In/Expensive Discount Bin Shoes
The super cheap, kinda ugly discount bin shoes I bought in the ghetto the other day cost, at one point, close to 100 dollars. They’re now on sale online for $86. I came across the price while making sure that the faux snakeskin wasn’t really snakeskin.
Bizarre. I paid well under half the above sales price for these suckers.
:: Bibliography ::
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Zappos.com. Impulse P5033 (Navy Pull Up/Dark Gray Oil Nubuck/Navy Multi Snake Print) – Sport. Zappos.com. http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/32419072/c/141159.html (28 August 2008).
Catwoman and her Costume (Redux)
Mrrow.
My sister was telling me about the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibit at the Met and mentioned that she’d seen Catwoman’s costume from Batman Returns there, among other things. (You may remember that I posted a video about the making of Catwoman’s costume a while back.) They’ve a pretty interesting interview with Bob Ringwood (a costume designer for Batman Returns) and Jeff Gent (of Syren Couture, who constructed the costume, pictured above, for the exhibit). Also, an unattributed essay discusses Catwoman’s costume, although I don’t agree with the assertions the author makes at the essay’s conclusion. I’m reproducing both here because it’s too much to paraphrase, and because exhibit websites have a funny way of disappearing after the exhibit closes. (Think of it as an archival version, Met, and please don’t sue me!)
Catwoman
We had to justify the catsuit. Where did the Selina Hasting (Kyle) character get it? So we (Mary Vogt and I) discussed with the Tim Burton idea of shooting a scene were she made it herself out of a shiny black raincoat and used her sewing kit to make the claws. The scene works well in the film and has charm and is quite amusing.
I felt from the start that the catsuit had to be sexy but not trashy or cheap. It had to be classy. Black, shiny fetish clothing can very easily slip into the sleaze/porn world and this, after all, was a film for family viewing.
We tried to give the suit a playful, kittenish quality while still retaining a sleek, sexy appeal. The rough white home-made stitches on the shiny black suit were whimsical yet helped elevate the design by giving it an abstract graphic art quality. The whole design presented the head and face and the only colour in the costume is on the lips.
The makeup reinforced the monochrome black-and-white concept of the design, which was punctuated by the bright red lips, adding hugely to the impact. This was helped a great deal by the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer. She played the character with a refinement and wit that helped keep the design wholesome and playful, yet still remaining extremely sexy without becoming vulgar.
—Bob Ringwood
My work on the Catwoman costume for Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, began by sorting through Syren Couture’s Archives to see what I could find from our work on Batman Returns. I was able to locate several detailed drawings, which mapped the location of each of the individual cast-rubber sets of “stitches” on the costume; a critical piece of information for the re-creation. Bob Ringwood, the costume designer, was nice enough to send several high-resolution photographs of the costume for reference. The Warner Brothers Archive was very helpful by allowing me access to the original Catwoman costumes to take extensive measurements and photographs of the original suits.
A new pattern was created using all of these resources, but to get the proper fit, draping directly on the mannequin was the best solution. Each pattern piece was then cut from garment-quality rubber sheeting which we import from England. Since rubber will tear easily if sewn, we use a custom-formulated glue to hold the seams together. I made several prototypes of the costume, making adjustments of the fit while each was still on the mannequin. When the basic rubber suit had been perfected, it was time for the final touches.
—Jeff Gent, Syren Couture
Paradoxical Body
Superhero comics have tended to promote an ideology that is both masculinist and driven to mastery. Nowhere are these biases more blatant than in the representation of female superheroes. With unabashed and unapologetic obviousness, women are portrayed as objects of male desire and fantasy with absurdly exaggerated sexual characteristics. While it is true that the costumes worn by male superheroes can also be defined by an overt sex appeal, those worn by their female counterparts tend to reveal a lot more bare flesh. But the frisson of fetishistic sexuality presented by female superheroes is adduced with one hand only to be dismissed with the other. This offering and denying of sexuality, which helps to resolve the sexual fears and desires of developing males, is the eternal paradox of the superheroine.
