The Costume Maker in Hollywood

Here is an interview with Kate Lindsay who started her artistic career as a jewellery designer before finding herself hugely in demand as a costume maker for Hollywood movies.

Somehow she still finds the time to create beautiful pieces of jewellery….maybe as therapy and an escape from the madness of the film industry !

Kate's exquisite work on Tom Hardy's costumeA recent piece designed and made by Kate.

These are some stills from Star Trek-Nemesis (2002) showing the very detailed work she put into this outfit for Tom Hardy. The film was designed by Bob Ringwood and in her interview Kate talks about working with this talented designer.

The amount of different materials she used and the “non-sewing” techniques  reveal her origins as a jeweller as does the intricate detailing. This was the only costume this character wore in the film so it had to have maximum visual impact and work to its best advantage in the dark atmospheric lighting. Read on for Kate in her own words………

Wow! What a Film…..

This fabulous film is the outcome of a first year project at AUCB based on the paintings of Toulouse Lautrec and  photos of the Moulin Rouge in the Paris of the 1890s

Ten costume  drawings were done by Frances Tempest in order to give the students a wide variety of ways in which they could interpret the different styles and interpret the designs with their own creativity.

Each student manufactured a complete “look” of corset and undergarment and styled the costume with accessories.The models were drawn from amongst fellow students. So these First Year Students were able to pursue the entire costume process from  first selection of fabric through to  interpretation, manufacture, fitting, styling and finally experiencing the excitement of seeing their costumes being worn during the filming day on location.

Moulin Rouge Design by Frances Tempest

Interpretation of the design by AUCB student

There is an exhibition about Lautrec and Jane Avril on in London at the moment…Dont miss!!

Julie Harris Darling 1965

Julie Christie with Francois Truffaut

On September 16 2010 the veteran British costume designer was guest of honour at a special showing  at the British Film Institute of the film  “Darling”. This film had been chosen by fashion designer Roland Mouret as his favourite film which had a lasting influence on him. Miss Harris won the Oscar for outstanding Costume Design in a black and white film for her work on this film in 1965.

The interview here reveals Julie Harris’ views on Roland Mouret , that particular evening and her memories of designing the film. She reveals how , during the screening all she could think about was , ” Gosh, what a lot of work went into it !” She was responsible for the creation of not just Julie Christie’s swinging Sixties Chelsea-Girl outfits, but also all the other characters and the crowd scenes in the film. She talks about how she came up with the typically Sixties mini skirt outfits for Julie Christie and how much they were influenced by what Julie Christie was wearing herself. Reading between the lines it seems as if Julie Harris was more comfortable with the expensive, elegant  outfits that Julie Christie wore as the Principessa than she was with the now iconic headscarves, caps and knee socks of Sixties London.

Julie remembers , ” It was just another contemporary film. I had no idea at the time that it would become such an iconic portrayal of the time “.

Darling poster 1965

Julie Harris was also the costume designer for the two  other iconic Sixties films with the Beatles:                         ” A Hard Day’s Night “ in 1964 and  ” Help” in 1965. Listen here to the interview with Julie Harris , costume designer.

Interview with Miss Julie Harris. Kensington Sept 17^th 2010.

A Discussion of Darling (1965), Help (1965) and A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

On the evening of September 16 2010 Miss Harris had been a guest at a special BFI screening of the film Darling that had been selected by the fashion designer Roland Mouret for this event sponsored by Elle Magazine.

Julie Harris won an Oscar for costume design in a black and white film for her work on Darling. The black and white category was discontinued after that year.

JH: there was a showing last night because this fashion designer, Roland Mouret, had chosen Darling as his favourite film. I didn’t know who he was but kind friends looked him up for me and I did my research so I was able to compliment him on his Galaxy dress! He gave a little talk before the film and he wasn’t really very good and I wished they had asked me to do it because I could have said a lot about the clothes for Darling. I felt he should have made some reference to me being there because I do feel that in that film of the sixties the clothes do definitely make a statement.

FT: The film was made in the mid sixties and the clothes epitomise that period of so-called Swinging London.

JH: I had in fact watched the film fairly recently but last night I looked at it with new eyes up on the big screen and my main thought was, “Gosh, there was a lot of work in that!” I am always making the point that the costume designer doesn’t just dress the leading lady, on that film I dressed everybody…. And apart from Julie Christie both Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey had a lot of clothes, suits, shirts, coats….

JH: Of course when we made it, Darling was just another contemporary film. I had no idea that it would become such an iconic portrayal of that time. I had no idea it was making such a statement.  I never realised then that it would become what it has and actually I feel very glad to have been part of it. And when the film opened in Britain  (we made it in 1964, it was released in 1965) nobody took much notice…it didn’t get any nominations for any awards at all because to the home audience it was just everyday life. It was America that went mad for it, they loved it there! I think they fell in love with the whole Swinging London image of that time. And it was very fortunate for me because they awarded me the Academy award for it. That was really luck because it was in the black and white category and there was no way I would have won if I had been up against a colour film like Dr Zhivago. ( costume design by Phyllis Dalton ).

