THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD LOCAL 892
FALL 2014
“THIS IS ONE OF THE
MOST BEAUTIFUL
FILMS I HAVE EVER SEEN.”
RICHARD ROEPER, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
F O R YO U R C O N S I D E R AT I O N I N A L L C AT E G O R I E S INCLUDING
BEST
COSTUME
DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGNER M ARY ZOPHRES
“GORGEOUS.” LOU LUMENICK, NEW YORK POST
“YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT…
“ONE OF THE
PARTNERS BEAUTIFULLY
MOVIES OF THE DECADE…
M AT T HE W M C C O N A U G H E Y
WITH THE SUBLIME CHASTAIN,
WHO INFUSES MURPH WITH AMAZING GRIT AND GRACE. AMA
‘INTERSTELLAR’ IS NIRVANA
FOR MOVIE LOVERS.” PETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE
MOST SUBLIME ‘INTERSTELLAR’ IS SOMETHING TO
BEHOLD.” JAKE COYLE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“BRILLIANT.” A.O. SCOTT, NEW YORK TIMES
interstellar.withgoogle.com
vol. 10, issue 4
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FEATURES 5 Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hollywood Costume Exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Clueless: Then and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Evoking the Supernatural. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Union Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD 11969 Ventura Blvd., First Floor Studio City, CA 91604 phone: 818.752.2400 fax: 818.752.2402 costumedesignersguild.com GENERAL CDG CORRESPONDENCE cdgia@costumedesignersguild.com COVER CD Gabriella Pescucci Photographed on location at Ardmore Studios in Dublin, Ireland, by Basem Wasef. TOC photo: Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory in Seventh Son. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
President’s Letter Executive Director Labor Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Costume Department. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 History of Dress The Reading List
In Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 What’s On, What’s In Boldface Names
Scrapbook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Bad weather trumped careful planning, and after one very long, terrified sprint through Heathrow with a stroller, a backpack, and my little boy chortling with delight, we barely made our connecting flight to Dublin. Upon arrival in the Emerald Isle, I found myself with a pile of bags, a rented car seat, the aforementioned buggy, and one energetic child. My hubs, also a victim of airplane roulette, would arrive early the next morning, hours before our photo shoot. With twilight looming and my bravado waning, I was daunted by the prospect of picking up a rental car and navigating the opposite side of the road to the remote village with a hotel built into a stone cliff. It seemed so idyllic online, but faced with the stark reality, I did what anyone would do in that situation: I called my mother. Somehow, she also lacked confidence in my abilities. “Take a bus,” she begged, to which I made like Shiva with our luggage and did exactly that. Hours later, our kind proprietress scooped us up, bedraggled but relieved. It took one very lovely dinner to soothe the frazzled nerves. My husband materialized with the car in the morning, and we were soon off to Ardmore Studios to photograph Gabriella Pescucci for the cover of this issue. Did I mention we had to bring our boy? A spunky three-year-old was, perhaps, not the ideal companion for such an outing, but the idea of a babysitter made me panicky. I dressed him in Victorian garb, the period of Gabriella’s show, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. He looked like an extra from Oliver. To this Angeleno, the undulating roads seemed fabulously green, which, of course, I hadn’t quite thought through. Allie Elwell from Showtime played our guardian angel for the day and was amazed at my hubris in not bringing an umbrella. The Penny Dreadful workshop was capacious, busy, and full of lively energy. Uliva Pizzetti, Gabriella’s right hand, played translator and host—thank you, Uli! The gaffers blessed us with light, and we used our small window of time to set the scene. If you’re wondering what happened to the boy, he spent some time perched on the top of an applebox clinging to my hub’s leg as he snapped away, before endeavoring a manic search for the shop’s resident puppies. Thankfully, we got the shot. Following a delightful conversation with Gabriella, who after a legendary career is still exuberant and enthusiastic about Costume Design, I left her workshop feeling quite inspired. It must be said that the folks at Showtime were sensational—Morgan Fouch and Allie, I am so appreciative of your help. Our Guild, though based here in Hollywood, CA, has a membership which spans the globe, and I am excited and hopeful to celebrate you all, dear readers. I am not alone in this enterprise. And speaking on the subject of gratitude, I must recognize our contributors for their sustained efforts throughout the year to honor our Guild—Bonnie Nipar, Christine Cover Ferro, Marcy Froehlich, Robin Richesson, Suzanne Huntington, and Stacy Ellen Rich—a heartfelt thank you.
costumedesignersguild.com EDITOR IN CHIEF
Anna Wyckoff
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Bonnie Nipar Christine Cover Ferro PRESIDENT
Salvador Perez
sperez@cdgia.com VICE PRESIDENT
Cate Adair
cadair@cdgia.com SECRETARY
Terry Gordon
tgordon@cdgia.com TREASURER
Marilyn Matthews
mmatthews@cdgia.com EXECUTIVE BOARD
Julie Weiss
jweiss@cdgia.com
April Ferry
aferry@cdgia.com
Mary Vogt
mvogt@cdgia.com
Christopher Lawrence clawrence@cdgia.com
Felipe Sanchez
Costume Illustrators Representative fsanchez@cdgia.com
Brigitta Romanov
ACD Representative bromanov@cdgia.com LABOR REPRESENTATIVES
Betty Madden Sharon Day
BOARD ALTERNATES
Ken van Duyne
kvanduyne@cdgia.com
Mona May
mmay@cdgia.com
Kristin Burke
kburke@cdgia.com
Jennifer Soulages
jsoulages@cdgia.com BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Jacqueline Saint Anne jsaintanne@cdgia.com
Cliff Chally
chally@cdgia.com
Barbara Inglehart
bingleheart@cdgia.com ALTERNATE TRUSTEE
Dorothy Amos
damos@cdgia.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Rachael M. Stanley rstanley@cdgia.com
Member services ADMINISTRATor
Suzanne Huntington
shuntington@cdgia.com
Anna Wyckoff awyckoff@cdgia.com
RECEPTIONIST/SECRETARY
Cheryl Marshall
cmarshall@cdgia.com PUBLISHER
IngleDodd Media ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Dan Dodd 310.207.4410 x236
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
cdg@IngleDodd.com
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BEST COSTUME DESIGN RICHARD TAYLOR BOB BUCK ANN MASKREY FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS’ TRILOGY
W W W . WA R N E R B R O S 2 0 1 4 . C O M
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CONTRIBUTORS
You may or may not believe in the supernatural, but describe your closest encounter.
Bonnie Nipar
Christine Cover Ferro
Stacy Ellen Rich
(Associate Editor, What’s On, What’s In)
(Associate Editor, The Reading List)
(Co-contributor to Boldface Names)
As a first-generation American Scot, I grew up on Celtic lore and stories of my great-grandmother’s gift of “the sight,” so having encounters has never frightened me. My first was shortly after moving into our house. I saw a slight, old, grey-haired man dressed in a blue plaid shirt with brown, suspendered trousers watching me from an adjoining room. He reappeared the next night, nodded at me, then, I never saw him again. After I described his appearance to a neighbor, I discovered that he was the man who built the house in 1947, obviously curious about the new tenants!
