COSTUME DESIGN FOR THE MOVIES

There's a new book about costume design called, "Hollywood Sketchbook: a Century of Costume Illustration." I'm no expert but I'll be very surprised if this isn't the best book done on the subject in decades. Take a look at a few pictures and see what you think.

That green dress above looks like something Ginger Rogers might have worn. I like the slanted pose.

Haw! I wonder what film this dress was for.  Well, costume design for film isn't the same as fashion design. Costume design for the movies is supposed to heighten our understanding of a particular character in a particular situation in a particular story. It doesn't always aim to make that character look good.

Okay, I recognize these dresses (above) from Caberet. 

Yikes! Stork legs!

I know I've seen this (above) design somewhere...maybe on Eve Arden in a 40s film.

 What were these sketches for? Commenters said they're Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz.

I threw this (above) in because I liked the back shot of the girl.

Holy Mackerel! This (above) looks like something Bakst would have done, but it's by someone else.

CONTEMPORARY COSTUME DESIGN

Boy, I love old-time theatrical costume sketches (above), the best of them I mean.  I had the impression that nothing good was being done in that medium any more, but I'm glad I took the trouble to check, because there's some interesting stuff out there that deserves to be seen.

Lots of sketch styles are acceptable now.  Amazingly, one of them (above) is caricature.

Another is collage. This artist (above) is pretty good at it.  I like how the dog is walking backwards.

Very nice (above), and it's practical, too. I have no trouble envisioning the real-life costume.

This guy (above) looks like a character out of an Otto Dix painting. 

This picture (above) is pretty abstract but it conveys the important information.  I assume the play is a comedy where the superhero has to look broad and lumpy in his suit. The sagging diaphragm is a nice touch.

This picture (above) is skimpy on the details but the overall concept is solid. Sometimes the designer is limited to suggestion, and the costume maker figures out the details.

Wow! What a prolific artist (above)! Better click to enlarge!

Interesting (above)! A Steinberg-type style combined with 3D collage! It's a very girly treatment but, as with everything here, you can use your imagination to see something more masculine.

Sometimes swatches of fabric are added to the sketch. Designers keep enormous scrapbooks full of samples of the stuff that are pinned or stapled onto the page.

According to an article on the net, the designer usually starts with cut-outs of pre-existing pictures from magazines (above) just to see if her and the director are in sync.

Here's (above) Ann Roth showing off her designs for old Hollywood movies, and here's a link to an interesting interview that she gave. Part 2, the best part, is only a couple of minutes long, and it contains advice that all artists in all trades can use.



http://makingof.com/insiders/media/ann/roth/ann-roth-on-costume-design-pt-2/61/172