Catwoman, through her radical split of conscience between “good girl” and “bad girl,” literalizes this contradiction. Created by artist Bob Kane, she was inspired, in part, by Hedy Lamarr, whom Kane admired for her “great feline beauty.” When she first appeared in Batman No. 1, Spring 1940, she was known simply as The Cat, a female burglar. Her real name was Selina Kyle, and originally she was characterized as a sybaritic socialite whose initial impulse to steal stemmed from ennui. Over the years, both her origin story and her costume have undergone several redesigns. While in some cases the costume changes parallel (and signal) character transformations, in others they seem to be purely for the sake of fashionable appearances. Indeed, in another instance of comic-book chauvinism, female characters are typically subject to more stylistic makeovers, whether radical or restrained, than their male counterparts. Submission to the dialectics of fashion is presented as another expression of a fetishized femininity. Fetishism is a defining ingredient to Catwoman’s wardrobe. She is best known, perhaps, for catsuits that cleave to the body, due in large part to the portrayals of the character by Julie Newmar in the television series Batman (1966) and Michelle Pfeiffer in the film Batman Returns (1992). Typical of the intermedia cross-pollination for which superheroes are famous, the costumes of both actresses served to inspire and influence those worn by Catwoman in her comic-book representation.
As apparel, the catsuit has long been identified with the dominatrix, an archetype frequently associated with Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance strengthened this connection by spotlighting the themes of alpha-cat and submissive kitten-like behavior. Her costume, which co-opted the traditional iconography of the dominatrix, included associated paraphernalia such as a whip, gloves, and high-heel shoes.
The visual and symbolic language of Catwoman resonates strongly in fashion, especially in the work of Thierry Mugler, John Galliano, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianni Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Alexander McQueen. All these designers, like Catwoman (and, indeed, female comic-book characters generally), have been attracted to the wardrobe of the dominatrix and its associations of a liberated sexuality. Conceptually loaded and psychologically coded items such as catsuits, corsets, bustiers, and harness bras, usually in black “wet-look” materials like leather, rubber, and polyvinyl chloride, have in the hands of these outré designers achieved widespread acceptance as exotic-erotic haute couture. But in co-opting these sexual clichés, fashion has, in the process, muted their meanings and sanitized their subtexts. In much the same way as comic books, fashion presents elements of fetishistic sexuality stereotypically, undermining, or at least redirecting and repositioning, its subversive, sadomasochistic underpinnings. While presented blatantly, erotic energies, like the feral nature of Catwoman, are tamed, neutered, and, ultimately, neutralized.
:: Bibliography ::
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Paradoxical Body | Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy | Special Exhibitions. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/special/superheroes/paradoxical.asp (16 July 2008).
- Ringwood, Bob, and Jeff Gent. Costume Designer Quotes | Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy | Special Exhibitions. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/special/superheroes/designer_quotes.asp (16 July 2008).
Catwoman and Her Costume
…seriously warped my brain as a kid. From my second favorite Batman movie (Batman Returns), my favorite Batman villainess (Pfeiffer’s Catwoman):
Skin-tight black rubber and wet silicone? Uf!
Conspiracy theory: American Apparel exploiting the destitute
The other day I was thrift shopping at one of my secret thrift stores – the kind that aren’t picked over by those of means – and discovered a plethora of American Apparel t-shirts. An absurd amount; racks and racks, in fact. I was vaguely pleased that I could buy some plain, comfy t-shirts at an affordable price. ($1.99 per shirt, which is rather steep at a thrift store, but beyond economic for AA’s wares.)
However, why would a suburban thrift store have a boatload of these shirts in pale yellow, orange, and white? To my knowledge, these are not the colors of any local school. Who would be silkscreening on them, but be able to discard so many? The quality of the batch is not in question. The colors are not offensive. This leads to the only logical explanation: American Apparel is initiating a dastardly marketing ploy using the poor as unwitting pawns!