I was nine and waiting alone to be picked up from summer school. The only other soul around was a man mowing his lawn when another man in a giant black towncar pulled up to ask me for directions. A woman appeared out of nowhere, shooed him away, and stayed with me until my mother showed up so she could let her know what happened. My mom later recognized her as my great-grandmother, who had passed away three years before I was born.
In junior high, my friends and I would hang out at a neighborhood restaurant after school. One fall evening, we all saw isolated lights in the sky swirling and blinking. They were quite indescribable! They had no ground source and were not attached to any kind of aircraft. It was totally mesmerizing. We never found out what they really were.
Robin Richesson
Suzanne Huntington
Marcy Froehlich
(History of Dress, Illustrator)
(Co-contributor to Boldface Names, 5 Things We Wish We Could Tell Our Producer)
(History of Dress, Text)
I’d like to believe in ghosts, but sadly, I’ve never met one. One day when I was working in the garden with a neighbor, she said, “I think I’m going crazy. I thought I just saw a dog standing next to you.” I mentioned that was strange because I knew that a man that used to live here buried his dog in the adjacent planter. I didn’t see whatever she did, and shrugged it off, but she was disturbed the rest of the day.
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If an occasional intuitive thought is a supernatural encounter—I see it simply as being tuned in—then I’ve had a few, usually only with someone I’m very close to. Once an old boyfriend (already acutely aware of this fact), whom I’d not been in contact with for a year, was speechless when I asked if he’d had an accident at work in June. It was just a reoccurring thought, clear in my mind.
Before the Northridge earthquake hit, I was packing to go out of town for a show. Every time I passed my favorite lamp, I got a nervous feeling. Finally, I said, “OK!” I took the glass globe off of it, put it on the floor, covered it with a blanket, and went out of town. The only item that was damaged in my home was that lamp, and had the glass globe been on it, it would have shattered. Supernatural or divinely natural?
union label PRESIDENT’S LETTER The current CDG Executive Board has just celebrated its first year in office, and after spending 16 years on the Board, this is the most cohesive group I have ever worked with. We have a similar vision and work so well together. We strive to make the CDG a stronger union. I look forward to what we can achieve in the future. I am so happy to see attendance up at our General Membership Meetings. It’s great to be able to catch up with fellow members and get the latest information on what is going on with our Guild. I must commend Costume Designer editor in chief Anna Wyckoff, who has transformed our magazine into a work of art. Her passion and dedication to the art of Costume Design is evident in her writing and the work she puts into our publication. To photograph our cover, Anna took a flight to Dublin, while traveling through Europe, to meet and interview Gabriella Pescucci in her Penny Dreadful workroom. For a small organization, we produce a big magazine. Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis’ amazing Hollywood Costume exhibit has opened at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum and will run through March 2, 2015. It is exceptional and truly shows Costume Design for the art form it is. As Costume Designers, we should be supporting this exhibit. Remember, this collection will never be seen together again. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these garments in all their glory. Go often and bring all your friends. With the passing of the film tax credit, we hope to see a big jump in the work here in California starting in 2015. Hopefully, more of our members will return to work. The tax credit was achieved through a massive amount of work and activism by our unions, and a great deal of work by Executive Director Rachael Stanley, who made many trips to Sacramento to get the word out. This is a great example of what we can achieve as a union when we work together. The Education Committee, led by Ivy Thaide, is busy setting up its curriculum for next year. Because the space we use for classes at the CDG office is often unavailable, we are currently looking for an outside location to hold classes and seminars. Also, if there is a particular subject you would like covered in a class, please let Ivy or the office know, and we will try to make it happen. With the holiday season upon us, we will once again be fighting with the public to do our jobs. But I personally like shopping during this season because the stores are open late, which is great for last-minute casting. I look forward to seeing you at the CDG Holiday Party on December 13 and wish you all a wonderful and prosperous 2015. In solidarity, Salvador Perez sperez@cdgia.com
CALENDAR
We appreciate the ongoing support of our corporate sponsors
November 3
Diamond Level
November 26 CDG office closes at 2 pm
EMERALd Level
Executive Board Meeting
November 23 Artisan Bazaar
November 27 CDG office is closed for Thanksgiving November 28 CDG office is closed for Thanksgiving Sapphire Level
ruby level
December 1
Executive Board Meeting
December 13 CDG Holiday Party at Paley Center in Beverly Hills Please note the CDG office will be closed from 2 pm December 24 until January 5. 8
The Costume Designer Fall 2014
“An ecstatically beautiful and exquisitely detailed portrait of the artist. The top-notch tech credits extend to production designer Suzie Davies and costume designer Jacqueline Durran, who make their own invaluable contributions to bringing the film’s 19th-century world so vividly to life.” -Scott Foundas, VARIETY
In all categories including
BEST PICTURE BEST COSTUME DESIGN BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN JaCqUElINE DURRaN
FOR SCREENING INFO VISIT WWW.SONYCLASSICSAWARDS.COM
SUzIE DavIES
union label executive director Dear Members, In September, I celebrated 10 years here at the Guild office and five years as your Executive Director. When thinking about how fast the time has gone, I began to reflect on the many accomplishments that this Guild has made in those years. I have had the pleasure of serving under three presidents, many different Boards, and worked with a multitude of committees. But what struck me is the consistent commitment to the art of Costume Design and the members our Guild represents. Although the approach may change from year to year, the core intent remains. I have seen us grow from a membership of under 600 to just over 875, that is a 20% growth. Not many organizations can make that claim. While growing in numbers, we have also grown in stature in the entertainment community. We have a presence in the art community, with our brother and sister Locals, and in the education community far greater than ever before. People are now taking notice of our art, and more Costume Designers are stepping into the limelight and being recognized for the amazing, talented people they are. I am so proud to be able to represent such a unique and special group of artists. Recently, I attended the Los Angeles opening night of the Hollywood Costume exhibit, curated by Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis. From the moment I stepped into the exhibit, I was filled with joy and pride to have had the privilege to be part of this great organization. I hope you all will take the opportunity to visit this amazing exhibit sometime between now and March 2015. You will come out more inspired and proud to be a Costume Designer than when you walked in. It has been such a pleasure for me to serve my fellow designers of the past years, and I hope to be able to continue to do so for a few more years. I also want to take this moment to wish all a safe and healthy, happy holiday season. May the next 10 years bring as many exciting changes as these last 10. In solidarity, Rachael Stanley rstanley@cdgia.com
In all categories including
BEST PICTURE BEST COSTUME DESIGN Kasia Walicka-Maimone
BEST MAKEUP
Bill Corso (Make Up Artist) Kathrine Gordon (Hair Stylist)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Jess Gonchor
FOXCATCHER FOR SCREENING INFO VISIT WWW.SONYCLASSICSAWARDS.COM
For Your Consideration In All Categories Including
BEST PICTURE BEST COSTUME DESIGN Steven Noble
the
T H E O RY of E V E RY T H I N G “Costume Designer Steven Noble Should Be Commended For His Meticulous Craft In Bringing The Time Period To The Screen.” C L AY T O N D AV I S , AWA R D S C I R C U I T. C O M
For more on this extraordinary film, go to www.FocusGuilds2014.com
ARTWORK: ©2014 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FILM: ©2014 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
iod the p er s e k o R v idges e PLENDO r S B D k E r N a -TO rM designe , DENIM, EART H itsch .” e m u t s to k “Co LEY ITS PAIS ever resorting F O L L IN A without Scott Fo
W W W . WA R N E R B R O S 2 0 1 4 . C O M
undas,
union label LABOR REPORT
A warm welcome to all of our new members. To help you negotiate potentially unfamiliar territory, we have defined some of the most important terms and concepts that characterize union membership. •C DG: Local 892, Costume Designers Guild • District 2: California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, representing 33 Locals • IATSE: International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees As they say, “knowledge is power.” In our Guild, power is used to promote and protect our work and our members. There are different types of strength we try to champion: Political Power: During the IATSE District 2 Convention June 28-29, 2014, the agenda for IATSE Locals is to train new skills, network, foster community involvement through college and career days, explain safety standards, and to inform members about voting issues and candidates, as well as the services available to members. IATSE affiliates itself with California Labor Federation and LA County Federation of Labor in order to lead political mobilizations to maximize strength. Building Legislative Power: When we vote, we win. We support candidates who have been vetted to be representatives in Sacramento so that we have a voice in governance to pass worker safety protection laws and preserve workers’ rights to collective bargaining in California.
