TUTUS OR CAMOUFLAGE: ALL THINGS CAN BE COSTUMES

You wouldn’t think that a girl like me who loves silks, satins, sequins and rhinestones as much as I do would be able to find a connection between the military and costumes! 

But last weekend I went to the Nellis Air Force Base Air Show in Las Vegas, and was once again reminded about the many things I admire about the military, and the kind of training it offers. There is a discipline and team spirit that is wonderful to behold, and can be a valuable asset in film-making!

I have had in my past career two costumers work for me who were ex-military. One was Michael Russell, a tall handsome guy from Texas, who got into the business unexpectedly. Following his service in Somalia and Iraq, he was hired on a film as the military consultant. It is not unusual to hire consultants to help assure accuracy when doing a military film, or a medical film, or any time of film where the average film-maker will not know the inside things that make for realism. 

Michael was a fabulous costumer. I loved that he was always punctual, efficient, kept his opinions to himself, and understood the chain of command. My crew and I used to marvel when Michael would set up a fitting room for an actor coming in. All the hangers were not only facing the same direction, but were perfectly spaced exactly 1“ apart from each other! He even used to open the safety pins and line them up in a perfect formation!

Another ex-military woman called April Kreuger came in to interview with me for a costumer position on “Passions”. She came in organized for her interview with a list of questions to ask me about what I expected of her, and a notebook to right down the answers. She got the job. 

But back to costumes. The first military project I ever designed was a stage play called “Streamers” with an all-male all-star cast. I was at the very early stages of my career and feeling very female and very insecure. It was a tough job because no matter how much research I did to get everything right, the all male cast, many of them having served at some point, were very vocal in telling me when I didn’t get something right!

You can’t wing it. Besides the basics of the uniform itself, you have to consider the era, location, rank, division, patches, insignia, medals, what they all mean, and exactly how and where they are placed on the uniform. Then there’s the gear, tactical belts, helmets, vests, holsters, backpacks, goggles, etc.

I did a short film a year or so ago about helicopter pilots in Vietnam. I found, via the internet, a man who had been a actual helicopter pilot from that era, and we had several phone conversations. He sent me a number of photos of him and his buddies from that time. It was a fascinating experience talking to him, and great research.

So I guess not all costumes have to have sequins on them! They just need to tell the story, and tell it right.

ADORABLE FUNNY FABULOUS BETTY WHITE!

What you see is what you get with Betty White. She is every bit as funny, adorable, and (dare I say it) nice as she appears to be. A year or so ago, the entertainment news kept talking about the “come back” of Betty White, but if you look at her IMDB, you will see that she has NEVER stopped working, and working a lot at that.

I had the excellent fortune of working with her on a TV sitcom called “Ladies Man”, which ran for two years on CBS. How can you not love Betty? She was and is the most professional, competent, and delightful actress you could ever have the good fortune to work with. On “Ladies Man” we had two “young people”, Alexa Vega, age 11 at the time, and Kaley Cuoco, age 15 at the time. cast as family members. (Sharon Lawrence and Alfred Molina played the parents of the family in this sitcom.) It was wonderful to see how the younger actresses instinctively learned from a true pro - how to be on time, know their lines, be appreciative to the crew, and thoughtful to all those around them.

I learned quickly what Betty’s “look” was. Her color favorites were all the sherbet colors - blue, turquoise, aqua, green, sometimes pink, and very occasionally yellow. She liked turtleneck tops and long sleeves, and pants, not skirts. Because of the quick changes on “tape night” I always changed any jewelry clasp to a small magnetic clasp that didn’t require putting on glasses to fasten it.

But what impressed me about Betty was that she was game for anything and never complained if she were in an uncomfortable scene or costume. One time she was dressed as Joan of Arc in full metal armor, a very heavy costume, and yet, not a peep out of her. Another time she was in an angels wings, the harness of which was cutting into her skin. She never used her age (then 78) as an excuse for special treatment.

A few years later I was thrilled to find out that she had been cast in a TV movie I was designing in Vancouver, Canada. She arrived the day before filming, but I already had the advantage of knowing her sizes, preferences, and taste. 

One Friday night I was at the Vancouver airport taking a flight back to LA (where I was starting to design “Passions” on the weekends) and she went whizzing by on an escorted VIP cart. When I saw her again she was so embarrassed that she had a ride to the gate and I had to walk, dragging my suitcase. She apologized over and over, despite my protests. I asked her why she was flying back to LA for such a quick trip when she had lots of big scenes again on Monday and she said, “Oh Diana, I can’t  leave my dogs that long, I miss them too much.” Her love of animals is legendary, and her stamina, talent, and humility are also legendary.

WHAT A COSTUME DESIGNER CAN DO FOR YOUR FILM

Sometimes people think I am putting on airs when I insist on being called my proper title of costume designer. I do not want to be called The Wardrobe Person, any more than the DP wants to be called the lighting guy, or the Production Designer wants to be called the set boy. I don’t “do wardrobe”.

I know where it comes from and it is not a conscious slight. Film makers start out in student or low budget films, where actors bring in their own wardrobe, and whatever else is needed is begged, borrowed, or purchased from the thrift store by whoever is available. 

So why then would the person who does this at this level think he or she deserves the title of “costume designer”? Because at whatever level, an artist deserves to be called the correct title of his or her job. The director is still called the director, the DP is still called the DP, not matter how humble the project. So should it go for all the departments. Producer. Editor. Composer. Casting director. Costume designer.

There are some common misconceptions about what costume designers do, especially when it comes to contemporary films or TV shows. It is easy to picture hiring a costume designer if you are making a period film based on the life and times of Henry VIIIth, or even a sci-fi film with some weirdly dressed creature from the future. But for a contemporary film with just people wearing “normal clothes”?

Yes, you will benefit from hiring a costume designer. Because what a costume designer does is take care of one huge aspect of the final visual project. He or she, after conferring with the producer, director, and production designer, will co-ordinate the gathering of all clothing to be worn, whether borrowed from actors, rented, purchased, or sewn from scratch. That person will co-ordinate the color palette, so that no two actors wear the same colors in a scene, or something that clashes with the set decoration. He or she will make sure the clothing fits, is clean and ready to shoot, is there on the day of the shoot, and is multiplied in case of stunts. The director should not be worrying about the wardrobe when he is setting up his shots. The actor should be concentrating on his or her lines and not wondering if the suit he brought fits right, looks right. Even on a low budget film, having a costume designer on board to take care of everything can still be an advantage. Obviously on a big budget film, it is a full blown necessity. 

Some other misconceptions:  

“I don’t need a designer, its just shopping”. In that case, you don’t need a production designer or set designer. They do the same thing - take something that already exists, and through the addition of paint, furniture, set dressing, etc, which is also  “just shopped”, creates the look for the scene. It all takes the training and the artistic eye to do “the shopping” and then to assemble it to create an entirely new set or costume.

When is it wardrobe and when is it a costume? Again, people sometimes think it is pompous to call a contemporary outfit such as a pair of jeans and a t-shirt a costume. But that it is, especially if time and care has been taken to purchase and fit the exact right jeans and t-shirt, and to age them so that they look like they are suitable for the action - brand new? aged and old? comfortably worn? recently laundered? covered with mud or blood from a recent fight?   It is wardrobe when the various pieces are just items of clothing. It is a costume the moment they go on an actor, are fit, approved, aged, and turned over to the care of the costumer for the run of the shooting schedule. That’s a costume, and I am so happy to be a costume designer!