From Bartender to Costume Designer

A chance find at age 14 at Flinders Street Station led Tim Chappel to a life of silver lamé, sequins, girdles, and an Oscar. 

Costume designer, Tim Chappel can’t remember all the places he lived, growing up on Army bases around the country, and overseas. 

His one constant interest was nature. 

He’d look for stick insects to pin into his collection and draw endless terrestrial orchids. 

Tim was ready to focus his life on botany.

This all changed when he found a copy of French Vogue at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.

He was entranced by the glamour of the clothes he saw, and felt an instant connection to the tailoring.

Tim was creating shorts for bartenders and costumes for drag queens at Sydney's Albury Hotel when he was asked if he would like to design the costumes for an Australian film called The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

This episode of Conversations touches on film-making, the Oscars, award season, LGBTQI+, queerness, Hollywood, Oprah, Tom Cruise, Los Angeles, Army Brat, military families, orchids, flowers, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving, Stephan Elliott, Terence Stamp.