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Monday, September 16, 2024
These Side-By-Side Photos Prove How Serious Old Movies Took Costume Design
www.yahoo.com/entertainment: Edith Head designed the costumes for Sweet Charity in 1969. Here's her sketch of Shirley MacLaine's character for "I'm a Brass Band."
3 comments:
Julia H.
said...
It's really fascinating to see how much thought and care went into the costume design in older films. These side-by-side comparisons show how much skill and creativity was involved in making outfits that not only fit the character but also matched the film’s overall style. This level of detail in costume design adds so much to the storytelling, helping the audience feel more connected to the world of the characters. In theater, costume design is just as important to the storytelling process as it is in film. These comparisons of old movie costumes make me think about how much planning and thought goes into creating costumes for live performances too. In both film and theater, designers use costumes to not only show a character’s personality or social status but also to hint at the time period, setting, and mood of the story. Theater costumes have an extra challenge since they have to work for live performances, allowing actors to move comfortably while still looking great under different lighting. Just like in film, bringing the costume from the sketch to the stage requires a lot of collaboration between the designers, directors, and actors to make sure everything works together to support the production.
This article does a lot of comparison of costume renderings to the realize piece, which was super interesting to look at. The author pointed out the changes that were made from the rendering to the final product, highlighting that very rarely does a costume stay the same as the rendering. I think this an important consideration for all aspects of theatre. While having an strong initial vision is critical for a good starting point, understanding that its fluid and subject to change based on the other designers visions, issues that arise, and changing perspectives. Seeing how Edith Head’s work changed from the first drafts makes me wonder what other iconic costumes throughout film and television were very different when first conceptualized. Finally, I think it’s super inspiring to see that incredible design work has been happening for a long time. Just because I have only recently entered the world of entertainment and design doesn’t mean that it started existing yesterday. Understanding the history and context that we live and work in as modern theatre artists is critical because it will inform you of who came before and where the industry is heading.
Old movies costume design: Edith Head is one of my favorite designers. Audrey Hepburn’s outfits in Roman Holiday and Grace Kelly’s masquerade gown in To Catch a Thief were some of the first costumes that made me stop and appreciate the art of costume design as a whole. Part of the reason I love Edith Head, and part of the reason I think she was so successful, is because she sketched costumes that could be translated easily by seamstresses and patternmakers. There are plenty of beautiful costume designs, but at the end of the day, they are the blueprint from which the actual costume is going to be made. Head always included the important details: clear proportions, clear placement, and clear intentions behind everything. When the article puts the sketches next to the finished result, the payoff is obvious: the fully realized costumes are always strikingly similar to the original sketch. Although some other sketches in the article may be more eye-catching, the final products rarely capture their essence in the same way.
3 comments:
It's really fascinating to see how much thought and care went into the costume design in older films. These side-by-side comparisons show how much skill and creativity was involved in making outfits that not only fit the character but also matched the film’s overall style. This level of detail in costume design adds so much to the storytelling, helping the audience feel more connected to the world of the characters. In theater, costume design is just as important to the storytelling process as it is in film. These comparisons of old movie costumes make me think about how much planning and thought goes into creating costumes for live performances too. In both film and theater, designers use costumes to not only show a character’s personality or social status but also to hint at the time period, setting, and mood of the story. Theater costumes have an extra challenge since they have to work for live performances, allowing actors to move comfortably while still looking great under different lighting. Just like in film, bringing the costume from the sketch to the stage requires a lot of collaboration between the designers, directors, and actors to make sure everything works together to support the production.
This article does a lot of comparison of costume renderings to the realize piece, which was super interesting to look at. The author pointed out the changes that were made from the rendering to the final product, highlighting that very rarely does a costume stay the same as the rendering. I think this an important consideration for all aspects of theatre. While having an strong initial vision is critical for a good starting point, understanding that its fluid and subject to change based on the other designers visions, issues that arise, and changing perspectives. Seeing how Edith Head’s work changed from the first drafts makes me wonder what other iconic costumes throughout film and television were very different when first conceptualized. Finally, I think it’s super inspiring to see that incredible design work has been happening for a long time. Just because I have only recently entered the world of entertainment and design doesn’t mean that it started existing yesterday. Understanding the history and context that we live and work in as modern theatre artists is critical because it will inform you of who came before and where the industry is heading.
Old movies costume design: Edith Head is one of my favorite designers. Audrey Hepburn’s outfits in Roman Holiday and Grace Kelly’s masquerade gown in To Catch a Thief were some of the first costumes that made me stop and appreciate the art of costume design as a whole. Part of the reason I love Edith Head, and part of the reason I think she was so successful, is because she sketched costumes that could be translated easily by seamstresses and patternmakers. There are plenty of beautiful costume designs, but at the end of the day, they are the blueprint from which the actual costume is going to be made. Head always included the important details: clear proportions, clear placement, and clear intentions behind everything. When the article puts the sketches next to the finished result, the payoff is obvious: the fully realized costumes are always strikingly similar to the original sketch. Although some other sketches in the article may be more eye-catching, the final products rarely capture their essence in the same way.
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