Glamour: All that being said, one might assume Celine cardigans and Loewe sweaters have no place in Lowen’s cottage-core capsule rotation, but Verity costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio argues that price tags don’t matter as long as the pieces look like something this “downtown Brooklyn cool girl” could find vintage shopping.
2 comments:
Costume design for TV shows and movies set in the present day is so interesting. In Verity, Demeterio didn't necessarily design or build individual costume pieces; instead, she curated the outfits that the characters wear. In some regards, this seems like “less work” since the costumes are made of existing clothing pieces that were all purchased for the movie. However, designing for a contemporary movie requires determining which existing clothing items and styles a character would wear. There's freedom, but also a strict framework of what styles are in fashion and the social connotations that some wth certain brands or styles of clothing. With a production like this, the designer can’t just start from scratch with what they think a character would wear; they have to pull from existing styles of clothing and determine what best fits their character design ideas. Another thing I thought was interesting is that Demeterio asked Johnson about the styles of jeans that look good on her. Since actors are familiar with contemporary clothing, their own preferences can also come into play, adding yet another layer to the design process. This difference in how a designer has to think when designing for a contemporary piece versus a piece set in the past or in space is very interesting, and I wonder more about what Demeterio’s design process was like.
While I recognize the many hours that went into sourcing, obtaining, and assembling the outfits Dakota Johnson wears in Verity, I was disappointed by the apparent lack of research that went into choosing them. This article gave me the impression that these designers were less concerned about the thought process and background of the character and spent more time on making the perfect fall outfit and figuring out what looks best on Dakota Johnson. While I acknowledge that this is a major part of their job, it still didn’t sit well with me that the designers didn’t even stick to pieces the movie character could afford- they opted for luxury goods and failed to explain why they chose them. I will admit that the outfits did blend well with the cottage aesthetic, but I would have appreciated a more thorough explanation of why the designers made the decisions they did or how the original descriptions in the book influenced their creative process.
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