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

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  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.

WORKING WITH PENNY MARSHALL

I just saw Penny Marshall on The Today Show, and I have ordered her book. Can’t wait to read it!

I had the interesting experience (and yes, I would say, the pleasure) of working with her in 1992 when I was hired to costume design the TV series A League of Their Own. The movie had been a huge hit, and the TV series was the hot ticket - everyone in Holllywood wanted to be involved.

A man I had previously worked with on several other series was producing it and set up a time for me to come in and meet with Penny. She was sitting behind her desk in her huge office at Sony Studios when I entered, and was eating from a large bowl of spaghetti! She apologized, saying she had not had a moment to have lunch, and to please sit down and show her my portfolio. It was a bit disconcerting, and I was nervious. She was so droll! In my nervousness I said that I was experience in the “thirties” costumes that would be needed, and without missing a beat and without looking up she said “forties”. I had nearly blown it! World War 2 story - of course 1940’s costumes!

I started work early before the cast was set, as she wanted me to have enough 40’s clothing to outfit all the actors doing screen tests. Every actress in town wanted to be cast and therefore were so sweet and appreciative of my efforts to make them look the part. Only later when we were well under way filming did the seven “Peaches” girls start to get competitive and fight for rank!

Penny was always droll, both in production meetings and while filmling, and she had her favorites. She was never big with compliments or lots of touchy feely stuff, though I think I would have heard about it if she hadn’t liked what I was doing. She expected top level work from everyone, but didn’t see any need to draw attention to what she thgouht was the norm.  Her brother,  Garry Marshall, on the other hand, was the exact opposite - outgoing, mellow, kind, full of smiles and compliments all around. I reminded him that he had nearly cast me as Gwendolyn PIgeon in the TV series The Odd Couple  some years back (while I was still an actress) and he was kind enough to say I was a wonderful and he wishes I had got the part! He may not even have remembered me, but I didn’t care!

We only filmed 6 episodes, and Penny directed a couple of them. Tom Hanks came in to direct one episode too, though at first I didn’t recognize him, as he had just finished filming Philadelphia, and was still thin and growing his hair back from that Oscar winning performance.

Only two episodes aired, in mid summer. The show got bad ratings, and was plucked off the air. I however, was incredibly honored to still get nominated for my first Emmy  for Best Costume Design for a Series.

THE VALUE OF HAVING A MENTOR

When I was starting my costume design career many years ago, I was very grateful for the guidance and encouragement I received from several “mentors”. Back then, the word “mentor” was not in common use as it is now, but I realize in retrospect that several key people played a very important role in my life.

Bob Mackie is obviously one of THE most important mentors in my life. When I met him, I had already transitioned from my career as a dancer and actress and started my costume career  co-ordinating the dancers and singers wardrobe for Ann-Margret’s big Las Vegas nightclub act in Las Vegas. For you younger readers, she was a huge star at the time, and had all the best musicians, writers, set designers, and of course, famed costume designer Bob Mackie to do all her fabulous costumes and beaded gowns. 

I remember the first time I met Ann-Margret and Roger Smith, her husband and manager. I had been taken to their house in Beverly Hills, up a dirt road off Benedict Canyon where once Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart lived. It was about ten am, but Ann-Margret had slept late. Eventually she came out of her bedroom, hair tousled, no make-up, but warm and gracious. She hugged me and I was astonished at how petite she was. She asked me if I would put a heavy metal zipper in the back of one of her stage beaded gowns so it would be easier in a quick change. Imagine me, replacing the exquisitely hand sewn zipper in a $10,000 Bob Mackie beaded gown with a big metal zipper! What would he Bob Mackie think?

It wasn’t long after that I met him and I guess something about me struck him as, a year or two later he asked me to be his assistant for the Oscar Awards Show 1980, and then Jubilee, opening at the MGM Grand in 1980. This started a life-long connection with one of the best designers in the business, and with a kind and generous man. I did not call him a mentor, I was just his assistant, but I had the opportunity to watch him work at every level of the process - greeting a star when they arrived for a meeting, sketching, designing, choosing fabrics, choosing the best pattern-maker and team of sewers and tailors to execute the design, and most importantly, fitting it on the performer, usually many times. I watched perfectionism at its best.

There simply was no better training ground for me. I watched everything, asked many many questions, and for many years during my career, called for guidance and advice when I got stuck. Even last year, when I requested an hour out of his busy schedule for an interview for a book I am writing, he willingly gave me his time.

I would be remiss not to mention my other mentors, two designers who worked in Bob Mackie’s company, Peter Menefee, whom I assisted for several years, and Ret Turner, who is known and loved by every designing and costumer in Hollywood. 

So why would someone like me be willing to mentor someone at the beginning of their career? Well, one of the obvious answers is that others helped me so much along the way, and it is my turn to help others. 

I had started this blog with the intention of discussing how to find a good mentor and why it is important, and why I like to mentor talented young designers and costumers, but this is running on too long, and I will have to save it for my next post.

In the meantime, you can find out more about my mentoring and training course at my website www.hollywoodmentors.co

ROBERT FLETCHER, famed Costume Designer

For those of you interested in costume design and costume designers, please enjoy this  article I wrote, for the website of the Costume Designers Guild, my "union", local 892, for most of my designing career in Hollywood.

http://costumedesignersguild.com/articles-videos/news-events/