JH: I was put on to the film very late because John Schlesinger had one of his boyfriends from the theatre doing the clothes and ten days before it started shooting  no-one had a costume to wear! So Victor Linden who I had worked with before, rang me and asked if I could help out and get some stuff for location. So there was a bit of a quick shop with Julie Christie in the High Street. That was just to get a few things so we could get by really, but you never have all the clothes for a whole film ready when you start filming on day one and luckily by the time we got to all the                    “ better stuff” I had had time to do my designs and get things made. Some of it was made in Rome, and then when we were on location in Capri the fitters came out to Capri for fittings and I was able to catch up a bit.

I remember Julie Christie making a huge fuss to John Schlesinger about the nude scene, tears, tantrums, she wouldn’t do it etc. so there was a body double on standby but Julie did it in the end after all the fuss…When I saw it last night I looked very carefully but it was really Julie. The thing that makes me laugh every time is the fact that she peels her slip off and she is not wearing any knickers….What it would have been was a question of speed in undressing but it is sending out the message that she doesn’t wear knickers !!! Hopefully the audience is too busy looking at Julie to notice!

FT: Were her clothes in the film a reflection of Julie Christie’s real life look?

JH: I can’t really remember, no I don’t think so. She never dressed up, she was very casual. Of course trousers were not worn so much, but I seem to remember her in simple little skirts, nothing much. All the quirky little caps and the knee socks were very much worn then, they were just the fashion. And it seems that her clothes just hit the nail on the head as far as that time was concerned. Mind you, if you changed the complicated hairstyles then you could wear those clothes today, forty-five years later! The hats and the hair are the things that make it look dated or old-fashioned.  I had already worked on a film with Julie Christie called The Fast Lady . Again it was early Sixties but it was a very different Julie Christie, before she became Julie Christie. It was one of those Ken Annakin Pinewood comedies with James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baker. I think she had done Billy Liar before that……all those films were around the early sixties. She always seemed to get the same sort of part and Dr Zhivago was a big break for her.

Watching it last night I was very interested in that evening party scene. There was one woman, only playing a small part, wearing a pleated white chiffon dress and seeing it I thought, “Gosh that was good!” But I must have felt the need to embellish because everyone had a set of beads and a brooch. But that must have been what we did!

FT: Julie Christie wears that little headscarf which reminded me of the early Barbara Hulaniki outfits. (Biba)

JC: No, we didn’t get anything from there. Actually, I think she overdoes the headscarves in the film, she wears them too often. But that would have been the hairdresser putting them on her.  Very little was actually bought in the shops, after the first rush to get filming started I was able to get a lot of things specially made to my designs.

FT: Of course with Julie Christie’s character you had to effect a transition from her early Chelsea Girl Look to something much more sophisticated.

JH: Well it was a Cinderella story or a rags to riches story really. I won’t say it’s easy but it’s easier because you’re making a statement and it’s always nice to do.  I wanted her Principessa clothes to look extremely elegant and sophisticated in contrast to the earlier ones. There’s a little bit of pseudo- newsreel style footage of her engagement and marriage to the Italian Prince and I think just for that little sequence I had to do four or five expensive, elegant outfits. The work that went into those clothes was amazing! I think I bought some of them on location in Capri.  There were a tremendous amount of clothes in that film !

FT: I was particularly interested in the men’s clothes because they too reflect that period of transition in the sixties from the stuffy Establishment way of dressing to the more informal styles we take for granted today.

JH: We went to their own tailors to get most of the men’s clothes made. There was not a lot of shopping, maybe some shirts and ties and things. Most things were made. I very seldom went shopping with the men, I may have taken them to Simpsons for some things because they had a very good men’s department…that was Simpsons in its heyday. I knew the buyer there and they would always look after you and put things out for you. Laurence Harvey had all new clothes for the film but he wasn’t supposed to have them afterwards because it wasn’t written into his contract. So he brought in some of his old things from home at the end of the film and did a swap ! He left his things in the wardrobe and took the new ones! We were all appalled but the producers didn’t pursue him…..

FT: Dirk Bogarde’s clothes were a very good reflection of Class. His clothes might look ordinary to a modern audience but at the time they were almost daringly Bohemian.

JH: Oh yes they were. He was so casual! Although of course he still wore a shirt and tie! And he had a suede jacket, very Bohemian…

FT: Were you aware at the time of the strong influence of the French Nouvelle Vague films?