bring jobs to local workers and will play a significant role in restoring California’s economic vitality. Building Organizing Power: Union membership empowers us as individuals, workers, and members. Organizing productions further empowers our Local’s membership and can lead to future economic growth. Building Messaging Power: By using innovative communication strategies to change the public discourse surrounding workers, unions hope to shift the economy affecting middle-class jobs and wages and promote an interest in our younger constituents. We are the California Labor Entertainment workers. Together, we hope to rebuild the middle class in California. In solidarity, Betty P. Madden bmadden@cdgia.com
Building Economic Power: The recent passing of California’s Film & Television Job Retention and Promotion Act of 2014 will potentially
CDG_CostumeDesignAd_4.indd 1
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Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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CDG Holiday Card image created by Illustrator Liuba Randolph. liubarandolph.tumblr.com
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
F O R
Y O U R
C O N S I D E R A T I O N
LOUISE FROGLEY
THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUE STORY
universalpicturesawards.com
© 2014 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
PA R A M O U N T G U I L D S . C O M
Š 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Compiled by: Suzanne Huntington
“
5 Things We Wish
We Could Tell Our Producer:
“Period includes all decades of the 20th century.” with your Costume Designer regarding “Consult the fitting photos, not your relatives. ” of the unused scissor lift “The cost is my total budget. ” We could easily have shot this in California. ” “
We’re Here, For You For over 90 years, MPTF has been helping Hollywood take care of its own. Together, we ensure that the magic we create isn’t just on screen. Find out more at MPTF.com
Healthcare / Wellness / Aid & Services • Senior Care / Residential Retirement • 855-760-MPTF (6783) www.mptf.com
Photo: Basem Wasef
“I am completely worthy of your trust.”
THE COSTUME DEPARTMENT
History Of Dress
S
Peignoir
tart the fog machine, cue the eerie music, lower the lights, and roll the cameras. SCENE: enchanting woman brushing her hair in a translucent diaphanous dressing gown or negligee. Starring the peignoir, the favored look of ghosts and seductresses alike. Based on the French verb peigner: to comb. From the 18th century onward, it was not inappropriate to be seen in this garment at home. This made it possible to be both dressed and undressed simultaneously, resulting in an appeal that is timeless, romantic, and bewitching.
Illustration by Robin Richesson rrichesson@cdgia.com Text by Marcy Froehlich mfroehlich@cdgia.com
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Come See Our Expanded Specialty Department Universal Studios Costume Department 818.777.2722 / 818.777.7OPS (7677)
filmmakersdestination.com
Find Us
DOWNLOAD FROM APPLE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY STORE
Universal Studios_Costume Ad_The Costume Designer Mag_4.10.14
The Reading List By Christine Cover Ferro
Irene
A Designer From the Golden Age of Hollywood: The MGM Years 1942–1949 Frank Billecci and Lauranne B. Fisher’s retrospective strikes a delicate balance between paying homage to a legendary designer and telling the story of the deeply complex woman we came to know as simply, Irene. The duo spent hundreds of hours interviewing Irene’s longtime sketch artist Virginia D. Fisher [Lauranne’s mother] and her assistant Chrys Carter, as well as the families of several members of her MGM team. The result is an uncommonly detailed oral history of all the ins and outs, both personal and professional, of Irene’s tenure at the studio and the path that led her there. No book on a Costume Designer would be complete without the costumes, and this one delivers in spades. Countless illustrations appear side by side with stills from the films, along with numerous photos of Irene with her team and the stars who adored her.
Joan Crawford wearing a gown from the film Reunion, posed against Irene’s sketch of the dress.
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
Hollywood
Costume
By Anna Wyckoff
The Queens from the Hollywood Costume Exhibit.
I
t is the fête of the millennium. A party so bewilderingly fabulous that Darth Vader is across the room from Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch and Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra. Within earshot, Sandy Powell chats with Martin Scorsese, and Dietrich is spitting distance from Garbo’s Queen Christina. As Rocky Balboa picks a fistfight with Bruce Willis from Die Hard, you try to remember—who invited me? Hollywood Costume is that occasion. The invitation you shouldn’t refuse, a once-in-a-lifetime event. The experience starts with theatrics. As you enter, you are
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
plunged into darkness, past the spotlit title, Edith Head’s haul of Oscars, through a flashing marquis sign, which looks like a stray set piece from a Gene Kelly dance extravaganza. An immense movie screen occupies the first room. There are no seats, so you brush past images so large and beautiful that the effect is to pass through, like Alice, to the other side. The soundtrack surges and you are through the looking glass. The affair is orchestrated by curator and Costume Designer Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis in collaboration with Sir Christopher Frayling. Landis is your host and her prevailing sense of fun is as palpable as her sense of purpose.
Examine Your Assumptions
Photo: Richard Harbaugh/©A.M.P.A.S.
Your appetizer is a challenge to the prevailing train of thought. It torpedoes the notion that there is a difference between a character and a man or woman on the street. At the Victoria and Albert Museum edition of this blockbuster exhibit, a series of fascinating videos documented people entering the gallery describing what they are wearing, and why. They establish a new axiom, the concept that a character is a real person. Extending that notion, each individual in a film or television show has a backstory, psychology, and nuanced history, just like every human that has ever lived. The Costume Designer’s challenge is to make real clothes for real people, in real—although at times fantastical—situations. On the opposite wall, an eclectic lineup underscores the premise. Ranging from Marlene’s Travis Banton–designed sheath of shimmering seduction for Angel, cabochon encrusted and mink edged, to the Little Tramp Charlie Chaplin culled into existence—the pert bowler, worn shrunken shouldered jacket, vast pants, and bamboo cane, among others. In your mind you hear quiet suggestions from your host, who has assumed the role of invisible spirit guide in the notes scattered throughout. On deconstructing character she muses, “Actors often discover their characters in the fitting room. This is not so much a change of clothes as a change of skin. Costumes are so much more than clothes—they are the means to channel new people. The actor’s gait, posture, gestures, and their entire physicality are informed by what they wear.”