One of the shirts in question, as well as an
example of American Apparel’s marketing campaign.
My evidence is hypothetical, but come now! All of AA’s “models” look inexpertly (if not poorly) groomed and quite often not exactly attractive.
So, they dump a shipment of their shirts (sized small and medium) into a non-boutique-y thrift shop and let the skinny folk that shop there snap them up. Voilà! It’s ingenious, because the type of person that will buy the shirts is almost guaranteed to match their current models: skinny, not afraid of wearing clothes that fit, predominantly white. AA is unfazed by, if not flat-out aiming for, the fact that some of the people may not be particularly concerned with comeliness or personal hygiene.
This plot ultimately feeds AA’s illusory desire to appear removed from the more stylized and affluent fashions of the middle class.
:: Bibliography ::
American Apparel. Fine Jersey Short Sleeve T-Shirt – Freeship Men – American Apparel Online Store. American Apparel. http://store.americanapparel.net/2001.html (26 May 2008).
Eiko Ishioka communicates in taffeta and lace
You probably haven’t heard of the recent controversy spurred by the new Collector’s Edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The color palette of the film has been drastically changed, darkness greatly increased, desaturated, etc. in comparison to earlier mass market releases. According to the motion picture archivist Robert Harris, this is because American Zoetrope has digitally matched the colors to those of the Francis Ford Coppola-approved answer print. According to fans it’s an unpardonable, deliberate revision of their favorite film incarnation of the Dracula story. I honestly don’t care about any of that… as long as consumers have a choice between the two.
My only lingering concern with the Collector’s Edition is that it has been accused of totally altering Eiko Ishioka’s Academy Award-winning costume designs. From very early on in Dracula’s pre-production, Coppola “decided that the costumes would be the set.” (Dworkin 17) When Eiko Ishioka realized “that the costumes would be the key factor in determining the quality of the film itself, I accepted the job.” (Dworkin 21) So that is what this post is actually about. Not the concern for color fidelity in film archiving, but those beautiful costumes – inspired by everything from the Symbolist movement to the Australian frilled lizard – that were conceived of and created by Ishioka. (Dworkin 19, 70)
One of the most memorable garments from the film is Dracula’s “red Oriental-Turkish robe”, which was created to “emphasize the androgynous quality in his character”, “a haunting aura of transsexuality.” (Dworkin 41) In the thematic color of red, Eiko had Dracula’s golden coat-of-arms embroidered on the breast.
Detail of the crest on Dracula’s robe. Photo by David Seidner. (Dworkin 42)
This emblem is Dracula’s “identity, similar to the Japanese family crest. I designed a motif of various animals intertwined into a single form.” (Dworkin 42) These included a dragon, wolf, snakes, and birds, as well as fire. (Landau 37) The robe’s voluminous train was constructed to “undulate like a sea of blood.” (Dworkin 41) Not all of Dracula’s planned costumes made it into the film. Check out this sketch of a brocaded vest with red detailing/piping and handkerchief:
Sketch of Dracula’s vest by Eiko Ishioka. Photo by Keith Sherins. (Dworkin 28)
The designs for women are the cornerstone of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And why is that? It’s because the original, decentralized story found in Stoker’s novel – told through every character’s point of view except Dracula’s – has been appropriated for Mina. Screenwriter Jim Hart felt that “The key to writing Dracula was to make it Mina’s story.” (Landau 80) Instead of a fragmented narrative, Mina gives it unity and continuity. While it may seem that Mina’s story is framed by Dracula’s historic prologue, the truth is in fact the opposite. Dracula lacks agency. He can merely react as Elisabeta kills herself, as Mina abandons him to marry Harker, as she makes the decision to become a vampire, as she exploits their psychic rapport to assist her friends, and finally as she delivers them both from the unholy covenant Dracula forged with “darkness”.