JH: I wasn’t, not consciously but John Schlesinger surely was. It was his first film.

FT: London itself is one of the stars of the film.

JH: Oh yes, and look at the airport scenes, the way they just sail through! And all the other passengers dressed up for travel! I thought of that scene when I last travelled by plane and it made me laugh!

FT: Tell me about the stuffy party with the Establishment figures.

JH: Well that was the old order and London Society was really on a cusp and about to change. Most of the extras in that scene were what was then called “ Smart Crowd” and they had to come for an audition to see if they were suitable and they had to bring several outfits with them so that I could choose. I always found it excruciatingly embarrassing, I hated it. So most of the crowd in that scene were wearing their own clothes but chosen by me and sometimes we would dress them up with a bit of jewellery or something.  The street crowd were the real people who were in the street, and because it was filmed in black and white I didn’t have to worry about distracting bright colours or anything like that.

JH: The hats were made by Graham Smith who was quite a fashionable milliner of the time. I think the hats really belong to the Sixties, but people did wear hats then and I don’t think they look laughable now…

FT: The Principessa hat was very glamorous.

JH: Oh yes that was mink. I think that hat was off the peg from Woolands, who had a very good millinery department. It was a good hat and thank goodness because you certainly see a lot of it. The dark fur gave a very good frame for Julie’s face against her blonde hair.  She did look elegant but fashion and costume design are two different things. That’s why I always preferred doing period films really.

It’s a sort of sad picture really and watching it last night I did find her such an irritating character.

FT: But the film Darling did absolutely nail the fashion of the day ! Tell me about working on the Beatles films…more iconic sixties films!

JH:  Well, I watched a television programme about the films the other day and watched a scene where there was a plane taking off and thought, “ You were ON that plane !” I cant quite believe it now….When we went on location with Help to Nassau we were all on the same plane together, all sitting together, John was sitting behind me…but what annoys me is always over the years I felt I was the designer and that I shouldn’t be obtrusive and now, looking back, I think “How naff!” it was silly. I didn’t ever want to push myself and be tiresome and ask too many questions so I didn’t really engage with them, not that one could really, but even as much as I could have done…I regret that now!

I remember George’s twenty first birthday party which was in Nassau and he was cutting his cake, he stabbed it because he didn’t know what to do with a birthday cake. One of the residents of Nassau had given a party for him , twenty one , and not with us any more……

But Help was the film with the clothes, and there was Eleanor Bron. There was no guidance in the script as to how she should be dressed and I think it was my idea to make her a bit Fancy Dress and different. She came from a strange temple with Leo Mackern , all wearing funny hats. I don’t know if any of my sketches still survive but, if they do, they would be at the BFI. I didn’t save my sketches in those days, they just got left in the costumiers or the workroom. Youre so busy with what youre doing and I had no idea that they would have any value.

FT: How did you cope with dressing the Beatles?

JH: Well, it wasn’t like dressing actors. I was dressing the Beatles as the Beatles. Fortunately they had their own tailor , Dougie Milling (?) I remember him and beyond me choosing some materials he would do their fittings because they were a nightmare and even he would have to sit outside. So I chose what it was and got their shirts and things and he did their suits. I had no idea that it would become an important film……I think I was the person who first got the Beatles out of their collarless jackets into proper shirts and ties in Hard Days Night. I did go shopping in a Rolls Royce with one of them  but at the time you were just doing your job and worrying about whether you’d get what you wanted. But they were great days, I can’t quite believe that I did it ! In retrospect it was a huge thing to have done, and all luck. I had been working with Walter Shenson and he was going to be doing this film and asked me if I would do the costumes.  And then , having done the first one, I think I assumed that I would get the next one but it wasn’t a foregone thing. The second one, Help had more design in it and that’s where I always felt comfortable, drawing and then showing the drawings to the director, art direstor, producer etc.  Richard Lester was quite specific about the clothes, saying “ I want him to wear a navy suit and a knitted tie”, on A Hard Days Night and that was his first film so maybe he had more confidence in me by the second one…In those days it was easy to get things on approval from the big shops and I got lots of casual stuff to show them so that they could choose.  Harvey Nichols had a very good men’s department and I took a lot from there to show them. But it was a lot of worrying hard work….

FT: For someone who claims not to enjoy designing contemporary films, you have designed three of the most iconic contemporary films of the nineteen sixties!

JH: Well , I think it was really only in the seventies that I started doing period drama although The Gypsy and the Gentleman was my first period film, in 1959, but once I was doing more period films I realised how much easier it was, your’e in control and you do drawings and they look pretty and people think ,”Yes, that’s what its going to look like”. And there is much less of actors saying they won’t wear something….But looking at Darling there are still a few well dressed men in their evening suits, some things never change !