Characterization through Costume: 2010 Movie Costumes on Display in LA

Really overelaborate. You see many refugees in a gold lace mantilla? Whereas the OT costumes were plain and classic.

 

I loved the OT costumes. They were like music describing each character without words.

One woman that had just a phenominal influence was Edith Head. Get a load of the list of her credits here. I was amazed.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372128/

 

There's an extremely funny parody of her in "The Incredibles" as 'Edna Mode.'

"No more capes!"

 

I can see where you're coming from, on the PT costumes. I'll eventually get to discussing those. I'd almost like to go dress by dress!

Anyway, just got word that I've been named the RSA for Celebration IV, and my e-mail has been buzzing ever since! So, I'll get my Marie Antoinette notes in a cohesive order as soon as I can, and will post them soon.

 

I hope you include the new version...the costumes may be the only saving grace...

 

Finally, perhaps the great achievement in costume design, ever:

Adrian and Marie Antoinette

Even given the costume budget that George Lucas allowed for his prequels, it is likely that never again will we see a movie costumed using the enormous amount of dollars that Irving Thalberg allocated for MGM?s 1938 extravaganza, Marie Antoinette. Adjusting for inflation, a movie-maker today would have to ante up an astonishing 26 million dollars to recreate the gowns that Norma Shearer and her fellow actors wore, to breathtaking effect.

Conceived as a star vehicle by Thalberg for his wife, Norma Shearer, Marie Antoinette was an overwhelming froth of antiques of every description, opulent and authentic fabrics, and palace-worthy furniture. Months were spent in Europe purchasing the materials needed for the movie, and Adrian himself was told to spare no expense. He did just that, concocting costumes that were accurate to the period and correspondingly expensive. When diamonds were deemed necessary for one of Ms. Shearer?s wigs, real gems were used. Yards of gold lace, cloth of silver, crystal beading and Belgian lace kept the MGM seamstresses busy for months.

When Thalberg died unexpectedly, the project languished and much of the hoped-for production values slackened. The most obvious change was that instead of glorious Technicolor, the movie was shot in black and white. The impact of the gowns may have been lessened, but overwhelmingly glamorous they remained.

Some statistics (from Gowns by Adrian, by Howard Gutner (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001):

* $400,000 in pre-production costs ($5 million today)
* The items purchased in Europe eventually constituted the largest consignment of antiques ever cleared through Los Angeles Harbor customs
* Microscopes were employed to check the existing portraits of Marie Antoinette to ensure the embroidery on Norma Shearer?s gowns was identical
* Ms. Shearer?s gowns (34 costume changes) weighed a total of 1,768 pounds; the heaviest single gown, the queen?s wedding dress, weighed a staggering 108 pounds
[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/ValedaKor/weddingdress.jpg]
* Because the gowns weighed so much (each had a steel-wired framework), special hangers had to be manufactured. Each hanger was eight feet across.

Using a modern anology, in the Prequels Trisha Biggar has Padme?s costumes change to befit her changing status. See how cleverly Adrian designed Norma Shearer?s dresses to fit the queen?s character:

As Princess, Marie Antoinette is wreathed in handpainted flowers garnished with frilly ribbons; a simple dress, actually (that is, simple as opposed to the ones to come in the film, as Adrian dresses Ms. Shearer to emphasize her increased awareness of her place and position).
[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/ValedaKor/arrivalgown.jpg]
As Queen, her enormous dress is festooned with hundreds of yards of gold braid, antique lace, cloth of gold inserts and a diamond-encrusted headdress; indeed, a gown fit for a queen.
[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/ValedaKor/ballgown.jpg]
As condemned citizen, a plain woolen gown and cap.
[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/ValedaKor/thewidowcapet.jpg]

Howard Gutner puts it well: ?In Adrian?s nimble hands, costume is always character.? Marie Antoinette was a monumental achievement in Hollywood history. It is a testimony to Adrian's professionalism and command of design that enabled him to create historically accurate costumes that capture the period so completely, and transport the movie-goer to another time and place. We will never see their like again.

Next on my list; discussing the prequel costumes. In the meantime, comments on anything movie costume-related are welcome.

 

There are a lot of ironies, here: the real Marie Antoinette was widely disliked by the population for conspicuous consumption. And this film, despite the lavish production, stiffed, and basically ended Shearer's career. Though she looked reasonably like the original Marie, she was a rotten actress, who had a good career because she had shrewdly married the boss.

Thalberg died during production of this film, however, and left Shearer and her career unprotected.

Yes, the designs are reasonably accurate while still simple enough for the screen. But the outfit in the last shot is based on Jacques-Louis David's notorious sketch of Marie in the trumbel on her way to her execution (he was in the crowd).

