California Apparel News

In the days leading up to the 76th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 29, the entertainment and fashion industry is abuzz with speculation about what the nominees, presenters and guests will wear on Oscar night. But long before the awards show, the premieres and the celebrity photo ops on the red carpet, costume designers worked with directors, cinematographers, art directors and actors on the costumes that helped to define the characters and create the visual mood of the films. California Apparel News Manufacturing Editor Claudia Figueroa recently asked this year’s four Academy Award costume design nominees about being nominated, the particular challenges each film presented and the costumes on the screen.

Dien van Straalen“Girl With a Pearl Earring”

Dutch-born costume designer Dien van Straalen, nominated for “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” is known for her avant-garde touches on period films. She started off with the costumes for 1992’s “Orlando,” which she co-designed with costume designer Sandy Powell. Her other films include “The Pillow Book” (1996) and “Fogbound” (2002). This is Van Straalen’s first Academy Award nomination. Currently, she is in England working on a Laurence Dunmore film called “The Libertine,” starring John Malkovich and Johnny Depp, who plays a 17th century poet.

How does it feel to be nominated for your first Academy Award?

I’ve never thought about being nominated for an Academy Award. It came as a big surprise because “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is such a small film compared to all of the other films that are up for Oscars.

How did you become a costume designer?

I was always interested in fashion and costumes. When I was young, I made my own clothes and went to secondhand markets because I had no money. The feel of the fabric made me want to create costumes. I never thought about being a costume designer, but at the time, I was working at a film art house doing clerical work, working behind the bar and selling box office tickets. Our film festivals were subsidized, but we had to make our own programs and do everything ourselves. A friend of mine during that time was hired as art director for “A Zed & Two Noughts,” and he recommended me to assist with costumes. It was my first film.

Was the film shot on location in Holland?

It was filmed in Luxembourg, Belgium, and in Delft, Holland.

“Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a story about 16-year-old Griet, who becomes a maid in the house of 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer, who really did exist although very little is known about him. Did that present some challenges for you?

The painting “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is in The Hague, which is where I live. A couple of years ago, there was a big exhibition, with a lot of Vermeer’s paintings. I saw the exhibition twice. I also bought a lot of books on painters of the time—including Jan Davidsz de Heem, Willem van de Velde and Rembrandt— and studied them. I also read history books about Delft, which was Vermeer’s birthplace. I liked Tracy Chevalier’s novel “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” I think she researched it well. It was nice to talk to her when she came on the set because it was her book we were recreating. The costumes were not glamorous, and I think she was very happy about that.

As a native of Holland, do you consider it fortuitous that you were chosen to do the costume design for “Girl With a Pearl Earring”?

It was strange. Only a few directors in Holland have done films on this period. The look had to be authentic. Everyone believes that Dutch people had wooden clocks and wore wooden shoes. It was nice to get rid of those stereotypes.

The film takes place in the 17th century. How did you recreate the look of that period’s clothing?

I found a costume book with 17th century costume patterns in it, which was very useful. I didn’t need sketches because there were so many paintings and the silhouettes were so familiar to us.

The most important aspect of the costumes’ design was the fabric and all of the handmade stitches. I used linens, velvets, cottons and everything that had structure, including furniture textiles. We bought old tablecloths at secondhand markets and dyed them. We went to Indian textile shops for cottons.

There were about 26 or 27 costumes for the principal actors, and we dressed about 300 extras. We were constantly making aprons, collars, blouses and dresses. The set and the lighting really helped to bring out the costumes—it all worked so well together. It was pretty amazing.

Ngila Dickson “The Last Samurai” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Ngila Dickson began her career with “The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy” in 1989 and was immediately drawn to fantasy costume design. In addition to designing the costumes for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which began filming in the late 1990s, she produced wardrobes for television series including “Xena: Warrior Princess” (1995) and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” (1995), for which she received a best costume award by the Fourth International Cult TV Awards. Dickson has also done her share of costume design for more contemporary films, including “Heavenly Creatures” (1994), which was the beginning of her longtime collaboration with “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, and “The Crush” (1992).

What is your design background?

It’s pretty much self-taught. I’ve been making clothes since I was 8 years old with my mom in New Zealand. When I was in my 30s, I spent five years as an independent fashion designer styling commercials, videos and short films. I was also a fashion editor in London for a publication called Cha Cha. My first breakthrough as a costume designer was “User Friendly” (1990), directed by a young filmmaker named Gregor Nicholas.

How did you choose to work on “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Last Samurai”?

The films chose me. I worked with Peter Jackson on “Heavenly Creatures” before he asked me to do costume design on “The Lord of the Rings,” and you can’t say no to a film like that. For “The Last Samurai,” I read the script, and the film’s director, Edward Zwick, rang me, and we chatted and the job was offered to me.

“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, which is where you live. Where was “The Last Samurai” filmed?

“The Lord of the Rings” film unit was based out of Wellington. I live in Auckland. When you’re in production, you’re sort of never at home—you may as well be in Los Angeles. For “The Last Samurai,” our production crew traveled to Kyoto and Himeji, both located in Japan; a small town called New Plymouth in New Zealand; and Los Angeles for sound-stage work.

