On Wednesday night two of my favorite things combined: great fashion and addictive television.
I attended a lecture series at the Smithsonian called "Dressing DC for the Small Screen: Costume Designers from House of Cards and The Americans". The panel discussion included costume designers Jenny Gering (The Americans) and Tom Broecker (House of Cards: Season One).
Jenny and Tom were a total delight! They were warm, engaging, and most importantly, provided incredible insight into the level of thought and detail that goes into dressing the characters on these shows.
Below are a few snipits of information I found most interesting from the discussion. Enjoy!
Tom Broecker: House of Cards
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| Robin Wright as Claire Underwood on Netflix's House of Cards |
On Claire's Shoes
Claire always wears heels because she is considered an equal to Frank. In Tom's words, "If you are going to go toe-to-toe with a man, why not do it with a little extra height?"
Claire is a commanding woman with an equally strong presence. If you look closely, any scene that includes Claire and other women will show Claire to be the only one in heels. All the 'background women' are wearing flats. Clearly Claire's power goes all the way down to footwear.
People's posture change depending on what shoes they are wearing. For example, a woman stands very differently in heels than she does in flats. Claire's strength, confidence, and stature fiercely stand upon her Louboutins. Always.
On Claire's Clothing
Claire's clothes are her armor. Nothing can get to her through her wardrobe.
Claire never wears prints, Tom thinks they date too quickly. I couldn't agree more.
Claire often wears a great collared shirt, which serves the purpose of framing Robin Wright's exquisite face.
The show looked to women of European political stature, rather than here at home, for the inspiration of dressing Claire Underwood. Specific references were Carla Bruni and Samantha Cameron.
So who does Claire wear? (Included, but not limited to)
Skirts - Gucci
Dresses - Ralph Lauren and Narciso Rodriguez
Cardigans - Ann Taylor
Collared Button Down Shirts - Banana Republic
Shoes - Christian Louboutin
Tom and his crew typically shop at department stores. Each garment needs to be altered to perfection, which is very difficult to do with loaned garments from fashion houses.
On Claire's Signature Bag
The Yves Saint Laurent Muse bag was meant to be a few years out of season when they shot Season One. In DC, and politics in general, it is considered vulgar to show your wealth. Your constituents might not be too happy to see you rolling around in money while they are trying to put food on the table. In this case, it's Claire re-purposing of an old-faithful rather than running off to Neiman's for the latest season's collection.
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| Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood in Netflix's House of Cards |
On Dressing Kevin Spacey
Tom accompanied Kevin Spacey to London to work with a tailor he (Spacey) had a personal relationship with. Tom fitted him for twelve custom suits for Season One. Spacey thought sourcing the suits from London was a way of paying homage to the original House of Cards, based in the UK.
Apparently Kevin Spacey is obsessed with watches. He has up to eight at at time on set with the costume department. Someone's entire responsibility during shooting one day is to make sure the right watch stays with the right suit.
Spacey's character Frank Underwood wears a robin egg blue tie in Season One, the tie was actually Bill Clinton's. Apparently when the two men met in person they did a tie swap. I wonder what Bill got off of Kevin?
Frank is never dressed in a french cuff. The concept is that Frank should always be able to roll up his sleeves and 'get to work'.
Jenny Gering: The Americans
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| Kerri Russell as Elizabeth Jenning's on FX's The Americans |
On Dressing Kerri Russell
Jenny says Kerri Russell is delightful to work with. She has her own ideas but trusts Jenny to know what is best for the character and the scene.
Russell's character Elizabeth is aware of her sex appeal, which she often uses to extract information from her targets; however, she doesn't overtly show it. The sexiest outfit Elizabeth might wear is a pair of really tight jeans or a silk blouse that has just one too many buttons undone.
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| Elizabeth & Philip Jennings disguised on FX's The Americans |
On Creating Alter Egos
One of Phillip Jennings' (played by Matthew Rhys) most frequented alter egos is Kurt. The commentator asked if Kurt was wearing corduroy in one photo. Jenny said 'Oh no, corduroy is way too casual for Kurt! Kurt needs a blend...he's a permanent pressed kind-of guy.' If you watch the show and are familiar with the character of Kurt, you can understand why I cracked up at this moment of the discussion.
Often times the starting point for an alter ego is a wig. Inspiration has to come from somewhere!
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| Kerri Russell and Matthew Rhys on set of FX's The Americans |
On Styling Characters for a Period Show
Jenny and her crew have partnerships with vintage shops across the country. Deadstock is the jackpot if they can find it. (Deadstock means vintage clothes that have never been worn, with the tags still on)
If she can get her hands on dups (duplicate items of the same clothing) it makes life so much easier for stunt scenes. It's less of a headache to re-shoot a blood spatter scene if you don't have to worry about cleaning the vintage suit in-between takes.
Jenny uses her mom's own vintage pieces quite often on Kerri Russell. Apparently there is a pair of boots that Jenny would die to have, but her Mom and Kerri Russell both have very small feet, and Jenny missed out on that gene.
When curating a wardrobe for an episode, Jenny wants to know down to the month when the writers have scripted the scene. For example, they start filming the next season soon and it opens in November of 1982. Jenny has been doing extensive research to find the perfect pieces to replicate the exact time and place of the show.
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