Dress Up and Play

Xanadu

I went to see Xanadu on Broadway tonight..... meh. I'm a big kitschy fan of the movie so I was super excited about seeing it. There was some things I liked, some things I didn't. Overall it was very very gay. (I can say this because they said it themselves several times through out the show.) If you want to see it, go. If not, don't. As far as reviews go, I think that's a fair statement.

But we're here to talk costume. David Zinn was the costume designer. According to playbill this was his first Broadway show, lots of theater and opera before that.

Before I went, I didn't like what I saw in pictures. Of course that's always unfair. One of the major themes in the show is that it takes place in 1980 Venice Beach... this is a constant joke. I think he was going for a goddess slash 80s thing with the muses... I think it worked, but only if you thought about it alot.

The best scene (not pictured above) is when she's on Mt. Olympus talking to Zeus and the cast comes out dressed as different gods and goddesses, including a centaur and Medusa... he's clearly gifted at comedy design. Every costume was head to toe white (with a little gold accent) and hilarious. Amazing that an all white array of characters works but it totally did. I wonder if he had to fight for it.  The last scene (pictured above) is grotesquely 80s disco and it's awesome. Also the best scene of the show.

The muses costumes bugged me the most though, which is what they're in most of the time. Like I said- some of it's good, some if it's only ok. Although I've been seeing alot of Broadway lately and I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I just don't like Broadway design. Sometimes it's glitzy for glitzy's sake and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Here's the website  (warning: sound):

At the bottom of the page there's the Xana Fun section where there's a full array of costume sketches (this is only a snippet). Each one will blow up when you scroll over it. Sketches are always fun!

I had a thought....

.... would the Academy nominate Patricia Fields for an Oscar as a nod to the contributions she's had to pop culture via the Sex and the City wardrobe over the whole series? A Golden Globe maybe? Thoughts.....?

Oi Vey, Pat...

Old stuff

I'm a regular reader of Posie Gets Cozy .. a super cute blog about a lady in Portland who has created the most beautiful life for herself. It's how to do it.

Anyway, while catching up on my reader today (...I told you was not very up-to-the-minute) I read an older post  - with the pretty picture above-  about the upcoming 'Cranford' mini-series. Looks beautiful. I'm more of a netflixer myself so I'm definitely checking this out. Check your local PBS, it'll be probably be on again soon. 
Oh- the designer is Jenny Beavan... a woman living the costumer's dream, doing fantastic period costumes what seems like her whole career: Gosford Park, Jane Eyre, Jefferson in Paris, Emma, Sense and Sensibility..... the list goes on... and on.

More Sweeney Stuff

Here's a brief video I haven't seen yet- an small interview with Colleen Atwood talking about Sweeney Todd costumes... (she looks amazing in it!)

Although you have to annoyingly wait for the Madonna video to be over (the good news is that it displays the work of Arianne Phillips, Madonna's personal stylist and oscar-nominated costume designer).

Carrie

A. I'm not a very Up-To-The-Minute Blogger.... I've had my head buried in the sand every one has seen this (days ago) but me.

B. I said I wouldn't devote any time or energy on the whole Sex and the City stuff but this hat is deffinately costume worthy I had to do something about it so here are my favorite guys' take on the outfit (even though I don't entirely agree with them.)

And Now It's Time for a Way Cool Hat

Kiss of perfection, originally uploaded by Uh … Bob.

From Teen Magazine Oct 1961

Leatherhead

jock, originally uploaded by Hepped-up on Goofballs.

Ephemerically Yours sent me this picture after seeing how much I like these helmets. Look how cool his little stripey unform is too. How funny is that tropical setting in the back?

Sunflower Dresses

sunflower dresses, originally uploaded by Ephemerally Yours.

I haven't had time to research new movie news lately so I'm going to show some great costume photos. This photo a random vintage find from Ephemerally Yours on Flickr. Clearly they/re supposed to be sunflowers- it's just surprising to me how large and bold the costumes are... you always think of the the early 1900s (I'm taking my best guess) as being delicate and soft. I wonder what sort of production they were for. Any guesses?

Go to Flickr to see more of his great photos.

Leatherheads

Every morning as I go to work I've been seeing this poster in the subway station... I love it!! I don't think it could get any bette than this. *Pow* straight pic! No big letters or badly collaged pics of the actors in funny arrangements. Just a straight shot of the characters in the most awesome outfits I've seen in a long time.

The website is set up really great, they have the sort of old-timey poster sort of graphics. Pretty cool. Not much stuff on it though.

I'm in love with these uniforms. I'm having a sort of uniform 'Thing' lately. (Although that does not pertain to live men... how odd.) I added in this last shot to show off how the palette translates throughout the scenes. The color palette is oddly bright even though it uses muted tones. The mud is killing me! Was that a happy accident? Did Louise Frogley foresee the the mud brown color as a dominant one and worked from there? It makes the movie for me- I can't wait to see it!

Loving the bow detail on the hat. Awesome leather jacket on the Cloonster there. Nice and beat up. Emerald City glasses...okay...I can go with it.

Some bright tights. And a bright coat too. Like I said, really bright colors.. but it ends up looking very controlled and muted on screen- that's the biggest mystery: How Do They Do That?

Current Costume Updates

Here are some great articles about the current nominees:

More of the same of Jaqueline Durran the greatest dress of the year. The part I liked best ends the debate on the one whole dress vs. seperate pieces issue once and for all :

'It also had to survive a secret rendezvous on a bookshelf!

Well, we had lots of the gowns. The fabric was so fine that the bodices kept tearing. We had three or four skirts and 10 bodices and when they tore, we would quickly repair them. But it only took about a day to shoot that scene.- Jacqueline Durran '

... and one of them is being auctioned off here.(Be sure to scroll down to see a good clip of the film showing the dress.)

And a great article that reveals tidbits into the genius that is Colleen Atwood.

How about Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall's characters? They really are quite comical and cartoony.

Alan [Judge Turpin] was the slightly grubby man-about-town. His clothes have two or three color screens on the fabrics that gave him an oily, slick feeling. Alan and Timothy [Beadle Bamford] are the Romantics, that's what we called them. They are actually a bit more Georgian, the period before the Victorian era, a bit more decadent and flowery.

When people have a great moment in their lives, they tend to stay in that moment stylistically. - Colleen Atwood
(I love how she thinks about that stuff!)

Watch the video here which Alan Rickman talks about his ideas for keeping the guy dirty.