A Movable Feast
As you wander into the next gallery, the first course is laid out on several tables and in scattered vignettes. In describing the creation of Ocean’s Eleven, a craps table vacillates between Jeffrey Kurland’s script notes, sketches, fabric swatches, and photographs, all delightfully dealt like playing cards with the actual garments looking on. In an Indiana Jones display, behind the figure unfurling his giant lasso, the details are pinpointed on a large screen—the boot, the pant, the jacket, and of course, the hat. Each of these elements have been carefully chosen within an established genre for function, but laced with a knowing edge of sexiness and machismo. The end of the first course and a reward for your attention is a collective gasp of period pageantry and decadence: a handful of Elizabeths from Mary Willis’ design for Bette Davis to Sandy Powell’s for Quentin Crisp and Judi Dench, as well as Alexandra Byrne for Cate Blanchett—in the requisite, exquisite brocades and ruffs—pearled and glittering in the faint light. The films play in the background as a reminder of the different perspectives, while rein-
forcing the grandeur. The mannequins and wigs are matte black, so they exist sotto voce and the garments command center stage. In the next corner, Ulla-Britt Söderlund and Milena Canonero’s sumptuous Oscar-winning 18th century pannier for Barry Lyndon stands two steps and 30 years apart from one of Canonero’s delectable Oscar-winning confections for Marie Antoinette. Despite the splendor, there are the gentle reminders of the premise—the person and personality beneath the clothes. Guinevere’s wedding dress from Camelot, designed by John Truscott for Vanessa Redgrave, is a wonder of rawness and beauty. The flaxen crochet, picked out in lurex, lined in dappled muslin is chased by the tiny seashells on the bodice and a field of pumpkin seeds dangling like pailettes on the train. In a glance the gown tells you everything: she is a queen but is also only human. That humanity and vulnerability is ultimately her and a kingdom’s undoing, and she wears this on her vast, gothic sleeves. The second course entitled Creative Collaborations is served on long banquet tables with the guests of honor projected on chairs. You eavesdrop on some of costume history’s greatest dialogues. As you wander, words leap out, details shift to the forefront; ideas come to roost, then recede. Edith Head and Hitchcock. The eau-de-nil suit on a collapsing figure that summons Tippi Hedren, birds land on a projected jungle gym behind her and shadows of birds flit over a table that is a constantly shifting landscape of visual accompaniment and revelation. Martin Scorsese chats with Sandy Powell and divulges, “Costume is the character.” Ann Roth speaks with Mike Nichols, Sharen Davis chats with Quentin Tarantino, and Colleen Atwood with Tim Burton. Nothing is stationary, the figures respond to each other and constantly shift and nod in agreement. The design process unfurls on the tables below. The effect is transporting, intimate, and ultimately as empowering for the viewer as it is enlightening.
Shall We Dance? And just as your appetite is sated, and another bite of even such delicious fare seems unlikely, it is time for the final act, Creative Context, which we can call the dance. At some point early on, when a lesser mortal would have been discouraged, Costume Designer James Acheson warned Landis that her exhibit ran the risk of being “dead frocks on dummies.” The last act defies this potential in a neat feat of technology, cleverness, and will. As the dining room falls away, you find yourself in a vast ballroom crowded with figures from your imagination and memory. The mannequins have screens as heads, which through rear projection, have the face of the actor, not static—but supple and moving. Photos don’t do this exhibit justice because photography reveals the edges of the frame. In person, the frame falls away into the darkness, and you are alone for a moment with Marilyn, blinking, dipping her graceful head—breathing, looking just past you, as you expect she would. Dressed in the mesmerizing champagne Travilla halter of astonishing proportions, which sold recently at auction for $5 million and change, she seems so close that you almost expect a gust of wind to send the pleated skirt skyward.
Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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Photo: Richard Harbaugh/©A.M.P.A.S. Costumes from Dick Tracy, Bonnie and Clyde, Skyfall, Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and Kill Bill. (L to R)
There are many others. Deborah Scott’s Jack and Rose from Titanic, Fanny Brice by Irene Sharaff, Penny Rose’s unforgettable Jack Sparrow, a pantheon of superheroes, and the impossible acreage of crimson silk satin in Dracula’s cape as imagined by Eiko. It recalls a van Dyck as it descends on Mina’s emerald cartridge pleated gown embroidered with vines. Jessica Rabbit and The Smurfs sneak by, in your peripheral vision. A quote from Harrison Ford from the introduction says, “My job is not to show you that the character and I have something in common. My job is to show you that you and the character (even one who may seem a little crazy) have something in common.” While these commonalities attract us, the most unquantifiable aspect of a costume is the personal relationship that the viewer has with it. This idea has value, serving as a sort of Proustian madeleine, if you will. The finale is Adrian’s Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, a time capsule in gingham. Her ruby sequined slippers are presented in a black baroque framed vitrine, which recalls a saint’s reliquary. In speaking to actor Beth Grant at the opening of this exhibit, she connected the effect of the costumes to the Stanislavski idea of sense memory. When moving toward Dorothy’s pinafore and shoes, Grant found a woman who she did not know, sympathetically putting her arm around her shoulder, and they both communed quietly in a silent moment of tears facing an icon of their childhood. Grant explained, “In that moment, what it meant to me, was not just the movie, but the context. It was my mother at that time and the Judy Garland music in the house. This was her favorite film and each year around my birthday in spring, we would look forward to it playing on television.” This 24
The Costume Designer Fall 2014
love became something Grant shared with her own daughter. It is all of these personal elements woven together in their own fabric, which the gingham pinafore and sequined shoes encapsulate. Magically, they represent something different to every person. My personal connection to the dress is the immense warmth and kindness of Alice Zitzman, the only person outside of my family who took care of me as a child. She assisted Glinda the Good Witch while at Warner Bros., and was so transformed by the experience of working on the film that she named her own daughter Dorothy. She passed on to me her delight in fine needlework. This is also the power of Costume Design: to not merely tell the story of the production, but to become a part of your story, your past, and your future. Glancing around the room packed with people who would never be together again, I noticed Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady. “How perfect,” I thought, because I, like she, could have danced all night.
The CDG & Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis will be hosting a special evening at the
Hollywood Costume Exhibit Friday, December 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be a special discount for CDG members Visit costumedesignersguild.com for more details.
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Then and Now:
Dionne and Cher. Photo: Allstar/Cinetext/Paramount
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his coming summer will mark the 20-year anniversary of the 1995 hit movie Clueless. Interviews and articles have proliferated in print and online, from sources as varied as The Daily Beast, MTV Style, Chicago Tribune, and Elle magazine celebrating the costumes. Pop stars like Katy Perry and Iggy Azalea have also recently worn homages. We spoke with Costume Designer Mona May to discuss the film’s lasting appeal and recent resurgence. Think of the context. It was the height of the grunge movement. On campuses, teenagers cultivated a general look of being unkempt. The uniform of a wrinkled T-shirt and jeans was imperative. Hygiene was optional. Color droned on in an endless monotone. “Now, there’s a lot of affirmation for girls to be girlish, to kind of have their own style,” says May, “At the time, it was absolutely the last thing that people were thinking about, and when it hit, it kind of exploded and it created a whole other movement—a kind of anti-grunge.” When May embarked on the project, she had no inclination the film would have an enduring impact. With its modest budget, May describes the project as a labor of love. She had connected with writer/director Amy Heckerling on a previous, unsuccessful pilot. “We met and completely fell in love with each other because she has such a strong aesthetic,” May notes. When Heckerling wrote Clueless, she called May immediately, thinking their shared sensibilities, coupled with May’s fashion-forward attitude, would be a perfect combination. “It was wonderful for me, coming from a fashion background and having been in the film industry just for a little while, it was one of my first big studio movies,” explains May. Born in India and growing up in Europe, May feels her extensive travels has led to her unique perspective in Costume Design.
