CMU School of Drama


Thursday, November 10, 2022

Talking Yellowstone Looks With Costume Designer Johnetta Boone

www.cowboysindians.com: Paramount Network’s hit TV series Yellowstone is about to start its fifth season. While we're excited for more action, drama, and intrigue, we're also looking forward to the Western style boost every new season gives us.

6 comments:

Rayya Gracy said...

Firstly, as a person who wants to go into the costume design industry I was happy to see a black costume designer one within the industry, and two having their work discussed and acknowledged. Though I have never seen the Tv series Yellowstone. I enjoyed how this article was made so that you didn't have to necessarily have watched the show to enjoy the information about the process of the costume design. I love how Boone strives to build upon the costume imagery of the shows previous season as to exhibit the evolution of the characters and plot sequence of the future season. I find this very significant to the story element in which she wishes to evoke as she is not recycling looks nor is she completely throwing out previous looks of the characters. Rather she is establishing an extended wardrobe for these characters that correlate to the overall tone of this new season.

Katie Welker said...

As someone who has watched the show Yellowstone I find it very interesting to hear from the costume designer for this show. I love to hear about just how much attention to detail she gives to every single character's costumes. I like hearing how she analyzes the characters and how they would change between the seasons and episodes and how their costumes would change between seasons and episodes even. I just like having a peek into how different designers, especially when they are in different concentrations than I am interested in going into, think about things and what stuff they have to consider and what they have to do as preparations for their final designs that are going to be used in whatever project or production they are working on. This article provides me exactly that too, very cool.

Unknown said...

This was a really unique interview to read and to look into. I have watched all the current seasons of Yellowstone and I am a big fan of the show. I really have admired the looks of the costumes of the show since I started watching it and it was lovely to read some of the thought processes behind the scenes of what the designer was thinking. As someone who is not in the field of design and doesn’t really have much of a design mindset, I love reading or watching designers talk about their work because their processes are so interesting to me. I didn’t know that the current costume designer didn’t start until season two, that was something new that I learned when reading this article.I really like her mention of welcoming new voices and new visions into her work and the fact that she truly doesn’t have time to make sketches. Education teaches us that you have to do every part of the design process but sometimes, that’s just not feasible.

Brooke said...

Sorry the above comment was from me - Brooke A
This was a really unique interview to read and to look into. I have watched all the current seasons of Yellowstone and I am a big fan of the show. I really have admired the looks of the costumes of the show since I started watching it and it was lovely to read some of the thought processes behind the scenes of what the designer was thinking. As someone who is not in the field of design and doesn’t really have much of a design mindset, I love reading or watching designers talk about their work because their processes are so interesting to me. I didn’t know that the current costume designer didn’t start until season two, that was something new that I learned when reading this article.I really like her mention of welcoming new voices and new visions into her work and the fact that she truly doesn’t have time to make sketches. Education teaches us that you have to do every part of the design process but sometimes, that’s just not feasible.

Gabby Harper said...

This was a good read, Yellowstone has been on my radar to watch for quite some time now, and this article just added more to the reasons why I should watch it. Johnetta Boone’s love for her work is great, and the amount of thought she puts into the characters is amazing. What really stood out for me was Yellowstone’s use of a Director of Indigenous Affairs, which for a show like this would be an important addition. I also like how they’ve utilized Mo Brings Plenty’s expertise, and how easy it is for Johnetta Boone to envision the looks that the characters are wearing, just from him telling her the process of the events that are happening. They seem to know how to collaborate with each other, and they seem to work well together. It was also interesting to hear where Johnetta Boone’s inspiration for costume design came from. I enjoyed hearing about the old shows that inspired her.

Jordan Pincus said...

I haven’t watched Yellowstone, though I will definitely add it to my list. It’s so awesome to see a female designer of color on such a major project. As someone who loves the details of period clothing, I was super drawn to this article to take a look at the Western style. I feel like it’s something that’s often exaggerated without a historical sense. When I saw that the show takes place in the 30s, that definitely interested me, because it’s not the typical cowboy era. I love hearing that Boone creates costumes to complement the writing style - I think that’s essential. It’s also great to hear how much love and research she puts into her indigenous looks. I could see how when you’re working on a TV show and there are so many looks to consistently create, it’s easier to pull pieces and put them together than sit down and sketch everything.