Tinseltown costumer hopes museum of Hollywood flair can revive poverty-stricken Miss. Delta
By Shelia Byrd, APFriday, October 2, 2009
Hollywood flair visits impoverished Miss. Delta
RULEVILLE, Miss. — Luster Bayless’ life reads like a Hollywood script: The son of a dirt-poor Mississippi sharecropper who hitchhiked his way West a half-century ago and carved a niche in Tinseltown.
Bayless became a costumer for actor John Wayne and opened a respected warehouse for period-piece wardrobe, United American Costume Co. Now, he’s reopened a museum in his hometown of Ruleville to showcase the costumes worn by a galaxy of stars, from Errol Flynn to Brad Pitt.
He’s hoping the museum will become another tourist attraction in the Delta, a poverty-stricken region known for its blues music and civil rights history.
Bayless said he’s also trying to protect the clothing from being destroyed by time and neglect.
