WOMEN IN FILM AND LIFE: SOME THOUGHTS

The other night I was one of four judges at the UNLV produced film festival called “Spring Flicks”. At the end of the three day event, awards were handed out for best film, best director, best editing, best cinematography, and so forth. And then, to my total and utter surprise, I was awarded a special “CInefemme of the Year” award for my support and encouragement of a group of young and mostly female film-makers during the year. I was touched beyond words, and still think I really didn’t do enough to really deserve this honor.

Cinefemmes was also awarding a screenwriter, either male or female, an award for the best female protagonist.  Yet here we are in 2013, and to my surprise and disappointment, even these energetic and creative young film-makers were still making films about females as strippers, hookers, victims, or nags! And this all got me to thinking about the continuing role of women in film, in life, and the world in general.

I have been lucky in my life for a couple of reasons, one being that I chose careers that are largely female driven, first ballet, and later costume design, which is pretty evenly divided between male and female. But secondly, I was born into a family where I had many strong women as role models. My paternal step-grandmother (my real grandmother died before I was born) was a judge, a mayor, received the MBE for her services to the community, and was in general a no nonsense kind of woman. My great aunt was an obstetrician, one of the first females to graduate in early 1900’s with a medical degree. There was also a distant cousin who  was an Arctic explorer in the early 1900’s!  So it never occurred to me that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted because I was a woman. It just never entered my mind.

In high school, most of my classmates were going on to be either nurses or teachers. It seemed a pretty limited selection to me, but I already knew I was going to be a dancer, so what did I care? Even in college it was a fairly common “joke” that women who went to college were not after a BA or MA, but a MRS! But me, I was headed to Broadway and a husband was the last thing on my mind.

By the early 1970’s I was living in Los Angeles, and it’s not to say that there weren’t obstacles to overcome as a woman. It was difficult at that time, if not downright impossible, for a woman to buy a house without a father or husband to co-sign. Can you imagine! Remember Edith Bunker trying to get a loan at the bank?  The 1970’s were a tumultuous time with all sorts of reexamination of women’s rights going on, and women such as Jane Fonda, Gertrude Stein, and Erica Jong and Germaine Greer drawing attention. And of course the demand for equal rights and the sexual revolution changed so much in how we could lead our lives. It was an intoxicating period, with promise of greater freedom and power!

And as I started my transition to my career in costume design, there were times I strived to be given my due worth. On one TV pilot, the DP kept referring to me as “the wardrobe girl” whereas in fact I was the Costume Designer. He seemed surprised when I called him on it. I told him if he didn’t stop, I would from here on in refer to him as “the lighting boy.” Of course he thought me uppity! But luckily, many of the top TV designers were women, and gradually we were recognized properly.  My very first producer who took a chance on me, hiring me for The Facts of Life, was a woman, and a darned wonderful woman and producer at that. Many of the producers (and a few directors) I worked with in television subsequently were women, including Penny Marshall, Yvette Lee Bowser,  Irma Kalish, and Lisa De Cazotte.

So are things any better? Oh yes, and oh no. Women still earn less on the dollar than men for the equivalent or same job, though in union work, salaries for the same work are equal. There are more females in Congress than there used to be, but not enough, and more females at the top of the corporate ladder, but not enough. Perhaps we finally might have a female president?

And in film, I always sit through the entire credits at the end of the film, and see more and more credits for female editors, production designers, directors, and so forth. So when I hear the young film-makers complain how rough a job they have completing for jobs in a man’s world, part of me wants to say “you have NO idea of how bad it used to be”! 

I still believe that it’s important not to feel that you are coming from behind, but that you are starting from the same start line, and that excellence in what you do is the thing that will propel you forward. Not nepotism, not cronyism, not anything but commitment and talent and passion. Call me naive or an optimist, but I’d like to think even men wouldn’t be dumb enough to ignore someone who is really really really good at what they do!

Costume design for Sci Fi, who knew!

I am currently spending many hours at my desk preparing for my first ever three hour seminar on Costuming for Film and TV, which is being presented on April 13th at UNLV. (see link at bottom for more information).

The first hour will be film clips from some of my favorite films from various genres, starting with period (Marie Antoinette), then moving to more recent periods such as the 1940’s (42, the movie about Jackie Robinson) and the 70’s (Argo). We’ll also look at a number of contemporary films such as Silver Linings Playbook, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Then I am turning to Sci Fi and fantasy films, and oh what a revelation for me! Confession alert: I am so not a fan of sci fi and rarely see those films. I love films rooted in reality, so even if a movie starts off looking “real”, the moment weird creatures start flying in, I’m out!

