Linda Emerson
The National Costumers Association is saddened to learn of the passing of Linda Emerson, former owner of Emerson Costumes in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a former board member of the NCA. She was 80 years old.
“Linda was the sweetest person and everybody loved her,” says Linda Adams-Foat, NCA board member and past president. “She co-hosted the 2005 NCA convention in Las Vegas, she served many years on the board, and she helped with the cookbook we made. Her contributions to the NCA and the industry are lasting.”
According to Emerson's NCA biography, she learned how to sew on her grandmother’s treddle machine before she started school. She started sewing for church members in the early '70s, and built a clientele with word of mouth advertising. She became a member of the IATSE stagehand and wardrobe union in 1979, and worked many shows in Las Vegas, such as “City Lites,” “Jubilee,” “Lido,” and “Follies Begere.” She also was head of wardrobe for Sigfried & Roy the last year they were at the Frontier Hotel.
She worked the Nasty Boys TV Pilot, and used the money she earned to start her costume shop in 1989. She worked many convention shows and movies such as “Rush Hour Two,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” and “Casino.”
“I love the NCA and have supported it in any way I could,” she told her biographer.
Click here to read her online obituary, including funeral arrangements.