Scope and Content Note
The Florence Klotz Costume Designs contain finished designs, sketches, fabric samples, notes, measurement cards, and related research materials for five Broadway productions and one film adaptation: Follies (1971), Grind (1985), A Little Night Music (1973; film, 1977), On the Twentieth Century (1978), and Pacific Overtures (1976). The film adaptation of A Little Night Music starred actress Elizabeth Taylor, with whom Klotz had a close professional relationship. The collection also contains designs for other notable performers, including Len Cariou, Imogene Coca, Hermione Gingold, Madeline Kahn, Stubby Kaye, John McMartin, and Ben Vereen.
The Klotz materials are comprised mostly of finished designs, many of which have attached fabric samples. These often contain numbers assigned by Klotz during the design process, some of which correspond to accompanying budget lists. These have been arranged in numerical order wherever possible. Some finished designs are accompanied by sketches and preliminary designs that provide insight into Klotz's approach to her work. With the exception of Grind, each production in the collection also includes some amount of historical research materials. Klotz's notes (which detail historical era, construction materials, etc.) for costumes are often written on the designs themselves, occasionally with the name of the performer designated for the costume and/or the scene or song title in which the costume would appear. Measurement cards for actors in these productions are laid in with their corresponding designs.