No judgement here. It’s just my taste, my preference. So I have surprised myself in discovering how fascinated and impressed I am with the work of sci fi costume designers. As I research films like Tron, Prometheus, After Earth, and more, I realize how much goes into coming up with the looks. As one costume designer I saw interviewed said: “sci fi is the last place where you completely rely on your imagination. Period films can be largely rented, contemporary films can be largely shopped, but in sci fi you create a costume from scratch.”

I am learning that these costumes more than many others require extensive collaboration with the director, production designer and art department, props, lighting, and special effects, as everyone together tries to create a brand new world. Sci fi designers have to deal far more with technology, and can discover and use materials that you don’t usually think of as materials for a costume. 

One designer commented that in over 60 years of Oscar Awards, less than 10% of Best Costume Design nominations have been for futuristic costumes. John Mollo’s designs for Star Wars won one back in 1977, but normally the heavily ornamented period costumes of “corset dramas” usually garner not only the nominations, but also the wins. This year Jacqueline Durran won for Anna Karenina, last year the 1920’s costumes of The Artist, and Elizabeth The Golden Age, The Duchess, and The Young Victoria, all won in the recent past.

So I have a renewed respect for the imaginative and innovative work of the sci fi costume designers. Bravo!

https://connect2.unlv.edu/costuming

www.dianaedendesigns.com

Then and now: Jason Bateman, Debra Messing, so many more

I know this is going to make me sound (but not feel) frightfully old......but I can’t help but take pleasure in seeing so many actors I have worked with in the past working in today’s TV and films. Not a day goes by when I don’t spot a former “costumee” of mine on the tube or silver screen.  

Case in point: yesterday my husband and I saw the film “Identity Thief”, starring two of “my actors”. Jason Bateman guest starred on the TV series “Ned and Stacey” in the ’90’s, and he seems exactly the same as I remember him. Nice. Unassuming, Gently funny. Gorgeous green eyes. I have a photo of him somewhere on set.

Another actor I actually didn’t recognize in the film at first was Robert Patrick.  I went on IMDB and saw this quote "I think 90% of acting is makeup and wardrobe. The other 10% is what I do here in my office, bouncing off the walls."  Haha, I know actors won't agree (and neither do I completely) but I love the shout-out to make-up and costumes! It actually reminded me of Robert, who showed up late to his fitting for a TV one hour pilot  I was designing called “Snitch”. The next day he showed up to his second fitting on time and said “my wife told me I have to apologize for yesterday and that I was being an ass-hole”! He made me laugh, and we got along great.

I love the TV show “Smash” and watch it religiously every time it is on. It takes me right back to my own Broadway days as a dancer. I’m sure lots of things have changed since then, but it still feels very familiar. And there is fabulous Debra Messing, whom I costumed for two years on the aforementioned Ned and Stacey! Debra was a handful, but I adored her. She refused to allow the producers to coerce me into putting her into padded bras (typical sitcom-think!) and had her own ideas for the bohemian Stacey. We had great fun defining her look. Of course, Thomas Haden Church was even more of a handful, but in a completely different way - droll, stubborn, with that incredible voice. But his wardrobe is one of the looks I created (with his input of course) that I am most proud of. The Atlanta Journal Constitution said “ Thomas Haden Church is one of the best dressed men on TV”.

Then there’s “The Big Bang Theory”, a hit TV comedy. I have two of my former “kids” on it. Mayim Bialek was 12 or 13 when I first costumed her for a pilot spin-off of “The Facts of Life”. She was very funny. She had a scene where she wanted to be more grown up and stuffed socks in her chest. And the self assured young woman who is today Kaley Cuoco was 15 wen I first worked with her on a TV movie with Tony Danza, shot in Vancouver. 

Another successful young woman is Alyson Hannigan, I’m sure known to everyone under 35 for many successful series, now in “How I Met Your Mother”. She was also around 15 when I costumed her in one of her first TV shows, which was cancelled after 12 episodes. She wailed ”I’ll never work again”, which is what we all think when a show is cancelled.

Then there’s Dennis Haysbert, the tall actor with the deep voice who is seen in all the Allstate commercials and played the President in the series “24”. He had a bit part in “The Facts of Life” as a cop. I don’t even remember him. And the high school Principal  Figgins, in “Glee”, Iqbal Theba - he played a bit part on one of my sitcoms.