Throughout the film, Mina’s costumes convey just as much of the story as the actress beneath all that silk. For example, the dress Mina wears in Rule’s Cafe (the absinthe scene) was colored red – Dracula’s color – to convey that Mina would soon be tainted by vampirism. (Landau 127)
Sketch of Mina’s red bustle gown by Eiko Ishioka. (Landau 126)
Ishioka “carefully considered Mina’s role in the drama” before she chose green as Mina’s thematic color. (Dworkin 61) The color needed to compass the character’s intelligence, sexual naïveté, stoicism, sense, and strong will. Many of these attributes can be seen in the dress she wears on the streets of London and in the cinematograph. The pert hat represents her vivacity and fortitude, the manly lapels her status as a New Woman with a “man’s brain [...] and a woman’s heart“, etc. (Stoker 266)
Winona Ryder wearing the town dress. Photo by Ralph Nelson II. (Landau 80)
Sketch of the town dress by Eiko Ishioka. Photo by Keith Sherins. (Dworkin 60)
Most of Mina’s dresses – including her typing gown – also sport high collars to reflect her modesty and chastity:
Mina’s typing dress. Photo by David Seidner. (Dworkin63)
The high collar can also be seen on Mina’s three-quarter sleeve dress. This dress is rather domestic-looking because of the contrast between the apron and the skirt and wrap. It also lacks leaf embroidery (whose importance will be discussed later) and is almost always worn while in the presence or under the protection of Van Helsing.
Mina’s three-quarter sleeve dress. Photos by Ralph Nelson II. (Landau 129, 125, 141)
As you can see, Ishioka took a predominantly historical, orthodox approach to Mina’s costumes, only pushing boundaries with her creative embellishments. (Dworkin 94) However, “Costumes should be more than just items that explain the role of the actors who wear them”, she stresses. (Dworkin 27) A costume should challenge the actor, filmmakers, and audience. (Dworkin 27) An example of this type of costume is Mina’s wedding dress, which is featured only briefly in the movie. Rather than a virginal white, it is instead a sombre gray-green:
The torso and bustle of Mina’s wedding gown. Photos by David Seidner. (Dworkin 65, 64)
This type of implicit message can also be seen in the final act of the film, in which Mina wears a historically outmoded style. “I designed her cape in the last scene with a strong Renaissance flavor, a Pre-Raphaelite look.” (Dworkin 91) This costume foreshadows Mina’s realization that she is truly the reincarnation of Elisabeta, Dracula’s 15th century bride.
Mina’s Renaissance cape. Photo by David Seidner. (Dworkin 91)
Elisabeta’s gown, seen at the beginning of the film and later in flashbacks, contains the elements that draw the two (three?) central characters together: Emblazoned on the torso is Dracula’s crest. Elisabeta and Mina’s designs are relatively consistent: On the sleeves and skirt – and even her crown of laurel – is the foliage motif that is often also found on Mina’s dresses. Both have the theme color of green. While Elisabeta wears a farthingale, Mina wears a bustle.
Elisabeta’s gown. First photo by David Seidner, second by Ralph Nelson II. (Dworkin 79, Landau 14)
Ishioka’s desire to design museum-quality costumes and her overall perfectionism meant that making multiple copies of her garments for filming was financially impractical. Richard Shissler, the associate costume designer, said that “We probably should have had duplicates of everything, but we just didn’t have the budget [...] Eiko didn’t want to compromise, so we had multiples only when we really needed them.” (Landau 127) Mina’s costumes were constructed with silk taffeta, imported from France and Italy, by Dale Wibben, a freelance dressmaker from San Francisco. (Dworkin 94) Sally Ann Parsons from Parsons-Meares, Ltd. in New York did the more theatrical costumes for Dracula, Lucy, and Renfield while Vincent Costume, Inc. made the men’s clothing. (Dworkin 94) The elaborate embroidery on many of the costumes was done by Penn and Fletcher and Monogram West. (Dworkin 94)
In retrospect, upon seeing her handiwork, it’s no wonder that Coppola chose Ishioka. However, at the time it was a gamble; she had never worked on the costumes for a film before, only television. Coppola’s “strategy in hiring someone like her – an independent, a weirdo outsider with no roots in the business – it worked in the end. Because I could look at the screen and say, well, these costumes are truly irrational and artistic and absolutely unique.” (Dworkin 93)
If I revisit Bram Stoker’s Dracula again, it will be to talk about the one thing in in the film that is more beautiful than the costumes: Wojciech Kilar’s glissando filled love theme, “Mina/Dracula”. (You can hear it over at YouTube, in this video from 2:00 to the end.)
