Rules
Part of Celebrity costumes: the directory, with corrections
Twenty celebrity costume examples: production rules and themed-event ones
Twenty named celebrity costumes, from Elphaba's rigged wires to Gaga's meat dress, split by what film production demanded and what a single themed evening did.
What to take away
- Twenty celebrity costume examples show the splita production build answers a schedule, a themed-event build answers one night.
- A production costume and a party costume can look like the same object. They answer different questions.
- A production costume matches itself across weeks and exists in several identical copies. A party costume goes on alone.
- Production costume is a logistics problem before it is a design problem. Almost every unusual construction choice answers a backstage need.
- Multiples, doubles and deliberately damaged versions are normal backstage. None exist for a themed evening.
- Borrow a production method for a party when it makes dressing easier, not when it serves a camera.
- A stunt or dance version is built separately, with hidden padding and reinforcement. That is why it survives a take.
- The measure of success differsa production costume disappears into the story, a party costume reads as an idea at a glance.
Twenty celebrity costume examples, side by side
The left column describes the production build. The right column describes the themed-event version a person might wear.
Production Build vs Party Copy
Built for production
- Elphaba, Wicked
- Rig sewn into harness
- Glinda, Wicked
- Bubble gown separate build
- Sandy, Grease
- Satin cut for dance
- Dorothy, Oz
- Ruby slippers, close-up pair
- Catwoman, Batman
- Stitched vinyl, repairable
- Joker, Dark Knight
- Purple coat aged
Worn to a themed event
- Elphaba, Wicked
- Green dress and hat
- Glinda, Wicked
- Pink tulle, no rig
- Sandy, Grease
- Leather jacket, leggings
- Dorothy, Oz
- Sequined shop heels
- Catwoman, Batman
- Black catsuit and mask
- Joker, Dark Knight
- Purple blazer, bought new
Example
- 1
- Elphaba, Wicked (stage)
- 2
- Glinda, Wicked (stage)
- 3
- Sandy, Grease finale
- 4
- Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
- 5
- Catwoman, Batman Returns
- 6
- The Joker, The Dark Knight
- 7
- Black Panther, 2018
- 8
- Daenerys, Game of Thrones
- 9
- Wonder Woman, 2017
- 10
- Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean
- 11
- Marilyn Monroe, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
- 12
- Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's
- 13
- Cher, 1986 Oscars
- 14
- Bjork, 2001 Oscars
- 15
- Lady Gaga, 2010 MTV VMAs
- 16
- Rihanna, 2015 Met Gala
- 17
- Kim Kardashian, 2019 Met Gala
- 18
- Billy Porter, 2019 Oscars
- 19
- Blake Lively, 2018 Met Gala
- 20
- Zendaya, 2019 Met Gala
Built for production
- 1
- Susan Hilferty designed several identical green bodices; the flying rig is sewn into the harness
- 2
- The bubble gown is a separate build from the travel dress
- 3
- Albert Wolsky's black satin trousers were cut for the dance number and doubled for the wide shot
- 4
- Adrian's ruby slippers exist in several pairs; one pair was worn for the close-up
- 5
- Bob Ringwood and Mary E. Vogt's stitched vinyl suit was built to be repaired between takes
- 6
- Lindy Hemming's purple coat was aged and distressed as a controlled process
- 7
- Ruth E. Carter's habit is a molded piece over a fitted underlayer, with a stunt double set
- 8
- Michele Clapton's braids and coats matched across weeks of shooting. That is what continuity work protects
- 9
- Lindy Hemming's armor panels were built to move for fight choreography, with a second set for the double
- 10
- Penny Rose's coat and trinkets were aged and cataloged so each piece returned to the same place
- 11
- William Travilla's pink gown is built on a fitted understructure, not pinned to the outer layer
- 12
- Hubert de Givenchy's black dress was fitted precisely to one performer, sometimes twice
- 13
- Bob Mackie's two-piece showgirl look was built for a stage entrance, not a party
- 14
- Marjan Pejoski's swan dress is a sculpted build, worn once, now in a museum
- 15
- Franc Fernandez's meat dress was assembled from a build, not a wardrobe
- 16
- Guo Pei's yellow gown took two years to make and needed help to walk in
- 17
- Thierry Mugler's wet-look corset was fitted to one body, with a dresser on the night
- 18
- Christian Siriano's tuxedo gown was built as a single garment with a hidden structure
- 19
- Versace's gown was built in sections, with gloves and train as separate pieces
- 20
- Tommy Hilfiger's Cinderella gown was built to light up, with a battery pack and a dresser
Worn to a themed event