And of course, my biggest star, George Clooney! We all know what happened to him!

P.S. Don't forget to check me out on www.HollywoodMentors.co

THE COSTUMES OF DOWNTON ABBEY

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a presentation on the costumes of the hit British TV series, “Downton Abbey” to a group of about 100 guests. This was for a PBS fundraiser at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas.

I immediately said yes, and then realized that I had not been watching the entire series and that I needed to do some quick catching up. And what a pleasure that turned out to be! The Season 1 and 2 episodes told such a wonderful story, and are set in the magnificent Highclere Castle, which stands in for Downton Abbey. It is really a visual treat, with lavish and richly saturated colors in both sets and costumes. A sumptuous feast for the eyes!

The story starts in 1912 with news of the sinking of The Titanic  and continues through World War One. We see the last vestiges of the aristocratic country life in England, then the dramatic cultural changes that the war created. Men went to war, women had to fill in and do things they had never done before, such as nursing or helping on the farms. Their clothing became looser, hems shorter, and  the War Office asked them not to buy corsets, as the steel in the eyelets was needed to build battleships.  Season three is about to start, and takes us through the 1920’s. Clothing becomes shorter yet, and once released from the bondage of corseting, the waists disappear, busts are flattened, and the emphasis is on the hip, a totally different silhouette.

While doing research for my presentation, I read a lot about the Downton Abbey designers (there have been several throughout the 3 seasons) and their approach, which I found fascinating. 

I always thought the British would be  sticklers for period accuracy, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had no qualms about making adjustments in palette or detail to suit a viewing audience in the 21st century. Hardly one to diss my fellow American costume designers, however, I must say I find that the Brits seem to be able to make period clothes look like “real clothes”, not just “costumes”. There is a subtlety and ease about the look of the wardrobe that impresses me.

The designers have gathered the costumes, of which many are needed for the large cast, both upstairs and downstairs, from several sources. They rent, of course, though they call it “hiring” the costumes. There are many fine costume houses in Europe with an abundance of wonderful pieces, and Carolyn McCall, the current designer, readily admitted that one of the three dresses worn by the sisters had been worn before in the Merchant Ivory film “A Room with a View”. A few costumes are actual vintage pieces that she was able to find, though finding something that old is hard to find in good enough condition to hold up during filming. And lastly of course, costumes are made from scratch, in this case often incorporating some pieces salvaged from original vintage garments.

That must have been the most fun! Scouring the vintage stores, private collections, even flea markets for bits and pieces of lace, silk flowers, or trim that could be removed from a fading hat and given new life, or some antique beading that could be cut from is original dress and sewn onto or into a new gown - that’s such a pleasure for a costume designer. I’m jealous!

So hat’s off to you, British television, and British costume designers. I can’t wait for Season Three. I hate to admit it, but you really do good work!

REMEMBERING LARRY HAGMAN

I had the pleasure of designing costumes about 20 years ago for Larry Hagman in a TV movie called “Staying Afloat”, produced for NBC.

I first met Larry at the Culver Studios in Culver City, Ca, when I went for my interview. He was sitting in his office which he had draped all sorts of exotic middle eastern fabrics to cover every inch and ceiling, creating a tent like environment. I had never interviewed in quite such a place! I was eager to please, as this might be my very first TV Movie ( previously I had designed nothing by series), and it was to be filmed in Fort Lauderdale. I had dressed up in a smart suit, worn high heels,  and carried my large portfolio. Apparently Larry thought that the way I was dressed indicated that I might not be the kind of person who would get in there and work hard, so initially I did not get the job. However, I was lucky enough to have a producer who was rooting for me, so I went in again dressed more casually (I never was a jeans kind of girl), and he liked me better and I was hired!

My next meeting with him was at our first fitting, He was playing a rich man whose father had disowned him and who only possession of note was a 1930’s designer yacht, so I had brought in lots of beautiful clothing, nautically inspired. He liked some of the things, but rejected anything that had any brown/tan/beige in it (which was half of my selection), apologizing for not telling me he only liked blue!

Anyway, after that it was all “smooth sailing”, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He was very funny, and enjoyed “holding court” and telling stories,  many of which were about his days on Dallas. He said he was so famous during that time that the extras would steal the powder puffs that had been used to mop his sweat, and that if he fell asleep on set or traveling on a train, people would snap his photo with his mouth open during a snore!