:: Bibliography ::
- Dworkin, Susan, ed. Coppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. By Francis Ford Coppola and Eiko Ishioka. San Francisco: Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1992. ISBN: 0002551675.
- Landau, Diana, ed. Bram Stoker’s Dracula: The Film and the Legend. By Francis Ford Coppola. New York: Newmarket Press, 1992. ISBN: 1557041393.
- Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1989. ISBN: 0812523016.
Renée Zellweger is Vertigo’s Madeleine!
Others have tried – and failed – to recreate Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo: In 1976 Brian de Palma created the interesting, if poorly executed, Obsession–a thinly veiled Vertigo knock-off. Sixteen years later, Paul Verhoeven would emulate the film’s visuals to a surprising degree in Basic Instinct. (A visual comparison of Basic Instinct and Vertigo can be found here.) Attempts to recreate key scenes from the film have occurred as recently as 2005. Now, it’s time to add another to the list; Vanity Fair’s March 2008 issue will feature a photographic homage to Hitchcock’s films, including Renée Zellweger as Judy / Madeleine in the final tower scene from Vertigo! (Roy)
I never would have expected Vanity Fair to pick Renée Zellweger to fill Kim Novak’s shoes. Although I admit that she’s a talented actress, Zellweger has never been in a role that required the vulnerability, complexity, and emotional scope that Novak had to bring to her character. And of all the scenes to choose! You’d think they’d pick an easy “grey suit” episode, but instead they chose the climactic dénouement in the tower. It is perhaps the movie’s most emotionally charged scene. However, as you can see in the video of the shoot (also below), Zellweger has more or less nailed it.
Zellweger’s performance at the shoot – described by Vanity Fair itself as “especially notable” – was both intense and impressive. (Windolf) This praise is pretty amazing, considering that there were five other Oscar winners and a huge amount of A-listers being photographed for Hitchcock’s other films. (Check out the article, cited below, for the full list and scans.) As you can see in the photo and video, everything in terms of the mise en scène was spot on: the coiffure, cosmetics, dress, earrings, tower interior… even Carlotta’s pendant.
At the shoot, Zellweger “was watching the scene over and over while getting her hair and makeup done, and when she came on set she started breathing really hard, almost hyperventilating. [...] She just absolutely exploded on the set and truly became that character like I’ve never seen before. We were in awe.” (Windolf) This method acting may explain why Zellweger’s performance lacked the subtle artistry that Novak brought to Judy’s character in both this and other scenes. (And in all fairness, it was just a photo shoot.) In addition to amplifying the emotions for a traditional camera, Zellweger herself may have been having an emotional reaction to Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak’s performances.
Revisiting Vertigo is something of an obsession for fans of the film. (Unfortunately, this Vertigo fanatic will not be close enough to visit San Fransisco when he goes to Anaheim, California this summer for the annual ALA conference.) Watch a YouTube video of the locations featured in the film here. Check out a stunning visual comparison of scenes from the film and contemporary photographs at Vertigo… Then and Now.
:: Bibliography ::
- Roy, Norman J., photographer. “The 2008 Hollywood Portfolio.” Vanity Fair (March 2008): 370-71. Accessed 8 February 2008. http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/20148385.html.
- Windolf, Jim. It’s the Hitch in Hitchcock. March 2008. CondéNet. Accessed 6 February 2008. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/behindthescenes200803.
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