The costumes came last. The girls were ushered into the dressing room and were told to strip to their underwear. The room was in the basement, and outside the temperatures had dropped below zero. It was drafty and cool inside, and Sherri, shivering to her bones, found it awkward to mingle bare-breasted with these women she’d just met. She could feel the girls taking inventory of each other’s bodies in front of the full-length mirrors and making comparisons, while Bunny Starr went from girl to girl, telling them what they needed to work on. When it was Sherri’s turn, Bunny Starr stuck her finger in her hair and yanked out the ponytail holder, setting Sherri’s hair loose.

“I know, it’s a frizzy puffball,” Sherri said. She was used to apologizing for her hair.

“Whatever gave you that idea? Your hair is your distinctive feature, so make it even bigger. A lion’s mane.” Bunny Starr sprayed her with Aqua Net and stood so close to Sherri that she could smell her Binaca-scented breath. “You’ve got good skin. Great skin, actually. But your eyes need help. You need eyeliner. Try gold eyeshadow instead of blue. That blue is so wrong for you, so seventies. You put on makeup like a teenager. You need to be camera ready at all times.” Before Bunny Starr moved on to the next girl in line, she said, “And darken up the lipstick. It’s supposed to be vivid. You’ll get a demerit if the color is too light. Go for big lips, big hair.”

Bunny Starr walked away, and in the mirror, Sherri’s eyes caught Bunny Gwen’s. She’d been standing next to her the whole time, watching. “Big lips, big hair, huh? I’ll tell you something: I walked in here with a ’fro and Gloria said I had to relax it or cut it short. I’m surprised they haven’t asked me to cut my lips off.”

“I’m so sorry.” Sherri wished she knew what to say.

Bunny Gwen shook her head. “I didn’t ask you to be sorry.”

Biata and Ola, the Polish wardrobe “mistresses,” entered the room. Bunny Starr hung two uniforms next to Sherri, one in brown and orange paisley, and the other a bright Kelly green. “I picked these colors to go with your chestnut hair.”

Sherri had chestnut hair?

“Here are your stockings. Two pair, you put one right over the other.”

“Two?”

“The good news is you won’t need to shave your legs anymore. None of us do. At least when it isn’t summer, nobody will see them.”