It’s 10:30 a.m. when costume designer Ceci (yes, just Ceci—more on that later) signs on to Zoom, but she’s been awake since 2:30. By choice. Getting up in the middle of the night is simply par for the course when you’re creating looks for some of the most iconic shows on television, A Different World, Living Single, and Sister, Sister, among them.
After overseeing the costume designs for Dear White People, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Mixed-ish, Ceci (pronounced Sess-ee) is bringing her vision to life in ABC and 20th Television’s The Wonder Years, a new show inspired by the award-winning series that ran from 1988 to 1993. In this version, viewers are introduced to the Williams family through the lens of 12-year-old Dean as he grows up in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late 1960s.
The series shoots in Atlanta, which is three hours ahead of Ceci’s home base in Los Angeles. So when the actors show up for their 5:30 or 6 a.m. call times, Ceci starts her day too, on call for virtual fittings, consultations, and last looks. For some, such a schedule would be out of the question. But the 62-year-old has more energy than most kids, which serves her well off set too as she cares for her three young grandchildren, who live with her.
Ceci is a native Californian, born and raised in Los Angeles. Her parents were from Panama and are the reason that early wake-up call is something she doesn’t flinch about. “My parents came here with nothing in their pocket and a lot of will to survive,” she tells Glamour. “They had a lot of crafts and skills that they [were taught in] school, thanks to Home Economics and Shop. My parents had all of that in spades.”
And so does Ceci. Whether it was making her own clothes as a kid or having the boldness to tell administrators at the Fashion Institute for Design & Merchandising that she wasn’t going to follow the set curriculum, Ceci knows who she is and what she brings to the table (or in this case, the closet). But as confident as she is, it doesn’t mean she’s been free of fear or self-doubt either.
However, at 62, it’s become more joy than anxiety. And sure, even though a nap sounds good, it’s not high on her priorities list. “I’d just dream about the next episode [of The Wonder Years] anyway,” she says with a laugh.
So how did she do it—and do it so magnificently? Here, Ceci explains what it took, what she knows now, and the episode of A Different World that still reminds her just how good she is.
“Hot pant and matching headband. I made both. I was in fifth or sixth grade.”
Ceci: My love of fashion started with my parents. We weren’t necessarily middle class, and it wasn’t until I was at college at UC Berkeley taking an Econ class where we were talking about the minimum wage and the national poverty level when I gasped. I later asked my parents, “Did you know we were poor?” We were sheltered. My father worked so hard and had four and five jobs. He did whatever the hell he needed to do to make sure we were clothed and fed. So when we were growing up, because my father probably couldn’t afford [to buy us new clothes], he said, “Be an individual. Anybody can follow the fashion, but it takes a special person to create their own style and to be an individual.” So I bought into that. I used to create my own fashions.
That’s so impressive. What did you make?
We used to cut our jeans, and back then we wore Keds, so when my toes would start to poke out the front, I would cut out the front and the sides to make sandals—all sorts of inventive things. People would ask me to embroider and crochet things like jeans and hats, so I would do that too. My dad was always very dapper and had a great eye for color and style. My mom, not so much, but she taught me how to sew when I was four and how to embroider. My grandmother taught me how to knit and do needlepoint. I made my school clothes all the time. I remember the outfit I wore to my first day of first grade—it was a turquoise culotte with white polka dots and a white tank top.
Love it! And I love how much your dad embraced personal style.
One time he took me to the California tie shop downtown—this little hole-in-the-wall place where he used to get his shirts and ties. He would say, “This is a tone-on-tone shirt, and this is very elegant and classic. This one right here, feel the fabric. This is crap. This is junk. You don’t want that.” He would just give me this tutorial, this master class. He was always so supportive. We had one room in the house that my father eventually converted into our sewing room, which was wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves of fabric. So I would do my homework and make an outfit the next day for school.
Did you draw inspiration from any TV shows or particular actors at the time?
