www.slashfilm.com: When you're creating a series about a larger-than-life dynasty, you're bound to run into a few challenges — especially if the royal family in question tries to block production whenever possible. From choosing the juiciest plotlines to constantly recasting amid time jumps, there's plenty of work to be done. But surprisingly, the most difficult costume to create wasn't some elaborate ballgown or detailed outfit.
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As a costumer myself, I love watching and learning about the work of other costumers. It's so amazing how just the garment a person is wearing can reveal so much about their character. It shows that even more important than extravagance and beauty is the intention of an outfit. Why is this character wearing this? Why here? Why now? Roberts decided to have Fagan wear durable materials that are falling apart, showing a clear financial struggle. They were clothes of someone who knew he could get into trouble that night. I haven't watched The Crown but I've heard amazing things about the costume work. This article might just inspire me to watch it.
Surprise, surprise, another costume design article. We know I love these. I’ve watched my fair share of this show, and I’ve been thinking about it since the Queen’s death, wondering what they’re going to do with the show. But, not the point of this article. I think it kind of makes sense that a costume for someone who is not a royal, and for a scene no one really knows what happened, was the hardest to design. I mean, the royal family is photographed. All. The. Time. Documentation of almost everything they have done exists. They are public figures, there are so many actual outfits to study and think about when designing this. But, what happens when you don’t have that kind of source material? You have a lot more to think about, plan for, understand. And for Roberts, this was a social statement and again, not something we have much info on. A hard design to make, but it sounds like what Roberts ended up with worked well (I haven’t seen this exact scene yet).
I clicked on this artcle because I am obsessed with The Crown. Esspecally the hair makeup and costumes. I love how many details the designers use. I feel like that is important for every designer. My high school costuming teacher always told me nothing is wrong as long as you can defend your design. Thats probaly only half true but I kept thinking about that as I read this article. There are so many things as dsigners we do that the public might not notice but its imprtant to us because its how we defend our designs. In the artcle they talked about how she had loose threads to represent the socal class and the materials used for the jacket. I thought that was so cool and intresting how a small detail like that can make the characters costume. I also loved that fact that she made a dramitic shift in the costumes to create a fine line in the social class.
I have not watched the Crown or any of its episodes, and I don't plan to do so, but it makes sense to me on some level that the most difficult outfit slash costume to create is one that is worn by someone who is Just Some Guy. Usually the rich and powerful throughout history have very detailed documentation of their lives, which would certainly include their fashion, considering fashion is a huge part of social status. This is especially true for the royal family, who are under constant scrutiny and media attention, with photos taken at every opportunity. That being said, the clothing of ordinary citizens or otherwise "plain" clothing is pretty generic and probably less well-documented in general. Blending in is a lot harder than it seems, so to have this character be the most difficult to costume is actually pretty understandable. Being purposefully understated is definitely an acquired skill.
Being someone who designs costume for many shows in high school and in places that have different culture with each other, I truly understand how some of the hardest to design costumes are not the most complicated one. When I was working on Billy Elliot, the most complicated costume that I have designed for that show is Mrs.Willkinson but the hardest to design one was Billy Elliot’s father. Even though in the end he had a simple navy colored suit on for his last scene, the process that I took to get to this design was long and difficult. In addition to show a transition in character and how he eventually took the step into accepting his son’s love in ballet, I learned how to use modeling software on my own to create a model that was later being 3D printed and used as a pin for his suit jacket.
I’ve watched most of the Crown and have enjoyed the costumes throughout, and to hear that the most difficult costume to design is that of someone who is just a regular person is quite interesting. I do love how much detail Amy Roberts put into the costume for Michael Fagan. How she used the detail in his cuffs to help show the inner turmoil he is feeling and to show his status. All of this has be shown in one outfit and potentially without the character having to talk about how they are feeling. I don’t actually know what happened in this scene, since I haven’t watched it yet. It also helps to show the contrast between a ‘regular person’ and someone who is royalty, and how vastly different their lives are. It also makes sense that this was the most difficult costume to design. The royal family is constantly photographed and documented, versus how often regular people photographed and documented. Which isn’t that often.
