The 1990’s can be an intense time in American fashion. There are a lot of prints, bold colors and oversized, baggy silhouettes. At least that is what you remember when you re-watch episodes of Beverly HIlls 90210 or Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But the reality of small midwestern towns in the early to mid-90’s is far more subdued. For the design concept of this series, I worked closely with the director, Rebecca Thomas, to create a more subtle palette to better fit with the seriousness and weight of the storyline. To do this, I referenced 1,000’s of yearbooks, teen magazines and book references all over the US/Midwest. I combined celebrity teen culture with the everyday looks of real teenagers. Creating research boards for each character is not only crucial for period shows, but it is one of my favorite elements of the job as Costume Designer. For “Becky”, played by Sophie Thatcher, it was important for her to separate herself from the “perfect” image her older sister “Chrissy” embodied. I loved references for her like Winona Ryder and Courtney Love, using special pieces found at vintage stores as opposed to Chrissy who like Liv Tyler lived in the pages of Teen Vogue.
One of the many challenges of this series was the location of Vancouver, Canada. While Vancouver is host to many incredible vintage stores, I had to rely on my arsenal of vintage dealers and renters from all over to supply the sheer volume needed to costume this series. In the end, it was an incredible journey with a very rewarding 90’s soundtrack.
This season of This Close focused on the two leads finding themselves, their authentic selves. As a design concept, I wanted their clothes to reflect their inner turmoil and eventually feel like a return to who we established them to be in season 1, but with a little more growth and sophistication. For Michael, initially, he was trying to be this trophy husband, dressing more like his pretty boy hubby Ryan. We kicked off the season with brighter colors and more prints but ended the season with more subdued, quieter, emotional looks that really represented Michael’s character. Kate searches for herself in her work and at first I put her in more modern pieces and then gradually incorporated more vintage and sentimentally unique pieces for her as she rediscovers her authentic self. This season highlights included fantastic featured cast with a return on Cheryl Hines as Stella, Marcia Cross as Kate’s mother and Lisa Rinna as Ryan’s trophy wife mother. One of the my personal favorite scenes to design was “Wigmitton”. A scene this series does so well: couples heartfelt, gritty, dark emotion with laugh out loud escapades.
This film is a provocative stance on social justice in this country. Every character had his own story of how to reach a point of desperation. Their backstories all made their way into the costume design of this film. Understanding how each person was comfortable with a gun-Desert Storm War, Vietnam War, streets of USA-informed me of how to dress each person. When they suited up to storm the police station, it was crucial for each of them to not only look authentic holding a gun but also to emphasize what each man’s version of power and intimidation would look like. It was an honor to work with a predominantly Black cast on this film where we had very frank conversations about race both on and off set. Which was exactly the aim of this film, create meaningful conversations that can lead to change.
This Close- TV Series
This Close explores the lives of Kate and Michael as they navigate careers, love and life in LA as deaf best friends. While their disability sometimes creates barriers in their relationships with the outside world, it also sustains the insularity of their friendship. This series was especially exciting for me to design. It was an amazing experience to work with the creators/writers/stars right in the fitting room. Josh and Shoshanna knew the characters so well but also intrinsically knew the rules of the deaf community; ie: what would be distracting to wear when signing to another person. I loved learning from them and we all enjoyed a very co-creative process to bring these characters to life.
Flock of Four explores the changing landscape of Jazz music in Los Angeles in 1959. With the rise of Rock n' Roll and RnB, six high school students struggle to find identity, friendship and love. Using historical research as my bedrock, I designed and built period accurate costumes for all of the lead characters including a gorgeous cocktail dress for Ava, linen suits for the band and sportshirts for the lead five boys. In an astounding short time, my team and myself fit over 250 background in head to toe period costumes including flashbacks to 1920's, 1930's and 1940's.
Brockmire follows the demise and debauchery of a defamed major league baseball announcer who is forced to move down to the minor leagues. With only three weeks of prep and limited budget, I designed over 200 principal costume changes for this 8 episode series, including 4 custom-made baseball team uniforms, "a cadre of sexual weirdos" and a Filipino Soap Opera. My fantastic team, comprising of only 5 people total, fit and oversaw the costumes of a thousand background performers. The series included several flashbacks to the 1970's, 1990's and early 2000's. I sublimated fabric from Brockmire's 1970's plaid jacket in order to build two more Sportcoats to support the demands of shooting and story. For the flashbacks he needed his fresh, vibrant, clean sportcoat while the contemporary jacket needed to look 10 years older, heavily worn, schlepped around the world and appear as pitiful as Brockmire felt.
Written and directed by Olivia Milch, Dude is a coming of age story about four strong young ladies who use their unbreakable friendship as their bedrock to understand their ever changing world. I designed 150 principal costume changes for this film using both contemporary and vintage clothing. The director wanted the film to feel timeless and classic which is best illustrated by integrating the fashions of several decades within a scene.
She Who Excels in Solitude follows the story of 2 women in 1961 as they both strive to break the mold of expectation and limitation. Based on true events of NASA's search for women astronauts in the early 60's. With one day of prep, I designed 10 period accurate costumes.
Caught is psycho-thriller based on true events. A married woman becomes unhinged when she learns of her husband's infidelity. Because this movie takes place all in one night, the challenge for costume design was planning out all the phases of distressing as the terror unfolds in the story. The movie begins with most of the characters relatively put together but as the story unravels down the rabbit hole, it's important for the costumes to reflect that descension. By the end, not only are the characters undone but literally the costumes are as well.
Goodbye World tells the story of 6 disenfranchised friends who reunite at a Northern California safe house when the technological world crumbles into anarchy. For this film, I designed over 120 costume changes in less than 2 weeks with the help of an assistant only. The design concept for this film really had a worn in and weathered feel, distressing the costumes to look authentic was my top priority.
Based off the acclaimed web series of the same name, Jake and Amir is an office comedy about two millennials who just can't seem to get it right at work. The costume design concept for this pilot was to be bright and cheerful with several pops of color to coordinate with the "Google Campus" look of the production design.