- 1
- A green dress and hat, one copy
- 2
- A pink tulle dress, no rig
- 3
- Leather jacket and leggings
- 4
- Sequined heels from a costume shop
- 5
- A black catsuit and a mask, sold by Rubie's as a licensed DC Catwoman costume
- 6
- A purple blazer, bought new
- 7
- A printed bodysuit, sold by Rubie's as a licensed Marvel Black Panther costume
- 8
- A blonde wig and a cape
- 9
- A tiara and a red cape, sold by Rubie's as a Wonder Woman party kit
- 10
- A tricorn hat and a waistcoat
- 11
- A pink satin dress with a bow
- 12
- A black shift and long gloves
- 13
- A beaded two-piece from a rental house such as Western Costume
- 14
- A feather tutu and a swan headband
- 15
- A printed dress with a meat print, sold by Yandy as a meat print costume
- 16
- A yellow cape dress
- 17
- A shiny bodycon dress
- 18
- A tux jacket over a ball skirt
- 19
- A beaded gown and long gloves
- 20
- A light-up dress from a party shop
What to borrow from the professional side
Four of the twenty translate directly to a party. They are the four that reduce stress.
Four Party Costume Rules
- Hidden fast closures where your hands reach
- Fitted underpinnings as a separate garment
- Repair kitpins, tape, needle, thread, spares
- Rehearsalwear it twenty minutes, sit down
- Hidden fast closures. Put the real fastening where your own hands reach. Let the visible one be decorative. This is the biggest improvement to any costume.
- Fitted underpinnings. Whatever holds the shape should be a separate garment that fits you. Do not pin it to the outer layer.
- A repair kit. Pack safety pins, double-sided tape, a needle and matching thread, and a spare of anything small that can be lost.
- A rehearsal. Wear the whole thing for twenty minutes at home, including the shoes. Sit down in it. Everything that will go wrong announces itself.
The rest of the list answers questions a party does not ask. Building multiples, planning a stunt version or matching continuity across weeks are real work for a production.
What not to borrow
Deliberate distressing is the obvious trap. On a production it is a controlled process done to a spare copy by someone who knows how to stop. Done to your only garment the night before, it is destruction. If you want a worn look, buy something already worn.
Two Traps to Avoid
Distressing your only garment?
destruction; buy something already worn
keep the controlled-process look for spares
The second trap is scale. Costumes for a stage or wide shot are sized to read at a distance. At a party, people stand close to you.
A stage-scaled headpiece and jewelry drown a face at arm's length. That judgment problem is covered in costume dressing, which explains how to scale a look for close viewing, with the rest in what goes wrong, a list of common construction faults.
Where the methods come from
The construction methods behind these builds are the four ways of holding a shape. A costume house is one of the four working methods described under how a garment gets made.
The people who design for productions work to a brief about a character, not a person. That is a different discipline with its own literature under costume design.
If you are adapting rather than building, the useful skill is reading an existing garment for what it will tolerate. That is the same forensic habit applied to evening clothes in reading construction from a photograph.
The way a maker turns a brief into a build sequence is set out under the four building methods, a guide to draping, drafting, flat pattern and zero-waste cutting.
Common questions
Why do productions make several copies of one costume?
Because different versions do different jobs: a clean one, a damaged one, one for a stunt performer, and sometimes a spare in case of an accident. Making them together is far cheaper than making a second one later.
Is it worth hiring a costume rather than making one?
For a single evening, often yes, especially for anything structured. The cost depends on the city and the build. A typical rental for a structured costume runs from about $50 to $150 for a weekend. Making one can take 8 to 20 hours plus $40 to $120 in materials.
A hire piece has already been tested by other people. The tradeoff is that it cannot be altered permanently.
How much of a costume should be bought new?
As little as possible. The strongest costumes are usually one bought or made element carrying the idea, on a base of things that already fit you.
What is the most common mistake with a home-built costume?
Building the outer layer first and discovering there is nothing to hang it on. Decide what holds the shape before you buy any of the visible fabric.
