Masako Parshall has been meticulously designing costumes for the Texas Ballet since 1982, minus a nine-year break in the middle.
At age 88, the atomic blast survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 is finally putting away her sewing kit and looking to pursue what she calls “her own thing,” she told the Fort Worth Report.
She met and married an American serviceman, Maj. Fred Nathan Parshall Jr., but didn’t come to America until shortly after he died following his service in both World War II and the Korean War.
She navigated life in America as a single mother raising a daughter.
“She’s been through so much,” daughter Martha Parshall said.
Masako learned the craft of sewing at a young age growing up in Japan from her father who worked as a tailor. He saw early on that this daughter had talent when he would see her work after she snuck onto her dad’s sewing machine to make her own creations.
He went on to teach her the basics and she learned design in school.
For her, the material she chooses is one of the most important aspects of her craft.
“I used to do drawings, but a drawing can’t show how the material will move or its texture,” she told Fort Worth.com.
She’s also learned a trick or two- using vodka on the costumers to kill the smell after performers come off stage.
Her costumes also have several snaps, so they can be adjusted for various performers.
Freedom of movement is essential in ballet and one that Masako gives prime consideration to when making her designs.
“I can’t just go buy a pattern at the store. It has to be changed so that the dancers can move freely. Many people think that moving the seam 1 millimeter doesn’t matter, but it makes a big difference,” she says.
Her legacy at the ballet is cemented. She used to design clothes for herself and when her friends learned that she made her own clothes, they asked her to make clothes for them as well.
One of her clients was on the board of the ballet and recommended her for the position.
Today her daughter Martha is also an instructor for the ballet.
Martha recalls seeing big pots of dye on her stove as her mother would often work at home before WFH became fashionable.
“The tights have to be dyed. And you need to try to get the shoes to match,” Martha said. “That’s the goal, (to match) from the tip of the toes to the top of the head.”
“Yeah,” Masako laughed. “Thread all over and costumes everywhere.”
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She came to Texas shortly after her husband died,