There was very little time for you to transition between the films.

I began work on “The Lord of the Rings” in April 1999 and finished last August. We filmed in New Zealand for two years, and after the films were completed, we returned some time later to begin shooting again. I began costume design on “The Last Samurai” in between the filmings of “The Lord of the Rings.” Afterward, I returned to finish “The Last Samurai.”

How many costumes were designed for “The Lord of the Rings”?

Roughly 5,000. My sketches—there are about 100 of them—are scribbles. Most of the costumes were built on stands. My job was to create all of the leading roles’ armor with Richard Taylor, who supervised special effects, makeup, creatures and miniatures. I sort of extrapolated the costume design in reverse by looking at what they had done and then determining, for example, what the Gondorian people wear. Even the Elves’ costumes had a whole style of construction and the same for every member of the Fellowship. It was just huge.

How many costumes did you produce for “The Last Samurai”?

We dressed about 3,000 actors and extras. The costume for every member of the cast was documented in sketches, including American Civil War soldiers, two Japanese armies, samurai soldiers, the Imperial Court of Japan, Tokyo street people and village sequences. We had six months to create the costumes and detail them.

What type of costume design research did you do for both films?

Both films were quite different in style, so the process of creating costumes for both films was different. For “The Lord of the Rings,” it was a case of immersing myself in the J.R.R. Tolkien law. It was better to read the scripts and then use the books as a tool of research. It helped that there were two illustrators on the set who specialized in Tolkien’s work. For “The Last Samurai,” I spent a six-week period of research in Japan before we began fitting the armor. And so we went to all sorts of museums, met with fabric-store owners in Japan and went to libraries to absorb as much as we could in a short period of time.

What were some of the challenges you faced as costume designer on both films?

For “The Last Samurai,” it was difficult having a work crew in three different countries and working with another culture— it was so important for me to get the Japanese culture right. With “The Lord of the Rings,” the challenge was to invent a world that other people dream. How do you make it real for them? It was a very scary experience for me. Sometimes I would worry, “My God, after the audience sees these Hobbits walk across the field for the first time, will there be an avalanche of hate mail?”

Judianna Makovsky “Seabiscuit”

Judianna Makovsky, nominated for “Seabiscuit,” is a previous Oscar nominee for “Pleasantville” (1998) and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001). The New Jersey–born costume designer’s other credits include “Great Expectations” (1998), “The Devil’s Advocate” (1997), “Six Degrees of Separation” (1993), “Reversal of Fortune” (1990) and “Big” (1988). She recently finished production on “National Treasure,” a Jon Turteltaub film starring Nicolas Cage and Harvey Keitel.

New Jersey, where you grew up, is not so far from the hustle and bustle of Broadway. Is that where you got your start in costume design?

I kind of grew up in the opera and ballet in New York. I was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus and Ballet from the time I was 5 until I was 17. I didn’t go to fashion school; I went to art school at the Art Institute of Chicago and studied costume design at the Goodman School of Drama [at DePaul University]. I felt it was and still is important to have an art background for costume design.

From there, I went to the Yale School of Drama for the master’s program. Jane Greenwood, head of the costume department at the Yale School of Drama, enlisted me for Broadway productions, opera and regional theater. I always wanted to work in film because it’s more my sensibility. Through Jane’s contacts, I met costume designer Milena Canonero (“The Affair of the Necklace,” “Out of Africa” and “A Clockwork Orange”), who hired me to be her costume assistant for “The Cotton Club” (1984). I was lucky enough to be continually hired by Milena for the next four or five years. She became my mentor and recommended me for jobs on my own.

You’ve created contemporary wardrobes for films like “The Devil’s Advocate” and fantasy costumes for films like “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Which genre do you prefer?

I like them all. I don’t want to pigeonhole myself too much.

The story of Seabiscuit takes place during the 1930s. What type of research did you do for the film?

I spent three months researching newsreel footage from that era, including the Depression and also horse racing. Director Gary Ross had already done a lot of research about the family and the horse Seabiscuit. I also had to learn a lot about horse racing—I didn’t know much about that. I also looked at popular magazines of that era, such as Life and Look, for fashion inspiration. I spent most of pre-production working on research and drawing on napkins on the tailor’s table.

How many costumes did you design?

For the principal actors, I designed about 350 costumes; not all of them were sketched in advance, however. Usually, we wait until we find out who the actors are to determine what costumes will fit them well. It’s a collaborative process in which the actor has to become the character. It’s our job to find out what they look good in and what type of clothing they can carry off. I enjoyed making suits for Jeff Bridges, who had 69 changes in “Seabiscuit.” As an actor, he understands period clothes, which tend to be heavier in weight, and knows how to wear them well, which is half the battle for a costume designer— to make the clothing look believable.

What were some of the challenges of costume design on “Seabiscuit”?

