Elizabeth Galindo-Roberts has worked with people all over the world, mingled with celebrities and owns her own couture label; yet, she calls Sacramento her home.

“I’ve lectured all over the world, but I find that sac state has given me a grounding,” Galindo-Roberts said. “Sac State has such a diverse community and everyone that I’ve come in contact here for a purpose has been willing to be helpful.”

An accomplished designer by any standard, Galindo-Roberts feels most passionate while teaching. After teaching as an adjunct professor in the Theatre and Dance department, Galindo-Roberts has found passion in helping her students at Sacramento State.

Her career in the film and theatre industry began in the 80s, while living in Mexico working as a model for Estee Lauder’s Latin American campaign. Unsatisfied with the clothes on set, she decided to create her own and was quickly recruited by celebrities to create gowns for red carpet events.

After creating gowns for celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek, she was asked to be a part of film production.

“Many of my clients wanted me to be on set with them when it came to historical costumes,” Galindo-Roberts said. “That’s When I started getting interested more into costume design than fashion design.”

Now Galindo-Roberts is sought after by directors to research and design historically accurate costumes for period films and productions like “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, “P.S. I Love You” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

While working on any film, Galindo-Roberts’ goal is to ensure that the craft and traditions of the time period are represented as authentic as possible.

“The first thing that you see before anyone speaks is the costume,” she said. “It tells a story, one about the personality of a character, where and how they were brought up, what education they have and so much more.”

Because many antique crafts have become a dying art form, it takes Galindo-Roberts months of research to find experts and craft artists from around the world to design for a film.

Despite the time requirement and difficulty the process takes, she said those extreme measures are worth it in order to help educate people on the traditions of the past.

“I will actually go to the point of finding sheep that were used during that time period, have them shorn using historical methods and spin then weave the wool in the accurate way,” Galindo-Roberts said. “When someone goes and sees a play or a film, I feel it’s a learning experience. I really feel the passion of teaching people about these different crafts and the importance of them in one’s life”

For “The New World,” a film about Pocahontas and English colonialism directed by Terrence Malick, Galindo-Roberts worked with an ethnologist, botanist, archeologist and a Native American historian to recreate the environment in the 1600s.

“There were no scissors on set. All of the hides for the costumes were cut with sea shells,) Galindo-Roberts said. “I wanted to honor the Native Americans by doing it in the proper way. I wanted to honor their heritage.”

In the classroom, Galindo-Roberts uses the skills and lessons she learned to help students succeed in the film, fashion and theatre industries.

“What I love is through my experience, I can help others and connect others with people that I know,” Galindo-Roberts said. “If I see that someone is extremely passionate, and does really well in my class, then I am more than willing to jump hoops to get them a job or at least an internship.”

Demetra Rickles, a junior family and consumer sciences major and theatre minor, said Galindo-Roberts has been her favorite professor this semester because of her dedication to students.

“She is one of the best professors I’ve had to work with in my college career because she has a load of experience that she shares with us,” Rickles said. “She will do everything in her power to help you network. If she hears of an internship or something like that, she’ll tell you. ”

Taylor Grossman, a sophomore sociology major and theatre minor, enjoys taking Galindo-Roberts’ costuming class because of the behind the scene knowledge taught in the class.

“Dr. Galindo is fabulous. In her class we have to do a character analysis, and we have to costume each character based on their time period and personality,” Grossman said. “You have to think about how it would look on stage and what colors would work with the lighting. It is really important to learn the backstage process in order to get a better idea of when you’re actually doing it on stage.”

Galindo-Roberts says that she also learns from teaching her students and has enjoyed teaching.

“Last quarter I taught on women and diversity. What was fascinating was I had two veterans in the class, and I learned so much from those two veterans. It helped me look at the world in a different way. so I learn a lot from my students.” Galindo-Roberts said. “It has been a wonderful experience and one in which I’d love to continue.”

Alex Hernandez can be reached at [email protected]