 

Didn't help that Shearer was too old to play this part, just as she was to old to play Juliet.
Looked good in the costumes, though.

 

She was the wrong age for the early stages: Marie was 14 when she married Louis.

 

Trisha Biggar, who supervised the costume design for all three prequel films, brought a wealth of experience to her role with Lucasfilm. Her official biography at StarWars.com outlines her expertise:

"After training at the Wimbledon School of Art, Trisha Biggar worked with several prestigious British theatre companies including the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and Opera North in Leeds.

Biggar then moved into designing the costumes for films such as the award-winning Silent Scream, directed by David Hayman, (winner of the British Academy Michael Powell Award for Best Film of the Year and the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Festival, amongst other awards) and Wild West, directed by David Attwood, (winner of the Edinburgh Film Festival Critics' Award).

Her television drama credits include the mini-series Moll Flanders (for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design), The Missing Postman and The Mug's Game. She designed the costumes for the BBC films Saigon Baby and Truth or Dare. Other series designed by Biggar are The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Love Hurts, Van der Valk, and A Class Act."

The opportunity to gain a place in cinematic history must have been as daunting as it was exciting. George Lucas? vision for The Phantom Menace was simple and complex at the same time. As he notes in his preface to Trisha Biggar?s amazing book, Dressing a Galaxy, "...we would be visiting the Republic in its heyday, spending time in the galaxy?s lavish capital, and witnessing royalty, opulence, advanced, albeit sometimes corrupt, civilizations." So, gone were the simplistic designs of the Original Trilogy, to be replaced by figure-hiding costumes that would reflect the grandeur and (perhaps) oppressive wealth of the Republic. Forget teenage moisture farmers on Tatooine; we?re talking royalty now, baby.

Just the facts, ma?am, for TPM:

Three years in pre-production planning
Two years prior --- the costume workshop was set up
Eight months of actual costume manufacturers
An average of 100 people working on the costumes at any given time

Biggar has made the point that inspiration for the designs was always drawn from the past, never the future. For TPM, this meant envisioning a world that was at once alien and evocative of the costume dramas of old: "When George decided that each time you saw the Queen she would be wearing a different costume, I think it was then he decided it would be a costume drama." (1)

Amidala?s costumes emphasize her royal station. Biggar writes in her book that ?In The Phantom Menace we were inspired by the art of the Pre-Raphaelites with their visions of heroines and female beauty.... Throughout this film, the Queen?s costumes befitted her royal position, with elegance and ritual formality." (2) The conventions of social status cannot be ignored; queens dress as queens should. The costumes that Biggar executed for Natalie Portman to wear are no exception. Also, they underscore that we are looking at a prosperous galaxy with people used to dressing extravagantly and expensively.

This idea of past versus defining the look of a future was present almost from the beginning. Iain McCaig notes, ?...we eventually decided that its past was our past, going back to the Victorian era when everything was handmade, the work of an artist, and made expressly for the person who would wear it.?(3)

McCaig has also spoken about the notion that the queen was in disguise. The designers certainly took this idea and ran with it. Portman is as covered up as it is almost possible to be, and with the added details of her facial makeup and elaborate headdresses, the actress is indeed hidden beneath her costumes, unapproachable and undeniably regal.

I propose to discuss each costume in its turn. To that end, we first see Queen Amidala as she is addressing the Trade Federation Viceroy and his minions, wearing the Throne Room Gown.

[image=http://i17.photob

 

I think--and before you lot start stoning me, it's just my opinion--a lot of the costumes in the PT weren't suitable for the screen. It's probably not Biggar's fault, she delivered what they requested, and I understand what they wanted represented--decadence. But it's based on a misunderstanding of what looks effective onscreen. Portman looked plain uncomfortable most of the time, too; she couldn't carry them off. The only one I thought actually worked was the costume for the succeeding Nubian Queen--seen at the left hand side of the current banner. It was elaborate but in a simple way, and that's not really a contradiction. I think Portman's costumes would have effective on the stage. On screen, they look fussy and over-elaborate, and they don't have a clear or consistent ethnic look. The costumes of the OT became iconic, the costumes of the PT did not.

 

while i'm now sure that i need this SW costuming book, i think you might have a point with what the costumes were doing. although i'm thinking you could padme being uncomfortable make out to be part of the movies.

 

I can see your point, but I also think it had a lot to do with Natalie Portman's age. She could have acted like everything was OK <g>. The costumes were wearing her, instead of the other way around. Only time she looks comfortable in TPM is when she's in her Padme persona. Maybe she never played dress-up as a kid, who knows.

And I think that, even tho George supposedly wanted a costume drama, that he veered away from that concept immediately. If everyone had dressed relatively the same, instead of outlandish variations here and there, we might be talking about breakthrough.

