All Hallows Eve
Written By Sylvia Fuhrken
As I sit down to write this post, I reflect on how a holiday solely centered around dressing up seems like a costume designer’s dream. As much as I usually do not personally participate, I love to see how friends and family transform themselves into another character or person. I am always amazed at people’s creativity in finding ways to perfectly interpret their costume. Halloween costumes come from all types of inspiration, like from film and TV, traveling to a different decade, doing our best impressions of a historical figure or icon, or representing occupations that have a specific uniform. To experience this day of pure fun and joy there is much preparation as people choose who they will be and through what means. You can either head to the nearest Spirit Halloween and buy a premade costume or slowly gather pieces that will work as a representation of said costume. Some people take on the most time-consuming and dedicated option, sewing and building a costume. I marvel at the fact that a holiday, started over 2000 years ago, in ancient Ireland, where the Celts danced around bonfires in costumes made from animal skins, has morphed into groups of friends bar crawling dressed as the Spice Girls or kids going from door to door dressed as Batman and Robin. The holiday started as a way for the Celts to celebrate the end of the summer and the beginning of the cold months. Their new year was on November 1st, so the night before, being October 31st, was a day for them to sacrifice animals and crops to appease the spirits so they wouldn’t take their loved ones from them in the winter months – which is when the death toll was the highest. Eventually, when the colonies were settled, Irish immigrants brought it to America and continued their traditions, making it more family-friendly. They say that by the 20th century, celebrating Halloween was in full swing, and America had fully embraced the commercialization of the holiday. It is amazing to think that all of this came from the Celts partying and sacrificing animals to the spirits and now, on Halloween, you walk down the street to see ghosts and cats and witches and monsters.
Film and TV has played a huge part in inspiring Halloween costumes. For that one night, people can take part in the fantasy of being able to dress up as characters you admire, aspire to be, or who you think you look enough alike to make a passable doppelganger. All these beloved characters’ costumes came from the mind of one person, the costume designer. When reading the script, the costume designer envisions how the character, based on their attributes and role, will be visually represented. Through much research, time, and teamwork, the costume designer creates the character’s fully conceptualized look. When getting a job for a film or TV show, the costume designer never imagines that the costumes they create will ever live on beyond the screen. They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and when a fan watches a film and decides to dress up as a niche film character, a costume designer is beaming. As much as a designer loves seeing fans recreate their looks and post on social media, there is a flip side to this burden of releasing your work to the public. When studios have a successful film or franchise and there is licensing potential, the costume designer is not brought in as a part of the deal. For instance, the studio makes a licensing deal with a company to mass produce and sell Halloween costume designs and the costume designer, even though the costumes came from their mind, does not ever see any of the residuals from their work. It is not something that has traditionally been negotiated at the start of a film, and therefore is not common practice, nor does the studio offer this. Costume designers are fighting for the rights to the work, but when they sign a contract with a studio, they are signing the rights of anything created under the studio to them. Most costume designers don’t even know these licensing deals are being made until after the fact when the products are already on the shelves. On top of not having licensing deals, costume designers are, in turn, rarely credited for their work, even in articles that discuss the film or collaborations with fashion lines inspired by the film. The fight for recognition starts at getting basic credit for costume designer’s work. Then, it will expand to tackling the world of fashion lines, collaborations, and maybe even Halloween costumes. Thankfully, there are amazing people in the industry who are taking this on, designers who are changing the narrative and getting licensing deals, or at the bare minimum, asking to be credited. To put it into perspective, think about the costume designer, Penny Rose, who designed Captain Jack Sparrow’s costume from The Pirates of the Caribbean. There is no record of her contract that she has with Disney with residuals, but, I could imagine she would be sitting on the moon in a giant mansion if she ever saw any residuals from her work being created into knock off figurines and knock off costumes and so on.
When I worked on Book of Boba Fett, I learned very quickly how important the fans opinions, reactions, and dedication to the Star Wars universe played into the design decisions of the show. Shawna Trpcic, the costume designer, talked about how she was always trying to find ways to put easter eggs into the costumes for cos player fans to pick up on and integrate in their own designs. Working with her, I learned that catering to the fans was an important part of this job, and it was not farfetched to believe that your designs would, in fact, be recreated one day. I could rightfully imagine a fan watching the show and then making one of the costumes, late at night, in their home, sewing for hours and studying photos and rewatching clips to get every detail right. After working on that show and after it aired, it was really fun seeing the discussion boards online, as fans tried to decipher what types of fabric was used and so on. Everyone who worked on the costumes knew the answers, and if someone got it right, there was a satisfaction in knowing that a fan really paid attention to all the hard work we put in on the front end, creating these costumes from the ground up. Shawna designed these costumes out of love for the fandom of Star Wars, and she went on to be Emmy nominated and win Emmy’s for this work. The film community recognized her hard work and beautiful contribution to the screen. I have no idea what sort of deal Shawna may have worked out with Disney and Lucas Films as far as licensing, or even if that was an option on the table for her as she continued her work on Star Wars, but I do know that for Shawna, she was creating a legacy for herself and adding to the culture and world that is Star Wars. Costume Designers love what they do, and at the end of the day, we are artists. We are doing this work for the art, and we feel a lot of gratitude when there is a love and admiration from the fans.
Earlier this year, Katerina and I went and saw Poor Things together. We immediately fell in love with the film and the main character: Bella Baxter. Bella, depicted by the incredible Emma Stone, represents female independence, autonomy, and self-discovery, as she breaks social norms for women. These are all the qualities of a woman I believe in embodying, and I wanted to pay tribute by recreating Bella’s iconic look. When making a Halloween costume, I love its challenges, as I try to find the perfect pattern and the perfect materials. To recreate Bella’s look, I decided to gather all my materials from thrift stores. The jacket was made from a blue satin curtain, and the shorts came from a yellow tablecloth. The blouse is a vintage piece from the 70s and the boots are vintage from the 80s. The best part of doing this project with Katerina, is that when I present her with my ideas, she is 100% game to take them on. The next thing I know, Katerina is wearing the long, black wig that falls far past her waist, in the jacket and shorts, dancing around her living room, the both of us laughing hysterically.
On this Halloween, or next, as you are picking your favorite film or TV character to dress up as, think about the costume designer who created the character’s look. Look up their name on IMDB (internet movie database) and take a moment to appreciate their work that gave you the inspiration for your fabulous Halloween ensemble.
If you want to read more about and see the work the Costume Designer’s Guild is doing for costume designers rights, equal pay, and contracts with the studios, go to their Instagram page: @cdglocal892.
Thank you to Elisa Fuhrken for editing.
Had no idea costume designers rarely get credit. I imagine this might be linked to sewing and costume work being traditionally seen as women’s work?
Terrific column! Informative and thought-provoking and fun. Perfect way to kick off the holiday!!