At the Fashion Institute of Design And Merchandising they have on display costumes from recent films. The work that goes into costumes worn in films is amazing and overwhelming. It sets the mood, the period, the style. It requires research, imagination, skill and talent. Costumes must fit and move with the actor and even computer animated and stop motion features require costume design.
The range exhibited by designers like Mona May (Aliens in the Attic, The House Bunny, The Haunted Mansion, Stuart Little 2, The Wedding Singer); Marlene Stewart (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Stop-Loss, Coyote Ugly, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Doors); Colleen Atwood (Nine, Public Enemies, Sweeney Todd, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago, Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Gattaca, Mars Attacks!, Little Women, The Silence of the Lambs, Edward Scissorhands); Michael Kaplan (Star Trek, I Am Legend, Miami Vice, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fight Club, Flashdance, Blade Runner); and Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen, Terminator Salvation, 300) is truly exceptional.
Some films embrace only one era while others accumulate worldwide souvenirs of the past, using pieces from every era and every culture in the present, still others use many past cultures to convey distinct characters from each century and some, take what exists now and imagine what it would evolve into in the future. Intense research is done to prepare.
When focusing on only one era it is just as important to stay within boundaries that portray the era accurately rather than caricaturing it as it is to be faithful to the fashions and textiles of the times. In The Watchmen six decades were portrayed using clothing that was immediately identifiable for each. In Julie & Julia girdles, gloves, hats, cashmere sweaters, ¾ sleeve shirts, embroidered monograms on blouses and stockings with seams in them helped project the time frame being shown. For The Young Victoria the designers were actually allowed into the archives at Kensington Palace where they saw some of Victoria’s own tiny clothes. In photographs and film a person’s actual size can be changed to seem different by altering the size of the background props and by adjusting clothing as in Julie & Julia, where Meryl Streep was made to look 6’2” by using shoes with extra high heels and drop-waisted dresses instead of trying to use shorter actors.
When dressing fashion icons like The Duchess or amateur costume designer’s like Fanny Brawne who’s whole identity is entwined with the clothes they wear, reflecting their times but making the fashions an innovative statement that others emulated, is challenging. A balance must be struck between period fashion and individuality.
While at times a fantasy interpretation of the era’s costuming may be appropriate to make a point or emphasize a character’s traits such as in the costumes created for the character of Sherlock Holmes (“the Rolling Stones in their Victorian phase” were used as inspiration) other times the costume must deemphasize the character portrayed to convey a mood so that the action rather than the individual stands out, for one scene in Nine 1,000,000 Swarovski crystals in 31 styles and 22 colors were used on 36 costumes for the showgirls, while other costumes were used to create feminine portraits such as elegant ladies, go go girls, starlets, and prostitutes, all, in their own way, sexy statements.
When action or dance are involved costuming has to work with the expected movements of the actor’s bodies with highly customized fitting and appropriate materials that do not restrict movement and, as in the case of Where the Wild Things Are, the costumes had to work with wires, pulleys and special rigs to accommodate one Wild Thing throwing another through the air. The Wild Thing costumes were also designed so that most of their heavy weight rested on the actor’s hips and soft mechanics and animatronics were used by The Creature Shop to allow the actors to flex their own muscles which moved the musculature of the costume skeleton. Of course there is a limit to what can be done with animatronics so the expressions and lip sinking for the large mouths of the Wild Things' costumes had to be enhanced with computer graphics. But even when computer graphics are used in a film the costumes have to be designed by someone.
In Coraline there were 28 different puppets used, the puppet of Coraline had nine changes of costume and at least six copies of each costume had to be made. The wolf suit worn by the little boy in Where the Wild Things Are was duplicated 56 times in various stages of disarray from laundry pile clean to returning home ripped and dirty at the end of the day. In Watchman there were 300 extras used in just one of the scenes, there were 150,000 costume pieces listed in wardrobe with a 600 page list itemizing each piece. Literally thousands of costumes were made for Star Trek.
Colors and textures have to be considered. Warmer or cooler hues to a costume’s colors are used depending on what tone is trying to be conveyed in a scene and what camera and light filters are being used. Textures of materials have to be considered when doing close ups especially with stop action animation where the texture and weave of the cloth could be distracting. In Star Trek the uniforms tops had tiny Starfleet logos printed all over them in a slightly darker shade that from a distance looks like texture. GI Joe also made use of their logo in their camouflage clothing design. In costuming detail is all important.
How would you express wholesomeness, simplicity, humor, ferocity, tenderness, whimsy, elegance, artistry, independence, seriousness, sadness, hopelessness and more with a costume? How would you inspire fear, love, or trust? Greens, purples, oranges, and browns can convey sadness, hopelessness and depression. Browns and blues are dependable colors but also can show little imagination and adherence to the norm. Bright colors can indicate bright things to come and a positive outlook or they can indicate denial of reality. Immaculate tailoring can express a character trait or set a tone for a scene as can lack of grooming, poor tailoring and general dishabille. Costumes must be subtle enough to add to a character or a scene without distracting from it. In The Soloist the character Nathaniel wrote on everything to express himself. He wrote on his clothes, his violin, his shopping cart and it’s contents. Part of who he was, was shown in how he creatively changed his world. But this is only a fraction of what costuming covers. The costumes don’t just match the characters portrayed but also must match the sets and the director’s overall message.
In many movies staying true to the source material is a main concern. Star Trek fans would have a fit if the correct costuming wasn’t used, it had to be liner, to extrapolate what the uniforms would have looked like in the past as previous movies showed the future Star Trek universe. In Where the Wild Things Are the proportions shown in the picture book had to be believably recreated on the set. The Watchman characters had to be created using full body casts with details sculpted in clay, then transformed into latex forms. Research was done into each character’s chosen image. For the Owl that meant delving into "aerospace technology, birds, aerodynamics, zippers and air vents". Rorschach’s mask was a combination of four way lycra embedded with motion capture markers or tracking dots and digital effects. In GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra each actor’s body had to be scanned so that sculpted muscle suits could be made to be worn underneath clothes and armor. The Baroness’s costume was so tight she couldn’t sit down and was required to use a leaning board, built to measure, to rest. In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian a laser scan was made of the actor’s body to build custom fitted armor for the pharaoh and it took months to create.
Every day choices made on apparel can reflect maturity, mood, climate, wealth and destination. A suit for the office would not work for a day at the beach. Dark, plain clothing, when blending in is the desired effect, has an entirely different image than artistically bright clothing worn to express exuberant celebration of individuality. Each of us is our own costume designer whether we realize it or not but deliberately chosing what's appropriate and knowing exactly what will cause the desired effect takes years of experience.
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