All that being said, I love these costumes because they are just that. And the workmanship is absolutely remarkable. I do think they add a depth to the films that would have been missing otherwise.

Iain mentions in one of the articles I researched that Amidala's costumes were supposed to be almost "stand-up-able," that is, Natalie could remove herself from them and walk away, and the dress would still be there. That's certainly possible with the throne room dress, given its construction.

I also think the headdresses should have been a little less out there. Although, I suppose we are to see Amidala as formidable. Just because Portman couldn't carry that off, we mustn't blame what she had on .

 

I am a huge fan of the PT costumes so I'd like to join in on the conversation. I was fortunate enough to visit the 'Dressing a Galaxy' exhibit at FIDM last year, as I'm assuming you did as well ValedaKor? It was exhilirating to see all of the costumes up close that I've spent so much time looking at in photos, especially the one I've replicated for myself.

Zaz has a good point about the elaborate-ness of Padmé Amidala's costumes, although I tend to think they worked fine on film...but I am extremely biased towards them.
I will say that so so very much of their details are lost on the screen. These costumes are works of art, their details and construction methods can only be fully appreciated in person or in hi-res photos. And it's not only Amidala's costumes which are like this, almost all of the costumes that I saw on display gave up some new and exciting detail that I had not noticed prior on film or in photographs.
Many of the fabrics used have color changing qualities to them that aren't noticable on film while the intricate beading and embroidery on many of them never really show up on the screen. But in person these costumes are truly breathtaking.

I am excited to discuss these costumes one by one. I do hope we can stray away from Padmé's wardrobe once in a while to talk about some of the other character's costumes.

One more tiny thing before I comment on the Theed throne room gown:
I am a hugetacular fan of the concept artists who worked on these costume designs. Iain McCaig stands out as the artist who worked on Padmé's concept designs throughout all three films and I appreciate his input to these designs as much as I do Trisha's.

Ok, the Theed throne room gown:
While not my favorite TPM costume for Amidala, I do like this one a lot. Lucas loves to use color in his films as a way of communication and the vibrant red lets us know that Amidala is a powerful character. The corded red silk satin is sumptuous looking up close. The faux fur trimmings and gold embroideries denote her royal position while her headdress seals the deal to her queenly stature. I appreciate this headdress and hairstyle because it does accentuate
the sides of Amidala's head as Leia's ANH hairstlye did. These two looks are totally different from one another, but the visual message is still conveyed to me that this royal style is from the SW universe.
Her Naboo face make-up is one part royal tradition and one part disguise, and considering the duality of Amidala's role in TPM it works well for me. It also alludes to the make-up of a geisha. While I do not take this as a literal comparison of her to a geisha, it is in keeping with the Asian influences we will see in many of her other costumes.

I'm not surprised that this costume was never re-used in ATOC of ROTS for Jamillia or Apailana because I think it had to be viewed as the introduction/first impression image that the audience got of Queen Amidala. It helped to define her and needed to be her's alone. But that's just my own take on it.

 

The Princess wardrobe was great, but at times it was distracting. But the whole point of the cloths was to disguise the real Padme from the Queen's bodyguards.

 

again, i think you could make that out to be part of the idea of padme/the queen. the costumes basically drown her. and as padme she can simply be herself. sort of like that.

 

Yeah, I did not like the costumes in Phantom Menace. Opulence is hard to pull off without looking stupid.

 

Yes, I'm lucky enough to live near downtown L.A., so went several times. It was fabulous.

Yes, definitely agree. The details are lost. And of course, many costumes were never seen. In a way, that's part of the simplicity of the OT -- what you see is what you get LOL. It made for easier story-telling, perhaps.

But of course.

Had a chance to meet Ryan Church and Iain McCaig at a booksigning they did at a bookstore in Pasadena, California. Just amazing guys.

Excellent insight. The throne room dress screams "royalty." There's no way a character like this could (or should) have first been seen in a simple gown. Costumes dramas demand a "grand picture," and I believe Biggars and Lucas considered that concept vital when creating the gowns for this and the subsequent films.

A couple of the posts have mentioned that the costumes were distracting -

 

Yes, yes, but. Amidala is an elected ruler. It still seems to me that simplicity would have been more effective.

 

But that changes the concept of royalty how, exactly? And name me one instance of a monarch in history who dressed "down" at public engagements. Whether elected or born to the purple, Amidala is apparently the representative of a whole mess o' people that value pomp and circumstance -- because they all dress pretty much the same way she does LOL. Again, my comment on how dress reflects success comes into play here.

 

My only miff with Amidala's costumes (otherwise I love them) is that to me they seemed a little too varied in style: I felt like there wasn't a consistent personality to them, and that they therefore didn't reflect any of Amidala's persona.