For Clueless, May started her research by scouting high schools, but found only evidence of grunge. Heckerling wanted something completely different—something stylish and girlie. May then shifted her search for inspiration to the European runways. But, because the characters were young, she sought to create a sense of sweetness and exuberance, while making choices that were right for the narrative. “It was fun to be kind of like a fashion designer and a Costume Designer in one,” enthuses May. “But because it’s a movie, not a fashion show, you have to translate that feeling into clothes that are appropriate for the script. “Even though Cher was snooty, you didn’t feel put off. You always love her and her clothes. I think falling in love with a character, especially in this instance, is essential. Alicia Silverstone was the perfect person to play the part. She really was this innocent girl that fit the bill, and her charm was contagious. Amy wrote the amazing script; it was just so smart.” May mixed high and low fashion, couture, and custom-made items with thrift-store finds in a way that was unheard of at the time. But as she created the silhouettes and the colors, she looked to maintain a type of timelessness and classicism. “It’s so easy to date a movie even with just the wrong pair of jeans,” May observes. She combined a riot of colors with elegant but youthful silhouettes, then layered details and coordinating accessories, like the perfect over-the-knee sock and purse. The end result was a sophisticated play on the schoolgirl silhouette, a celebration of girlishness, optimism, and fun. It struck both young and old audience members as a delicious reprieve from the fashion of the time, and encouraged everyone to feel pretty and enjoy themselves. “And somehow that had staying power,” says May, “Even though it’s 20 years later, that feeling that you get from the movie, the characters, the clothes, it ignites the same feeling in the young --new generation. It’s kind of phenomenal.” During an event last summer at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, there were hundreds of girls from age 12 to in their 20s, dressed as the characters, in complete outfits with Cher’s hat and the plaid skirt. There were Dionnes and even the teacher, Miss Geist, with the smeared lipstick and coffee stains on her shirt. May was surprised and thrilled. “I always try to empower women with my work. I want to also communicate the fun of life and the fun of creation. A young woman can emulate that, have fun with that, and can take that to another level.” Happy birthday, Clueless!
Mona May (far left) and Clueless fans at Hollywood Forever event.
Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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Evoking
Eva Green as “Vanessa Ives” in Penny Dreadful. Photo: Showtime
the Supernatural
By Anna W yc k o ff
“ The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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e have a lasting fascination with magic. Ancient tribal people from every continent were enamored with the idea of using sorcery to change their world. Fast-forward a few hundred centuries, and magic might initially seem to be a realm reserved for children. But closer inspection reveals its broad appeal has not abated. Look no further than the surge of paranormal programming in film and television, one of the few socially acceptable avenues left to explore the supernatural. For the Costume Designer, summoning a magical world requires careful use of the language of clothes. Wielding their tools, they convince the audience to suspend their disbelief not only by accepting the characters, but also the departure from reality. We asked CDs Gabriella Pescucci, Joseph Porro, and Jacqueline West to divulge how they keep their audiences spellbound. Oscar-winning CD Gabriella Pescucci is no stranger to the fantastical. In 2004’s Van Helsing, she conjured ethereal vampires and a legion of monsters, and for 2005’s The Brothers Grimm she spun an extravagantly bewitching world of medieval fantasy. In her current television series Penny Dreadful for Showtime, she reprises the genre, but paints an entirely different portrait, fashioning darkly sumptuous versions of a Victorian nightmare. Pescucci always finds her footing in art before embarking on her designs. For Penny Dreadful she drew inspiration
from the French Impressionists including Renoir and Tissot as well as the haunting chiaroscuro engravings of Gustave Doré. “When I think of a new dress, I look carefully at pictures and paintings, as well as books of the period. My aesthetic taste and the psychology of the character lets me choose the right color, fabric, or shape.” CD Joseph Porro helmed the Ghost Whisperer in 2005 with a modern take on enchantment. In creating the show Salem for WGN America, Porro reimagines colonial Massachusetts with decadent textures and a Mandarin’s eye for detail. He explains, “My sci-fi and fashion background make my approach different. If I was completely historically accurate, I would be bored to tears. I’m not afraid to ask, ‘Why does that have to be black wool, why can’t it be black leather?’” The result is a haunting vision of Salem that focuses on the provocative rather than the puritanical. When CD Jacqueline West designed the film, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman in 2003, the comic book characters were literary, historical, and otherworldly. Her upcoming feature Seventh Son, which will be released in early 2015 by Universal Pictures, is based on the book The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. Her costumes tell the tale of medieval magic with a flair of mysticism, a trace of modernism, and a hint of sexiness. West says, “On a film, you’re often on a soundstage or in a workroom, and you’re not under the stars, not feeling Aboriginal magic or alchemy. You depend on your creative crew and a good director, actors, and the brilliant sets … they help you reach
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into your inner self, into that mythical area in your mind which we all want to exist. “We all are interested in magic,” she notes. “It is something we want to believe in, even skeptics. We want that magic moment. If I hadn’t traveled to places that are extraordinary—Morocco, where you feel the age-old magic and black magic, Istanbul, and South Dakota where I have a ranch and the Native Americans feel is a completely spiritual place—I probably couldn’t have done Seventh Son.” For Pescucci, fabrication plays a crucial role in her creation of the character. In the troubled darkness of Victorian London, she uses the interplay of silhouettes to illuminate characters and draw the necessary distinctions between them. Unlike her past experience when material was readily available, she now has to search for unusual fabrics in what amounts to a treasure hunt all over Europe. “I feel lucky when I find shelves of old fabrics, strange wools that have been there for many years,” she smiles. “There is one factory near Como—Ratti—known for silk, but you have to go many places.” Because men’s fabrics have changed very little through the centuries, she turns to traditional English mills for menswear. Pescucci explains that although Penny Dreadful has a historically accurate feel, it is directed and
