GOD BLESS MODERN TECHNOLOGY, SKYPE, AND MENTORS!

I just hung up the phone (no, actually, I was on the computer on skype) with Joe I Tompkins, a very successful, Oscar nominated, Emmy winning costume designer. He is now retired and living  happily in Merida, Mexico, and I was "on assignment" for the Costume Designers Guild to write about some of our best retired designers. What an amazing career Joe has had, and what a wealth of great advice he had.

As a mentor myself, naturally I am biased toward mentors! But I think back to when I was just starting out in a career in costumes and how much it meant to me when a more seasoned designer gave of their time to help me.

Had someone told me back then that I should seek out someone I admired as a mentor and contact them, I would have shrunk in fear from the idea! Who, after all, that was successful and whose work I admired would have the time to give advice to lowly me? Would I have had the courage to ask for help? Could I have made that call?

But actually  I got lucky when I was hired by Bob Mackie to work as his assitant for the Oscar Awards in 1980, and then the original Jubilee production for the MGM Grand. I consider Bob and the designers I worked with at his company Elizabeth Courtney Costumes my mentors. I didn't actually call them that, but everything that I know now about costume design I learned from working with them - watching them, listening to them, asking questions, and following their examples. They were all generous with suggestions or information when asked for, and to this day I feel I could call on any of them if I got "stuck" on a design. One time I asked Bob Mackie whether a white pique vest should show below the point at the waist of a man's black formal tailcoat. He said that Fred Astaire had told him directly that no, it should not, as a clean black line from head to toe elongated a man, and the vest should only show when the arms were raised, perhaps to dance? Astaire also said that he had learned that from the Duke of Windsor, fashion arbiter and innovator. So my simple question to Bob elicited an answer that went all the way back to the 1930's for authenticity! I have never forgotten that moment.

I would suggest to any young designer, writer, film-maker, or creative being, not to be afraid to reach out to those whose careers they admire. Sometimes, yes, they are too busy or not interested, but as often as not, especially in their later years, they are very mellow, very understanding, and actually love the fact that their experience and wisdom might be appreciated by someone.

START OF A NEW YEAR - onward and upward!

Its been a few weeks since I've posted a blog. I've not thought much about costumes over the last few weeks as my days have been occupied with the usual holiday activities of parties, family, and friends. All of which have been great.

But here it is January, and I am feeling eager to get started working again in my chosen profession of costume design. The pursuit of work and its rewards never ends, no matter what stage you are at.

I heard recently from a young art director /costumer whom I had recommended for a possible job with a film  coming to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. She was discouraged as she did not get the job, and wondered what she might have done better. It reminded me of how difficult this career can be when you love the work but feel powerless when others hold the strings.

There are a number of reasons why you DON'T get the job, and a lot of the time you don't even know why. Perhaps the producer decided to cut the budget and not hire anyone in that position, or perhaps it was between you and one other person and they just edged you out. Perhaps the hiring person had a friend, or owed a favor to someone who requested their candidate be considered.  Or (and this is not the case of the young woman I refer to in the paragraph above), maybe you did not give a good interview or appear prepared.

Practicing you interview style is as important as knowing your craft,  having a good resume and portfolio. Its all part of the package. Having been the one in the position of hiring, I do know that I usually hire the costumers that impress me with how they can make MY job easier! I know that may sound selfish, but, after all, when  you are looking for a job on any rung of the ladder, you are looking to make the person directly above you look good! As a costume designer, my employers want to make sure that I can stay within the budget, keep the actors happy, get everyone dressed and to the set on time, as well as make the right artistic choices.

I in turn want assistants who love the work, show up on time, work well with other crew members, deliver what they say they can deliver, and in general help make my department run smoothly.

Believe me, having spent many years earning my living as a costumer and costume designer, I had my heart broken more than a few times. I did not get all the jobs I wanted or thought I deserved. Its a tough competitive world out there, and if you don't have drive, persistence, and a love for the work, you'll lose heart and become discouraged.

But don't be.  Stay true to what you believe about your abilities, strive continually to improve your knowledge, your talents, and your presentation, and next time it will be someone else feeling sad because you got the job instead of them!

CELEBRITIES BEHAVING BADLY

So, this past week actor Alec Baldwin was in the headlines again for “behaving badly” on an airplane, and in general making an ass of himself. Actors and celebrities are just as likely to act like idiots as any other group of people, but regular folk don’t make it into the headlines. It really bothered me that Alec felt so entitled to be exempt from both courtesy and FAA rules.

I have worked with a LOT of celebrities (if you doubt me, check out my celebrity page on my website at http://hollywoodmentors.co/HM/celebrities.html,) and I have come to the conclusion that if someone is by nature and upbringing kind, considerate, appreciative, and well balanced, they will remain so if they become famous. If they are basically shallow, insecure, self involved, with a strong sense of entitlement, these traits will only be exacerbated with the addition of fame.