Then again, it could have been intentional on her part: perhaps she intended to reflect different cultures she represented from Naboo.

 

I agree. Your theory about the different cultures is certainly as good a reason as any, definitely. I think it would have been interesting to see her costumes designed in the same color scheme. That would have really set her apart, and would have lent credence to her role as queen. Then when we saw her in her handmaiden persona, the plot point would definitely have stood out.

 

They just look like a bunch of stuff thrown together to me. No continuity. And when she's supposed to be incognito on a refugee shuttle in AOTC, she's wearing a gold mantilla. Yeah, sure.

 

While they may look that way to some, I wholeheartedly don't think they were. I think their designs are deliberate and purposeful, but I can see why some people might be turned off by them. They certainly are not everyone's cup of tea!

Well, at least she took off the shiny bronze sunburst headdress she had on when she boarded the refugee freighter thingie and put on the less flashy antique gold lace mantilla instead!
And for goodness sakes, she wears a dress made out of a bedspread to her own wedding! LOL! (But I'm getting ahead of myself....)

I actually do see continuity in the Queen's TPM costumes in terms of their Asian influences. At least five of them have both overt and/or subtle Asian aspects to them. As for the chosen color palette, I think it's key to remember that George is very much a visual storyteller. He utilizes color in terms of conveying moods and situations. Amidala is dressed accordingly to the tone of the action around her. That's why we see her in red when she is addressing foreign representatives like the Trade Federation in the beginning of the film and later when she is on Coruscant addressing the entire senate. She needs to portray a powerful image in those scenes. And while some think she looks overdone, I think she looks like a throwback to historical figures from our world. Her red senate costume, for example, is heavily influenced by Mongolian design:
Mongolian Women (pictures found at The Padawan's Guide)

In the more private and dangerous scenes we see her in much more somber colors, dark purple for her return to Naboo and at Qui-Gon's funeral...black for her capture by the Trade Federation and for her deliberations on Coruscant after she realizes the Senate cannot help her plight. And at the end celebration, when the mood is light and joyous, we see that George has elected to outfit her in a pale pink and ivory costume that is intended to make her look angelic (and even with this costume there is a Japanese influence in the parasol that hovers like a halo behind her head). To me the colors of her clothes relate the tones of the scenes.

And while she may be an elected official, she still bears the title of a Queen and is treated as royalty for the duration of her term. IMO it's only fitting that she be outfitted in ornate court costumes with all the trappings. Besides, things are not as clear cut in the PT as they are in the OT. The menace is a 'phantom' and the line between good and bad is more obscured. To me it's a much more complicated period in time and the costumes reflect that.

Her Theed throne room costume was designed with some subtle influeneces from Imperial Chinese court dress. Her fur lined collar, which extends over her shoulders, is reminiscient of collars worn by Chinese royalty and the jeweled gold pinnacle atop her headdress is akin to the style worn in the Chinese court.
[image=http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/img/00201730.jpg]
[image=http://www.artseditor.com/media/features/0304_dragons_pic2.jpg]

I doubt these traits are very obvious to the casual onlooker, but the references to historical Asian costume, ranging from Chinese to Mongolian to Japanese, are there again and again in most of her Queen costumes. I have always seen this as a nice tie-in to the Japanese style of the Jedi robes.

 

Wow, sorry for the fact that I'm behind in posting.

I appreciate that George decided to go with designs centered around Asian influences. One of my personal prequel favorites is the grey "foreign residence" dress that the Queen wears:

[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/ValedaKor/coruscant4.jpg]

If Trisha had never done anything else, this would have done it for me. I just find it fascinating to look at (I should say stare at). The colors are so subtle, so evocative (to me) of troubled times. And in regards to this and the other costumes, a thought that occured to me when I first saw the movie was the Queen would need bodyguards AKA handmaidens around her, because there was no way she could move fast enough in these dresses to get out of the way of anything bad." <g>

And never mind the dresses, the headdresses are fascinating to look at. The official site has this to see about this particular one, and the costume it accompanied: "Another headdress was made from an antique piece of beading from an exotic dancer's skirt, circa 1920. Part of the headdress comes down onto Portman's forehead; the beads are then draped up over the rest of the headdress, which results in a bangs-like look. The accompanying dress was based on a Japanese kimono look, with Biggar adding unique designs of her own. She accentuated the sleeves quite a bit, calling them "penguin sleeves" because they were so rounded they looked somewhat like a penguin. Machine and hand embroideries were used for this complex creation."

The techniques used by the seamstresses to assemble these gowns was a pleasure to watch, I'm sure. I think anyone who worked on these gowns must also be very proud, to be part of such unique creations.