photographed with a more contemporary eye. This lends the show an accessible quality that belies the period. She also does not feel there is a difference in working in film or television, and appreciates the fact that high definition TV reveals the nuances of her design. For Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green, Pescucci strips the costumes of any superfluous ornamentation. “I tried for Vanessa to take away all the decorations that we don’t need—just getting very severe and clear—not many ribbons, not laces, I take off everything.” She pares the garments down to a striking elemental shape, which sharpens your focus on the actor. Ethan Chandler, played by Josh Hartnett, is an American, so his flowing duster and rugged style is distinctive from the other characters. In contrast, Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcolm Murray is the height of elegant traditional English tailoring, from his waistcoat to his hat. But Pescucci is not afraid to subtly stray from the period when the character requires it. For Dorian Gray, played by Reeve Carney, she pushed the clothes into a more modern vein by building his shirts in silk, leaving them open without a cravat, and using jewels in silver. In characters like the Somnolent Women, she allowed her imagination to run free, creating very slender shapes and
Danny Sapani as “Sembene,” Josh Hartnett as “Ethan Chandler,” Eva Green as “Vanessa Ives,” Harry Treadaway as “Victor Frankenstein,” and Timothy Dalton as “Malcolm Murray” in Penny Dreadful. Photo: Showtime
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Jeff Bridges as “Master Gregory” in Seventh Son. Photo: Universal Pictures
even having the garments wet down to further adhere them to the body. For Pescucci, costume and makeup are the first steps an actor uses to get into character. West agrees, “I always think it’s the second an actor puts the clothes on and stands differently … they’re transported. The clothing is the bridge between the actor and the characters.” West is known as a method Costume Designer because she attacks characters from the inside out. She thinks of taking characters shopping based upon who they are, in any period. She considers, who are these people? What would their choices be? And what choices would reveal the inner riches of who they are? Before Seventh Son, West traveled to Istanbul and director Sergey Bodroy called her saying, “Look for things in Turkey, Turkey is magical.” She happened upon an ancient robe in the Grand Bazaar. “It was a museum piece,” she explains, “just for display.” But somehow her friend, Jeeda, who had worked with her on Argo, was able to convince the proprietor to sell the garment. It was an age-old shepherd’s robe called a kepenek made of black sheep’s wool because they are considered enchanted. “It kept the rain and the cold off of them, and at night, they turned it into a tent under the stars. So Jeff Bridges became this mythic shepherd to me. I thought of him as a shepherd that was saving people, saving mankind from dark magic, and the people
Julianne Moore as “Mother Malkin” in Seventh Son. Photo: Universal Pictures
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Shane West as “John Alden” in Salem. Photo: WGN America
Janet Montgomery as “Mary Sibley,” Ashley Madekwe as “Tituba,” and Tamzin Merchant as “Anne Hale” in Salem. Photo: WGN America
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were his sheep. It seemed perfect.” When Bridges put on the cloak, he felt the transformation. West recalls, “His voice changed, his stance changed, and he became the character before my eyes.” For Mother Malkin, channeled by Julianne Moore, West tried to understand who she was and why she was so vindictive and evil. In order to reveal her nature, West based her costumes on birds of prey, scales, feathers, and talons. Early Dior silhouettes and Alexander McQueen’s collections were influential. The period was medieval but fantastical, so West grounded the costumes in historical shapes, then let her inventiveness dictate the surfaces. For Ben Barnes, as Tom Ward, West pushed the period to create a romantic figure with a kind of swashbuckling military sexiness to his wardrobe. Taking the director’s suggestion she lengthened his proportion to hold its own against the other characters, and also to signify that eventually he will become the next wizard. In his love interest Alice, played by Alicia Vikander, she drew on images from the fairy tales of her childhood, but reimagined them in wild translucent corsets and shredded skirts. “It was Japanese fashion meets medieval rags.” Sexiness is an element that Porro uses with abandon in Salem while staying true to the period. He feels that
during the time, there were different versions of garments, which are all correct, he simply uses the more appealing line. His first goal is to enable the actor to create the character in the script and to give them a costume that makes them feel they are the person. His second goal is to make eye candy. Because the wealthy central witch Mary Sibley, played by Janet Montgomery, is in the export business, Porro never uses the same change twice. With about 80 to 150 man-hours poured into each costume and every episode having a minimum of four to five changes, it is a feat. “If the audience wanted to watch a story about the girl next door, they wouldn’t be watching a witch. So I try to create a fashion show in modern fabrics. By sticking true to the silhouette, I don’t take you out of the period, but instead kind of pop you into a fantasy world. Because, if you actually saw what Puritans looked like, it was really dull.” Porro feels fortunate because his leading man John Alden, played by Shane West, was fresh from the French and Indian Wars and living among Native Americans. So he has a raw masculinity, which contrasts the surrounding refinement. To enhance his appeal, Porro cuts close to the body, employs thin fabrics for the shirting, and uses blues to single him out. For Ashley Madekwe’s Tituba, he eschews dressing her like a servant and instead focuses on more textural looks in rough linens and ethnic fabrics with embroidery in richer tones to compliment her coloring. He combs witch stores online, hunting for talismans and rings. He gave Tituba an otter claw on her neck for protection. “It’s psychological,” he explains. “It helps the actors get into the mood. A selfprofessed costume nerd, Porro is obsessed with using every available facet to summon the character. “I have rings made out of human bone. We’re building a dress out of human hair, and another one’s going to be made of lizard.” He is currently researching having a dress woven from spider web. To each Costume Designer, a different aspect of the process is magical. For Pescucci, the joy is in piecing together the puzzle—details from a painting, fragments of fabric. She finds every project to be unique. “With maturity I’m less afraid, but I still have so many doubts! But, after many years, I still love my job and every new project is a new adventure.” For West, “It moves from a costume to something that is almost real
Jacqueline West
Ashley Madekwe as “Tituba” in Salem. Photo: WGN America
when the actor walks onto the set and it becomes one painting.” Porro finds that beyond mere historical accuracy is a window which transports the audience deeper into the story by evoking a feeling. It is that emotion that he strives to elicit. Perhaps the appeal of magic lies in its proximity to its fraternal twin, hope. Reality and its insistence on believing only what one can see make a persuasive argument against flights of fancy. Whatever your perception, for the Costume Designer to conjure monsters and heroes in a twist of fabric, is magic indeed.
