Costume Nerd Heaven

Oh man, today was amazing. Debbie Reynolds is auctioning off her insane costume collection. I went with my fellow costume designers to the public viewing and had a ball. I took so many photos that my camera battery died before going to the second floor! It's kind of sad because after this weekend these costumes will being scattered to random bidders and who knows if they'll ever be seen again. Let's hope they go to people who will take care of them and perhaps donate them to museums because they're too wonderful to be hidden away.

Here are the most iconic costumes from the collection:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Costume designer: Travilla  

Marilyn Monroe's signature red-sequined "Two Little Girls From Little Rock" showgirl gown with feathered hat. I love the beautiful gathering at the waist. The sequins get bigger the further away you get from the waist! Let's hear it for optical illusions.

Auctioning for $200,000 - $300,000.

Funny Girl (1968)

Costume Designer: Irene Sharaff

Barbra Streisand's Vaudeville roller skating act. The top portion is purple and green velvet with a purple taffeta sash at the waist. The ruffles on the bottom are purple tulle with silk finished edges. And nothing says class more than fake grape attachments on hat and dress.

Auctioning for $8,000-$12,000

Wizard of Oz (1939)

Costume Designer: Adrian

A test blue cotton test dress with polka dot trim and ivory sheer puff sleeved blouse for Judy Garland. Red sequined test shoes also for Judy Garland. Neither made it into the film. The shoes were reading too "Arabian."

Fun fact: I've been super lucky to touch one of the real pairs of ruby slippers that made it into the film. Check out the images here,

There's No Business Like Showbusiness (1954)

Costume Designer: Travilla

Marilyn Monroe's tropical print pink, black and white ruffled skirt, black halter top and hat from "Heat Wave" number.  Sequins are strategically placed throughout the garment to give Marilyn some more sparkle. She looks pretty bad ass in that camera test image.

Auctioning for $200,000 - $300,000

Hello Dolly! (1969)

Costume Designer: Irene Sharaff

Barbra Streisand's iconic Hello Dolly! dress. Made from gold velvet and heavily jeweled with matching shoes. Included is her green and yellow feather boa and headdress. Oh, and this gown weighs 60 POUNDS!!!

Auctioning for $60,000 - $80,000

 

 Costume Designer: Irene Sharaff

Barbra's lightweight purple silk gown with ruched and rossete detailing. Comes with a matching bag.

Auctioning for $20,000 - $30,000

 Singin' In The Rain (1952)

 

Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett 

One of my all-time favorite movies, this is my favorite dress from the film. This 20's leaf print dress is for Debbie Reynolds. Note the triangular dropped waistband, pleated skirt and leaf fabric flower. God I love this dress.

Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett 

Aaah! It's Debbie Reynold's "Good Mornin'" costume! I always thought it was a dress but it's actually a sleeveless v-neck sweater with a lightning bolt print and a pleated skirt. I'm in love.

Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett

Lina Lamont, played by Jean Hagan, is my favorite character. She's ridiculous and oh that voice! That said, this is her "18th Century" costume. Made out of light peach silk with lace overlay. The pink sash has silk and tulle flowers attached. The grey silk suit belongs to Gene Kelly. The matching shoes also belongs to him.

Seven Year Itch (1955)

Costume Designer: Travilla

Marilyn Monroe's dress is the exhibit's main attraction. Do yo have a spare 1-2 million? Because that's how much it's going to be auctioned for! The dress is a pleated jersey. I've seen this dress plenty and never notice the waist detail with the bow before. Unfortunately the dress was on rotation behind glass so I couldn't get too good of a look but it has a nice understated quality.

I Say, Old Chap

I have previously stated my staunch support of hats. Clearly I should move to the UK because they seem to share this obsession. First the Royal Wedding and now the Royal Ascot, which is going on right now, Britian's social calendar seems filled with many a hat wearing opportunity. 

We Americans may have our own derbys, but are sadly lacking in stodgy British folk. Stiff upper lips and a country that loves headgear makes Ascot the best race for people watching. 

The British being British:

Knock-out racing style:

I'm also a sucker for jockey uniforms:

People who were having the most fun:

{Images via: Guardian.co.uk, IBTimes.com, DailyMail.co.uk, Zimbio.com }

Shakespeare in a pinch

It took a lot of sweat and tears but I managed to get this last set of costumes out for Twelfth Night. I had seven weeks to develop my nautical Twelfth Night but roughly two and a half weeks this time around. It's a slightly twisted modern take on the late 18th century. Somehow I managed to push through a creative block and although they still need some tweaking I'm thrilled with how they turned out. I was finally able to express my love of bold patterns and comically large wigs. I've been holding myself back on designing ridiculous wigs for a while and I just let it loose!

Here we go again

Yeah so I'm designing Twelfth Night again. My grad program is really into repetition in classes. In the fall quarter I had to design Tartuffe 3 times. They never accurately explain why but it's been especially challenging to get through this last project. It has a lot to do with it being the end of the school year and I'm exhausted and so creatively zapped at the moment. Which is why I'm taking a mini-break from coloring renderings to post a preview here. More to come when they're all completed!

Mash-up of Favorites

It's the end of the school year and even though I still have one more project to go, I thought I'd do a mini retrospective. It's been a tough year but looking back it was all worth it! Here are my favorites from classes, theater and film productions in no particular order.