joined a West End dressmaking establishment. More recently Miss Primmer has been doing general publicity work for a firm in Dublin, theatrical costume designing for a charity matinee at the London Hippodrome, and general “free-lance” work, including some fashions for the press.

PRESENTATION PARTY Several friends visited the home of Mr and Mrs H. Pickering (Spreydon), and Mr H. Meyer, on behalf of the Ladbrooks residents, presented Mr and Mrs Pickering with a handsome crystal table lamp and a card table. Those present were Mr and Mrs J. H. Meyer. Mr and Mrs J. Partridge, Mr and Mrs C. Anderson, Mr and Mrs R. J. Ware, Mr and Mrs G. McCarthy, Misses L. and E. Pickering, Messrs H. E. Mehrtens, E. Stone, G. Ware, B. Ware, and G, Kind.