Joseph Porro
Gabriella Pescucci
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what’s ON The Knick Costume Designer:
ELLEN MIROJNICK Assistant Designers:
JOHN GLASER, PATRICK WILEY
Gotham Costume Designer:
State of Affairs
lisa padovani
Costume Designer:
Illustrators:
Constantine Costume Designer:
Mari-An CEO
The McCarthys Costume Designer:
Marry Me
Assistant Designer:
Laura Bauer
Keri smith
Lauren Silvestri
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
Costume Designer:
Gotham/Fox; The Knick/Cinemax; State of Affairs/NBC; Marry Me/NBC; Constantine/NBC; The McCarthys/CBS
Victoria Auth
CRISTINA SPIRIDAKIS DANIELLE SCHEMBREBURAKOVSKY
Compiled by: Bonnie Nipar
Jane the Virgin
Red Band Society
Costume Designer:
Costume Designer:
Assistant Designer:
Assistant Designer:
Jennifer Eve
Rachel Sage Kunin
Mojdeh Daftary
Brandy Lusvardi
Scorpion Jane the Virgin/CW; Scorpion/CBS; Red Band Society/Fox; Black-ish/ABC; Stalker/CBS; How to Get Away With Murder/ABC
Costume Designer:
Agata MasZkiewicz
How to Get Away With Murder
Black-ish
Costume Designer:
Costume Designer:
Linda Bass
STACY BEVERLY
Stalker Costume Designer:
Maya Lieberman
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what’s IN Gone Girl Costume Designer:
Interstellar
Wild
Costume Designer:
Costume Designer:
Mary zophres
melissa bruning
A Most Violent Year Costume Designer:
kasia walicka-maimone Assistant Designer:
brittany loar
Birdman
Into the Woods Costume Designer:
Costume Designer:
Colleen Atwood
Assistant Designer:
Laura E. Revitt
albert wolsky sue gandy
Assistant Designer: Illustrator:
Christian Cordella 38
The Costume Designer Fall 2014
Interstellar/Paramount Pictures; Gone Girl/Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox; Wild/Fox/Searchlight; Into the Woods/Disney; A Most Violent Year/A24; Birdman/Relativity Media
Trish Summerville
Compiled by: Bonnie Nipar
Inherent Vice
The Imitation Game
Costume Designer:
Mark Bridges
Costume Designer:
The Imitation Game/Weinstein Co.; Exodus: Gods and Kings/20th Century Fox; Inherent Vice/Warner Bros.; Annie/Barry Wetcher/Sony; Unbroken/Universal; Selma/Paramount Pictures
sammy sheldon-differ
Assistant Designer:
Kristen kopp
Exodus: Gods and Kings Costume Designer:
JANTY YATES
Assistant Designers:
jeremy turner andrea CRIPPS Illustrator:
LORA E. REVITT Annie
Selma
Costume Designer:
Costume Designer:
renĂŠe ehrlich kalfus
Assistant Designer:
elizabeth shelton Richard Schurkamp
ruth e. carter
Assistant Designers:
paul simmons jr.
Unbroken Costume Designer:
louise frogley Illustrator:
christian cordella
Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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Woven in England
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The Elemental Source for Fabrics
C h r i s M a n l e y 3 1 0 - 2 7 0 - 5 0 9 3 | 1 - 8 0 0 - 2 2 7 - 1 7 2 4 | s a l e s @ g l a d s o n l t d . c o m | w w w. g l a d s o n l t d . c o m
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McKinley Freeman and Sybil Mosely Molly Grundman-Gerbosi (second from right) and crew CD Molly Grundman-Gerbosi and her crew graciously supplied a photo op moment as a clever tip of the hat to their comedic series Review, now shooting its second season wrapping this December. CD Elizabeth Meredith is presently designing VH1/ Logo TV’s Straight Out Report in addition to the CNBC reality series Restaurant Startup, now in its second season. CD Eileen Baker had an interesting time designing a latex number for an episode on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, “Rubbery Homicide,” which aired November 16. Two new CDGers have wasted no time since joining: ACD Alison Uhlfelder, who assisted CD Mandi Line on the fifth season of Pretty Little Liars , wrapEileen Baker’s sketch for ping this month, and ACD “Rubbery Homicide” Karina Torrico, the newest addition to DWTS (Dancing With the Stars) who, astonishingly enough, has found time to train for the NYC Marathon this month. Go Karina!
With the holiday season pressing closer, CD Sybil Mosely put the final touches to her latest TV One movie A Second Chance at Christmas, starring McKinley Freeman, Michael Rainey, and Robinne Lee. Showtime’s offbeat pilot Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was one of the most memorable projects for CD Melina Root, teamed with her State of Affairs ACD Caroline Quiroga. YouTube sensation Rachel Bloom stars in the comedy as a successful young woman who impulsively tosses her upscale life in NYC for the possibility of love in West Covina, CA.
Samantha Kuester and the Richie Rich cast CD Samantha Kuester was thrilled to tackle an Astroturf dress and more for her recent live-action comedy series Richie Rich, which is keeping her creatively challenged week after week, heading now to Netflix for 2015.
CD Danny Glicker has returned to his beloved San Francisco for HBO’s Looking, with his new addition to the crew, ACD Hannah Jacobs, now assisting in the second season.
This fall had CD Audrey Fisher designing the Amazon and Scott Free period pilot Man in the High Castle, with ACD Leslie Sungail supervising. Based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning 1962 novel, the pilot explores an alternate reality in the early ’60s in which Nazi Germany and Japan win World War II and occupy the US.
CD Kimberly Adams was delighted to be on home turf for her USA Network pilot Colony, starring Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies and teamed with a great crew of CD Nanrose Buchman and CD Mary Iannelli as key costumers.
CD Jennifer Bryan has had a much longer stint in New Mexico this year, having wrapped her first season of Better Call Saul before moving to the second season of hospital drama The Night Shift, both shot in Albuquerque.
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IN FOCUS BOLDFACE NAMES
BFN - work CD Ane Crabtree traveled literally and figuratively north to south for her recent and current pilot, starting in upstate NY on Susannah Grant’s Members Only for ABC—a decadent and seductive upstairs/downstairs drama set at an exclusive Connecticut country club, then headed straight down to Rock Hill, SC, where she is now designing Outcast, the comic book adaptation from Cinemax/FX and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Outcast designed by Ane Crabtree
CD Carol Ramsey along with her ACD Ellen Falguiere, returned from Santa Fe having wrapped Stanistan, a M*A*S*H–like pilot for the USA Network, starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jonathan Cake, Zach Gilford, and Paul Guilfoyle, as American Embassy staff and military, balancing danger and humor while stationed in the Middle East. CD Michael Boyd had great fun in Atlanta on Bessie, the HBO Bessie Smith biopic, starring Queen Latifah as the jazz and blues singer, drawing innumerable references from the early 1900s vaudeville, theatres, speakeasies, and of course, from Bessie herself. Boyd continued on to Point of Honor, a Civil War pilot filmed in Richmond, VA, for ABC/Amazon and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Randall Wallace.
A scene from Killing Hasselhoff CD Caroline B. Marx is fresh off her latest comedic feature Killing Hasselhoff, starring Ken Jeong as a man who attempts to win a celebrity death pool by hiring a hit man to kill David Hasselhoff. The film stars several comedians, including Jon Lovitz and cameos from the likes of Justin Bieber, Hulk Hogan, Mel B, and Howie Mandel. CD Trayce Gigi Field recently designed an experimental commercial using hidden GoPro cameras to capture riders in the new Honda Fit campaign, directed by Fred Savage. CD Kathleen Felix-Hager designed a series of pre-Christmas holiday spots for Old Navy commercials, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and directed by Roman Coppola. 42
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IN FOCUS BOLDFACE NAMES
BFN - work CD Courtney Hoffman is busy with Quentin Tarantino’s latest epic Western, Hateful Eight . Set in post–American Civil War, the feature stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, Walter Goggins, and Bruce Dern as a group of mistrustful veterans, bounty hunters, and scoundrels snowbound in Wyoming with escalating tensions ratcheting up in true Tarantino spaghetti Western style, with ILL Gina DeDomenico. CD Arefeh Mansouri recently wrapped a commercial campaign in Canada, Dream, that had Mansouri on double-duty directing in addition to designing. CD Alonzo Wilson is currently in Mississippi through December designing Same Kind of Different as Me—a period feature based on the best-selling nonfiction book by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, spanning from 1940 to present day. Starring Greg Kinnear, Renee Zellweger, and Djimon Hounsou. It is the story of two men who form an unlikely friendship and a wife who leads all three on the most remarkable journey of their lives. CD Mary Zophres is grateful to be home in LA designing Hail, Ceasar! with ACD Jo Kissack for directors Joel and Ethan Coen. The comedy set in 1950 follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer with more than enough problems to solve, starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, and Jonah Hill. ™
COSTUME DEPARTMENT
It’s all in the details! www.wbcostumedept.com ©2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
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CD Bonnie Stauch has had a recent flurry of work in town starting with the thriller Broken Vows, starring Wes Bentley, Jaimie Alexander, Cam Gigandet, as well as designing several commercials with ACD Svea Macek, including a T-Mobile/Walmart campaign for director Tom Routson. CD Justine Seymour is fortunate to stay home here in LA and design Adrien Brody’s costumes on his latest crime thriller Manhattan Nocturne, an adaptation of the novel by Colin Harrison shooting in NY, with Yvonne Strahovski, Jennifer Beals, and Campbell Scott.