He had a mischievous side, a stubborn side, an eccentric side. One time I had placed some pastel plaid shirts in his trailed to be worn with his navy blazer and he told me point blank he didn’t like plaid. I sweetly said I didn’t have any other choice handy, and would he reconsider? About thirty minutes later he emerged completely dressed in the outfit, plaid shirt and all, winked at me and said “I like plaid now”. 

One custom he had established for himself which he would NOT under any circumstance break, was that he would not speak at all one day a week, on a Saturday I believe. No matter what. We could not shoot any scenes he was in that day. One day a reporter had been scheduled for an interview for a story on his silent day (by mistake) and though he didn’t cancel the interview, he only answered questions with facial expressions, hand gestures, and occasionally a note on a pad. It seems ironic now, as his death last week came from complications from throat cancer.

When we returned to Los Angeles, there was one last day of filming to be done, and he offered his gorgeous home in Ojai as a shooting location. He had told me that he was tired, after Dallas, of having all his money in the hands of agents, managers, and lawyers, and he wanted to put it instead into something he could physically see and enjoy. So after a big search, he found the perfect plot of land on top of a mountain above Ojai, with a view to the Pacific. The house was designed by him and his talented wife Maj and decorated to perfection. There was a pool in the central courtyard, streams flowing out of it into an infinity pool  off the cliff, as well as an indoor lap pool and deep jacuzzi. Hammocks were strung across the porch of the house that overlooked the valley and the ocean. Everything was in the most immaculate taste.

Larry gave me the gift of a book on needlecraft that his mother, Mary Martin, had written, since he knew I loved quilting and embroidery. 

I always smile when I think of him.

COSTUMES, HALLOWEEN, & COLORFUL CHARACTERS

• 
  
  
  
  Every once in a while I have several nights in a row when I awake around 4 am and can’t sleep. I think I am worried about the outcome of the presidential election. But no, this is not a political blog, so I will quickly move on!
  
  
  Here’s what made me happy this week:
  
  
  • The newest issue of Entertainment Weekly (which I subscribe to) features several articles under the banner ‘Hollywood Design Report”, chronicling costume, set, and prop designers for various films and TV series (Once Upon a Time, Les Miz, Boardwalk Empire and more”!  I'm happy also to see the wonderful work of my colleague Eduardo Castro featured so prominently on the cover and inside. I remember back 10 years ago or so when the Costume Designers Guild (on whose executive board I served for 3 terms, once as Vice-President) first searched for a PR firm to raise the profile of costume designer. All of the applicants made their case that it would be a very hard sell, as most publications were more interested in the stars, not designers. Thankfully that has really changed!
  
  
  • I have been asked to give a presentation at a fundraiser for PBSVegas on the fashions of Downton Abbey. The event will take place at the Mandarin Oriental here in Las Vegas in December and will be an afternoon tea. I have a lot of research to do to come up with a worthy presentation which will honor the costumes, and also be interesting to a large group of PBS supporters.
  
  
  • I finished a little girl’s Halloween costume and had the delight of seeing the 2 1/2 year old twirl delightedly and gaze at herself in the mirror! I rarely make Halloween costumes (most professional costume designers don’t much care for Halloween!) but this seemed like a worthy project for an adorable toddler and a very nice client.
  
  
  • I received a phone call from one of my “students/mentees” to give me the good news that she is now Assistant Costume Designer for “Absynthe”, one of the big shows on the Strip, thanks (in a small part) to my recommendation. Nothing gives me more of a thrill than hearing that someone who sought me out for training, who put in the time and hard work, and has steadily worked on her career, is achieving success and accomplishments. I am so proud of her, and so grateful that she has kept in touch with me. In fact we are meeting for lunch in a week or so.
  
  
  • And lastly, I was watching The Today Show the other morning and saw a feature on three seriously senior women (80’s and 90’s) who have flamboyant and colorful personal style. I suppose the younger generation would look at them and think they are off their rockers, but then seniors often look at today’s teens and think THEY are off their rockers! But these seniors made me laugh and smile at the riotous colors they wore and the joy they took in their own unique sense of style. One said she calls herself “a geriatric starlet”, and another says “life is very grey when you dress up it makes you happy.” When I see older women, especially here where I live in Las Vegas, wearing baggy cotton crop pants, boxy t-shirts, and Birkenstocks, I despair, and think I’d rather be wildly eccentric and colorful as I approach senior style myself!. So, as the spriti moves me, so will I dress!
  