The appreciation for details in costumes often goes overlooked–especially in TV series where things are constantly changing and there’s a lot to process beyond frays on a cuff. However I appreciate details, as the article also points out, a few threads can reveal things about a character/make you question the why-s of their part of the story. I also liked how the article pointed out the contrast of the intruder’s costume in relation to the royal’s costumes which are usually elaborately detailed and grand looking. While the intruder’s costume isn’t a show stopper, it shows how costumes can be difficult to create in more facets than just the construction and surface level design. Also side note I think historical dramas are hard to costume because usually the script veers off complete accuracy so it’s a balance of making the costumes accurate but also knowing when to appropriately utilize artistic freedom.
I find articles about process and design like this to be so fascinating. While I am not a costume designer by any means, it’s so interesting to read about someone’s design process and thoughts behind what they created. I love seeing how the actor and the designer’s mindset intersected in a way. The tiny details are what make the design so interesting. While I had never really thought about the implications of dressing rich historical people vs. ordinary historical people, it makes sense that it is harder to create something that seems boring instead of some opulent gown. All of the details like the buttons and the fabric really do give the scene a whole other layer that we might not even actively notice on the first watch, but subliminally twists the way we perceive the interaction itself. It’s one of those design elements that you might notice if it was a gown on the Queen but might not if it’s just some person walking in a street.
The Crown is one of my favorite tv shows and after season 1 I have always had an appreciation for the accuracy that the customer is trying to achieve for many of the day-to-day costumes. I found this article really interesting because I feel like most people would overlook this character pretty quickly people would see him and be like of course that’s what he’s wearing he’s an intruder. But I see how this could’ve been really difficult. As a designer Roberts probably was kind of stuck in this mindset because of the rest of the show of that very regal and luxurious look that all the Royals have to them even in day-to-day outfits. But with this character she really had to take a step back and think about what a working class British man was going through what led him to wanting to break in and truly think about where he’s coming from to create the best outfit for him. I think she did a really good job and when it comes to the rest of her work in the show I am always blown away.
I was just talking about how I'd like to start watching this series, and after this article I will definitely be doing that. I had no idea the royal family tried to dissuade some of the plot lines and representations but I suppose it makes sense, especially hearing how they've dealt with scandal in the past. With all the intricate design and big time jumps I wouldn't have assumed the intruder’s tattered costume to be the hardest to pin down. I guess there probably is more research to support the royals and less about typical or run-down people’s looks but I still found this article very interesting. I think the detail that this designer also did Oliver Twist is a big nod to how this particular costume ended up. The images of the character show a clear financial and social standing and I think the designer did a great job telling the story of this character.
Having seen all four seasons of “The Crown” I really was interested who they thought was the most difficult to design for. Noting Michael Fagan as the “trickiest” to design for seems a bit exaggerated to me. This article makes it seem like they just had to dig a little deeper into what the character would’ve worn, while the other royals could’ve been modeled off of countless photographs from their time. I would think the intense detail in the other character’s wardrobes would’ve taken more time and effort than the everyday garb of a common man. I actually thought he looked pretty put together for a man who felt like he had to break into Buckingham Palace to have his demands recognized. But again, who am I to say. Nonetheless, I am a fan of small design details like those loose threads that could only be noticed in the shot of their hands touching.
I love how much detail goes into design, all design, but especially costume design. There is so much analysis and research in creating looks for specific people. There is the research on the time period, the society, the materials. But there is research done on the character and the way that they act and think and feel. All of these elements come together in a fully realized look or looks. I love to hear costume designers talk about their work and how they got from point A to point Z. Nowadays there are a lot of stories about real life people and you also need to know who they specifically are/were. As with The Crown, sometimes the real life people are tricky to design for because an audience has preconceived notions and expectations. I have really enjoyed the designs for The Crown so far. And I appreciate the thought put into the design, as described in this article.
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