IN FOCUS BOLDFACE NAMES
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CD Wendy Chuck and ACD Margaret Robbs recently wrapped San Andreas on Wendy’s home turf of Australia before traveling to Toronto and Boston for Spotlight, the dramatic feature based on the true story of Boston Globe investigative reporters’ stories of the 2002 abuses within the Catholic Church. Chuck had the pleasure of meeting the actual Spotlight team and Pulitzer Prize winners, played by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, and Stanley Tucci. CD Sanja Hays along with her crew of CD Irena Stepic-Rendulic assisting and ILL Christian Cordella are hard at work on the sequel to Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, based on the YA sci-fi novels, now shooting in New Mexico. CD Carol Ramsey reunites with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg along with CD Senna Shanti assisting on Daddy’s Home. The Paramount feature centers on a mild-mannered man in an idyllic marriage facing mayhem in the form of a macho ex-husband returning to reassert his dominance in the family, shooting now in New Orleans. CD Marian Toy sends greetings from Greensboro, NC, where she is designing The Disappointments Room, a supernatural psychological thriller, written by Wentworth Miller for Relativity, starring Kate Beckinsale and Gerald McRaney. CD Lizz Wolf is currently in gorgeous Budapest, Hungary, filming the sci-fi thriller feature Spectral, with Emily Mortimer and Max Martini for Legendary Pictures. She reports the specialty costumes constructed by the fantastic Weta Workshop are due to be truly amazing. CD Kara Saun just closed Descendants, an epic Disney Channel musical feature for director Kenny Ortega, prepping in LA before shipping off to Vancouver, with a principal cast of more than 200 dancers, stuntmen, and background, releasing in 2015.
Kara Saun’s Disney Channel feature, Descendants
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Renée Ehrlich Kalfus’ Annie inspired line for Target
The retailer Target has partnered with CD Renée Ehr lich Kalfus for a 25-piece limited-edition collection of girls’ apparel and accessories line inspired by the upcoming Annie film that hit stores and target.com November 16. The mix-and-match collection includes patchwork, embroidery, pins, buttons, tulle and, of course, the iconic red dress, and heartshaped locket. CD Sueko Oshimoto has published a kimono styling book, VISIONS of Kimono Vol. 1, on Amazon. She has also launched a couture line entitled Sueko, which designs for the future while honoring the heritage of the past.
ACD Svea Macek illustrated the children’s book Cha Cha, the Indoor Cat, which is now available on Amazon. Sueko Oshimoto’s couture line, Sueko The book includes 34 fullcolor illustrations. The book is the story of Cha Cha and the family that rescued her from the local shelter. On October 7, CD and President Salvador Perez launched his sparkly glam jewelry line for the website Baublebar.
Salvador Perez’s jewelry line for Baublebar
IN FOCUS BOLDFACE NAMES
BFN - Festivals and Exhibitions
BFN - Press CD Timothy Snell is highlighted in the November issue of Essence magazine for the article “Curve Appeal: Secrets Behind the Well-Dressed Curvy Girl.” CD and President Salvador Perez and CD Lou Eyrich
Colleen Atwood was honored at the Middleburg Film Festival The Middleburg Film Festival honored CD Colleen Atwood, with its Distinguished Costume Designer Award. The event featured an in-depth conversation with Atwood and a retrospective of her most memorable costumes, followed by a Masquerade Ball in her honor. The Middleburg Film Festival, now in its second year, ran from October 30 to November 2 in Virginia’s historic wine country.
CD Sueko Oshimoto held a kimono wrapping demonstration for LACMA’s Costume Council. The group helped acquire many of the kimonos in the exhibition Kimono for a Modern Age. You can view Oshimoto’s wrapping demonstration on the LACMA website. Oshimoto also held a fashion show, demonstration, and a lecture about kimono couture for Nisei Week at the Japanese American National Museum. 48
The Costume Designer Fall 2014
were featured in the October issue of Bloomingdale’s Fashion Packed Life, Pink Edition, supporting breast cancer awareness. The article entitled “Behind the Seams,” covers two Costume Designers who have been affected by breast cancer, both in their friendships and personally, bringing characters to life. Perez has been very busy as his designs for The Mindy Project are also featured in online pieces in Us Weekly, “The Mindy Project Style Breakdown” and InStyle, “8 Questions With The Mindy Project’s Costume Designer, Salvador Perez.”
Timothy Snell
Salvador Perez’s The Mindy Project
CD Ane Crabtree has been covered in a myriad of articles this season including the New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, Variety, and Wall Street Journal, to name a few. Showtime has also given Crabtree her own Web-based spot aptly named Masters of Style on their website. The program invites journalists, editors, and bloggers to fashion and costume while highlighting the costumes of Masters of Sex.
CD Trayce Gigi Field was interviewed in ET online’s “Secrets From the Stylist: Go Inside the ‘Broke Girls’ Costume Closet.”
ET online interviewed Trayce Gigi Field for 2 Broke Girls Ane Crabtree in the Masters of Style CD Aggie Rodgers is featured in Brandon Aligner’s new book, Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy. Rodgers states, “This book really tells the story of how we got it done. It was just after I worked on this film for the whole year that I joined the 892.”
BFN - Awards CD Sueko Oshimoto received the award for Best Costume Design at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival for the film Kiss of a Siren.
Sueko Oshimoto at the La Jolla International Film Festival
Aggie Rodgers’ Star Wars book.
Compiled and written by: Suzanne Huntington, shuntington@cdgia.com Stacy Ellen Rich, lastace@mac.com Fall 2014 The Costume Designer
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SCRAPBOOK
Zero Dark Thirty. Photo: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
George Little 1951–2014 George Little designed many films to great acclaim, including The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. The latter’s gritty realism garnered him a nomination for Excellence in Contemporary Film at the CDG Awards in 2013. Little began his career as a costumer on Apocalypse Now and made his way through the ranks, supervising then assisting. His breakthrough film as a Costume Designer was 1995’s The Crimson Tide.
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The Costume Designer Fall 2014
While Little paid keen attention to accuracy, he saw it as a foundation. “You want a jumping-off point, ‘Here’s reality,’ And then you have to find when it’s more important to benefit the character as opposed to being strictly correct. You always have to consider that: the story comes first.” His film The Fantastic Four will be released in June 2015.
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The Official Magazine of the Costume Designers Guild
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