  
  
  
  
  

MY LAS VEGAS

I feel a real kinship with Las Vegas, my city of residence since 2008, as it has figured largely in my professional and personal life through 5 decades. 

My association with Las Vegas starts in the 1960's (yes, I was alive in the ‘60‘s!) when, as a very young dancer, I came through the town on the train with the My Fair Lady company, on our way to Los Angeles. It was 2 am and the train stopped on the tracks downtown. I don’t remember a station, though I know there was one.  From our part of the train, we descended into a dirt lot, which we ran across, then crossed a street, and into a casino, what must have been the Hotel California. We had 30 minutes to put our quarters in the slot machines, something I had never seen, before we had to run back across the dirt lot to the train! It all seemed very strange and exotic and somewhat wicked!

I didn't return until the early 1970's when I got my first job in costumes, hired to co-ordinate the dancers’ wardrobe for Ann-Margret's nightclub act at the Hilton International, and then at Caesars. It was one of the highly successful acts of the time with dancers, singers, scenery and costumes galore, a live 30 piece orchestra on stage, and the best production talent around. Elvis Presley used to send Ann-Margret flowers on opening night in the shape of a guitar!   My first professional design was a dress for Ann-Margret that she wore in the TV special "CInderella at the Palace". 

Through Ann-Margret I met Bob Mackie, and my costume career really got underway. In 1980 I returned to Las Vegas for a 2 month stint, staying at the MGM Grand, as assistant to Bob Mackie as we prepared to open Jubilee, (the same show currently running). I was on the eleventh floor when I was awakened by the sound of running feet in the hall and people calling out, and I emerged into the hall to find it full of smoke.  I grabbed my purse, pulled on a sweat suit, and hurried down 11 flights of fire escape stairs emerging into the street, and started to look for my colleagues. The smoke was black and racing up the side of the hotel. Huge helicopters from Nellis AFB were hovering, trying to blow the smoke away from the rescue teams. Police cars, fire engines, news media were starting to arrive amid the chaos. I was barefoot and my feet were freezing until a man stopped and offered me his sneakers, a size 13! I wore them the rest of that day.

There were 14 of us Jubliee costumers from Los Angeles staying at the MGM for the great fire. Sadly, only 13 of us survived. I will never forget that day, nor the kindness of strangers who tried to help us. 

I returned many times in 1981 as we pulled out the ruined costumes from under the stage, led by firemen with flashlights, as there was still no power. We rebuilt the show in Los Angeles, and returned in July to re-do all the fittings, staying at Maxims across the street. 

In the early 80’s, Las Vegas still was small. You could cross Las Vegas Boulevard directly (no overpasses), there was no freeway, we ate at a little dive called The Tower of Pizza. The desert was near. The airport was very small. I don’t even remember noticing the mountains all around...the focus was all on the Strip.

I returned during the 80's now and then to work on shows (such as Splash, at the Riviera) but I wasn't prepared for the change when I returned in the late 80's. The airport had exploded! By this time I was working full time as a costume designer for TV series and films in Hollywood, and occasionally came up to Las Vegas to shoot on location. In 2003 we bought our first house here, and so when my husband and I were ready to make a semi-retirement move, Las Vegas already felt like home.

Since moving here in 2008 I am experiencing Las Vegas in a whole new way. I love looking at the mountains on all four sides of the valley, and in winter I love observing  the snow capped peaks of Mt Charleston out my second floor office window. I hike with friends year round at Red Rock, Lake Mead, or Mt Charleston, and I have discovered all sorts of unique little neighborhoods. In the north part of town where we live, sometimes I come across a small ranch with barns and horses, completely surrounded by new housing developments. I even enjoy hearing the trains that still travel down that same track that I travelled so long ago. There is still a flavor here and there of the old West, ranch life, desert life, mixing with the sophisticated elements of the Strip restaurants, shops and shows.

I visit the Strip quite often (more often than many full-time residents) to attend events, shows, parties, and to work, shop or eat. It’s only 15 minutes away! As I exit the freeway at Flamingo I pass Caesars, where so much happened for me professionally 30 years ago, and the huge bill board for Jubilee, which played was such a pivotal role in my life. I even pass by the fire escape door where I exited the MGM into the cold daylight on Flamingo Blvd. that fateful morning.

Old Vegas, New Vegas, there’s a part of my in all its parts, and I am happy about that.