The sheer size of the film. It was really large, and we were on several locations with a lot of units. We dressed over 7,000 extras every day, and many of them had different costumes so they could be in different scenes. Included in that were about 2,000 to 3,000 extras in the racetrack stands as background; it was our task to create a silhouette and color in the stands by hand-selecting wardrobe for the extras. It was the control of all that that was a little overwhelming. I would get up at 2:15 a.m. with all the extras to make sure that the hair, makeup and wardrobe on every extra looked good. When you’re working on a film, it’s not that glamorous. It’s long hours, and it’s seven days a week for 10 months.

Another challenging aspect of creating wardrobe for “Seabiscuit” was that the film incorporated real period photographs and footage of the events. My job was to make sure that the costumes were seamless and that you couldn’t tell whether it was part of the old footage or something that was newly designed.

What were some of your favorite costumes in “Seabiscuit”?

We got clothes from about 37 rental houses and vintage dealers from around the world, in the U.S., England and Italy. We cleaned out America first, and then when we ran out of 1930s suits, we went overseas. Men’s period clothes are so beautiful—the fabrics are extraordinary. Jeff Bridges’ peach wool sports jacket with a brown windowpane pattern was a very American look. We purchased the fabric, and it had a tag with the original date on it—1939. We had a tailor at Universal who made suits in Hollywood during the 1930s. Marcella Howard [played by Elizabeth Banks], who had about 40- something changes, wore a beautiful Mexican riding outfit, which I liked quite a bit. She wore a black suede bolero with brown embroidery over black jodhpurs made of cavalry twill, which is traditional fabric for that style. We actually made that from a little sketch I drew. Celeste Cleveland made all of the jockey silks for the Howard family and Chris Cooper’s Western coats. The racing shirts and hats were made of rayon, which is what they used back then. But Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) wore pure silk because it looked great on camera, and the britches were all washable silk broadcloth.

Wendy Stites “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”

Wendy Stites, a costume designer and production designer by trade, began her career in the mid-1970s as the associate costume designer for “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), a film directed by her husband, Peter Weir. Since then, Stites and Weir have collaborated on several films, including “The Truman Show” (1998), “Dead Poets Society” (1989) and “Gallipoli” (1981). This is Stites’ first Academy Award nomination for best costume design.

How does it feel to be nominated for your first Academy Award?

It’s a real honor to have one’s work recognized by the people who understand what one does. I was surprised, as I did not expect a nomination for a film with all male costumes.

What is your design background?

It’s kind of odd to answer a question like this because I have no formal training. Art has always been a big interest to me. My mother was a brilliant sewer and instilled a love of fabrics in me, which I’ve passed on to my own daughter, whether shopping at flea markets or visiting textile exhibits in museums. Nowadays, young people think you have to go to school to study, but I think you can come to these things in various ways. I think following your enthusiasms is an interesting way to live your life—you never know where they’ll lead.

You have a very unique and creative working relationship with your husband, director Peter Weir.

I’ve worked as both costume designer and production designer on Peter’s films but in a rather random way. I don’t want people to think that I won’t work for anyone else, but I have another life when I’m not working. Our working relationship just evolved over time.

What type of research did you do for “Master and Commander”?

I made very valuable trips to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. The museum has an extensive collection of British naval history. Nothing can compare to actually handling—literally, with white gloves—the clothes of the period and examining the work all done by hand. We examined a captain’s coat from 1805 and noticed that the wool was so fine and tightly woven that the hem had just been cut with scissors; it didn’t need hemming, and it never frayed in 200 years. There were no photographs in that period, but we spent many hours looking at the relevant illustrations and paintings.

I wanted to understand what gave that era such a distinctive look for both officers and sailors. For example, I learned that the shoulders were not squared off but designed to slope. I wanted to capture this look. At first, it felt odd to the actors, but they soon got used to it. The officers wore shirts made of fine linen, and then a silk black “stock” was wrapped around their necks. We found old diagrams of the day that showed you exactly how to do this. The officers looked so handsome in their clothes; the stocks and high collars made a difference in their posture and how they moved. Also, the fabrics had to have a certain “weight.” The sailors’ pants and shirts were made of hemp canvas, and it aged beautifully and gave the sailors a very authentic look. I did some reading and discovered flax material was used in those days, and hemp is the closest today.

What kinds of treatments did you do to the garments in order to make them appear authentic?

About 3,000 costumes were designed and filmed in stages, from new to old. We made the officers’ costumes in London, and the sailors’ and Frenchmen’s outfits at Just For Fun in Los Angeles. We had a 15-member team on location on a tank just outside of Rosarito, Mexico, that produced costumes for the doctor, the whalers and the Brazilians.

We had two teams to age the clothes. I learned that it is as much work to age the costumes as it is making them. I loved watching their “tricks.” For example, the shoes were dipped in a bucket of water and talcum powder to have an aged look. We had a variety of hats, and we wanted them to look individually worn. Hats can be a big giveaway in the film if they look like they’ve just been taken out of a box.

Russell Crowe, whose wardrobe consisted of a dress uniform jacket with gold braid and an undressed uniform, had only three costume changes.

Are you currently working on anything?

No, just my house and garden—they’ve been neglected for two years.