Zipprodt, Patricia.

Tony Award winning costume designer, Patricia Zipprodt, is best remembered for the designs she created for several famous productions over the course of her long and prolific career, including Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, Sweet Charity, and the film, The Graduate.

Born on February 24, 1925 and raised in suburban Evanston, Illinois, Zipprodt's earliest experience of costume design was as a child, when she would draw paper dolls and costumes for the dolls. Though she always had been interested in art (attending classes at the Art Institute of Chicago throughout her teenage years), she studied sociology at Wellesley College. After graduation she moved to New York City to live the bohemian lifestyle. It was a trip to the ballet with the photographer, Gjon Mili, that pointed her towards her destiny as a designer. The ballet was George Balanchine's La Valse and Zipprodt was enraptured by the layers of silk, net, and beads that costume designer, Barbara Karinska, had draped on the dancers.

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