Stars do not have the right to think the rules do not apply to them, that common manners are not necessary, that respecting one’s assistants, co-workers, and colleagues is of no importance. What they DO have the right to, in my humble opinion, is enough “space” to prepare for a big performance. When I worked with Diana Ross, she needed a quiet dressing room for at least an hour before going out and singing for 30,000 people, and it was not a time to engage her in petty conversation. She had her diva moments, but she was respectful and generous to her cast and crew. The one time she snapped at me about some minor thing, she later apologized.

Stars also deserve to be left alone in restaurants while enjoying a night out. I was out with Larry Hagman (in a group!) when filming “Staying Afloat”, and he could barely finish his dinner without fans coming up and expecting him to lay down his knife and fork and have their photo taken with him. He also told me that he used to wear a huge baseball cap when flying as people would sneak up and take photos of him sleeping!

Some of the really wonderful actors I have worked with are:

Ann-Margret; if you work in her company, you are “family” for life. The dancers and singers that traveled with her when she had her nightclub act were definitely her family and she would do ANYTHING for them . After she heard that I was in the MGM fire with other members of the Bob Mackie group, she called all over town to trying to find me and see what she could do to help and if I was OK.

Betty White: she NEVER expects any special treatment, NO concessions to her age or celebrity. 

Tony Danza: on the first day of filming he would go around the set with his assistant memorizing his crew’s names. He would point to a gaffer or grip or prop master, and his assistant would whisper their name in his ear. He does have a hot temper, but also has an Italian heart of gold. 

The late Gregory Hines would not only greet every cast and crew member, but would go up and say hello to the stand-ins and background actors, often treated like “outsiders” and considered invisible until needed.

George Clooney was an unknown when I worked with him back in the 1980’s, but I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams him putting on airs.

Tom Hanks, who directed an episode of the TV series “A League of Their Own” that I costumed, said that sometimes the yes-men unwittingly encourage the bad behavior. They try and satisfy every demand, not wanting to be the first to say no, and so the scope of the requests gets more and more extreme, until you tempted, Hanks said, to ask for the impossible and unreasonable, just to see at what point someone would say no.

Its always a tough place to be, especially for a young designer or film-maker, to know at what point one can draw the line and not go along with unreasonable requests. The producers just want their stars to be happy and don’t want any of the crew standing up to an unruly actor and making waves. So there are times when you have to suck it up and go along, but there are also times an experienced designer will know that a star is testing you, pushing you, and sometimes it seems they relish being told, sorry, I can’t do that.

One star I worked with recently wanted a particular kind of socks. I searched and searched and bought every possibly variation of what he was looking for. None of them were right. On the first day of shooting I presented him with 6 different pairs of socks. He said these aren’t the ones. So I said, I’m sorry, but these are the choices, pick one. And he was fine with it!

I love working with actors - their needs, their peculiarities, their insecurities, their creative instincts. So as long as they respect me as their equal in all things except perhaps income and notoriety,  I’m in. 

UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS AND FOUR PAIR OF GREEN SNEAKERS

Hello everyone. Holiday time is a busy time and I haven’t been thinking much about costumes.......except 

I was invited to a holiday party the other day where there will be an “Ugly Christmas Sweater” competition, and that reminded me once again about darling Betty White (whom I did blog about recently, but there are no end of funny stories about working with her). We were filming a Christmas movie called “Stealing Christmas” with Tony Danza, Lea Thompson, and Betty, but, as is often the case with Christmas movies, it was being shot in spring for the following year. Betty was playing the owner of a store that sold model trains, but was all decorated for Christmas, so I wanted to dress her in nothing but Christmas sweaters. But it was March, and there were no more in the stores! Nothing but spring merchandise!

Thank goodness for the internet - what did we do before it! I was able to find three great sweaters, covered with all sorts of sequinned trees, snowmen, reindeer, and gifts, from various sources, including Ebay. She looked quite adorable in the sweaters and it perfectly matched her character, the decor of her little store, and her personality!

Often costume designers have to find things that are out of season. In retail stores, try finding slippers except at Christmas - why should that be the only time to buy slippers?  Even the thrift stores are now getting so sophistocated and well organized that they put away their summer clothes in winter, and vica versa in summer!

Shopping online is a relatively new thing for costume designers, and of course is not always possible when things are needed immediately. But it is quite amazing what you can find. I was costuming the wonderful BB King, and we needed a pair of green sneakers for him for his video “One Shoe Blues”. I needed at least 4 choices, as the shoe would be prominently featured, and he wears a size 12, so where on earth was I going to purchase those? Thank goodness for Zappos.com (I am not affiliated in any way) because, believe it or not, they had 4 different styles of GREEN sneakers in the right size! In the end we kept all 4 pairs.

Sometimes costume designing requires a treasure hunt, and it is quite fun. One time for “Passions” the script called for one character to give another character a “Partridge in a Pear Tree” pin, and I thought, where on earth am I going to find that? Again, thanks Ebay!

Have I been stumped? I’m sure I have. Anything can be made in Hollywood, given enough time and money. One jewelry designer said, you can only have 2 out of 3: fast, cheap, or well-made.  Fast, well-made, but not cheap. Cheap, fast, but not well made. Etc. 

But producers don’t want to hear us whine, so somehow, we find what we need!

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!