For Reserved costume May onlyThere is a psychology for creating the wardrobe of a character. “I think authenticity is one of the most important things when designing costumes, to make sure these characters feel real and not just like you are talking barbies,” says Refinery29. “You want the audience to leave the theater and feel like” there was something about this character that felt like me. ”
For a movie as far as the 1995 classic, starring Alicia Silverstone as a High School High School student, the aging of the characters was actually vital. Yes, these wealthy teenagers had access to the fashion of the corridor and dad’s credit card, but maybe they wanted to portray girls who loved the mall and were youthful and lively.
While May – whose book The fashion of the ignorant He wrote in October – he had no idea what a cultural phenomenon will be celebrated 30 years this month, he would have known, he knew that the costumes were vital to the narrative. From the introductory shot-which showed a glittering high school editing, traveling to high quality cars and shopping with the best yarn-fashion was the focus. “It was colorful. It was California. It was high fashionable. It was teenage fun. It had to grab your eye immediately,” he says.
Gathering thousands of costumes – 63 of those belonging only to Cher (Silverstone) – with $ 200k budget was no small task, according to May: “[We had to find] Each headpiece, every backpack, every pair of sunglasses, every piece of jewelry that looks. I don’t even know how I did, seriously, but we went for it. “He stresses that the film was made in the mid -1990s, before social media made it easy to discover and access fashion. People behaved differently. There was a certain kind of innocence and that,” he says.
Because of this, May thought it was important to create social signs (namely: graphic tees for the skaters, exposed slip socks and running for a scattered teacher, etc.), also to attract culturally related design labels (Calvin Klein Slip ” designer of a “fisherman) to hear not to be privatized to speak and be the institution.
Because the cast was quite unknown at that time, there were no giant “PR engines” sending boxes from fashion houses to dress the actors. It can also recruit luxury labels for appearance, such as the cheric yellow skirt, Jean Paul Gaultier, along with tracks from Fred Segal and Anna Sui. He also pulled out tracks from used shops, military surplus stores and then popular brands: Glove Body, Roxy, BCBG, GAP, American Rag, Esprit, Vertigo and Wet Seal (RIP). Combining the designer names with the pillars of the shopping center, May says he was able to highlight the apartment convenience of each character.
‘Nion [played by Stacey Dash] It’s a very good example of that. He wears a lot of different things, from the high-end Chanel to the leopard jacket that had been discouraged and the vinyl skirt that was from a Rave Store in Melrose, “May explains, as Cher also incorporated bypass, Soft Preppy Co-Tric Girl.
He may believe that the style is strongly three decades later, because, in many ways, the worship classic was ahead of his time. The film was thin in the depiction of teenage girls, who were obsessed with fashion and naive, but also fast and hospitable. There was a complexity for them – one can feel the responsibility to translate through their clothing. “It was difficult to make this movie,” he says. “[Director] Eg [Heckerling] He said that many studios went to it because they didn’t want the girls to talk like that. They wanted movies for the boys. It was important to introduce young girls who speak this way: to be smart, to be self-esteem and to know what they want. Smart girls deserved smart clothes. ”
May to ensure that the clothes reflected every personality of the characters: Dionne’s bold accessories and prints talked about her silent personality, meticulously coordinated shoes and Cher’s clothes spoke to her perfectionism. Meanwhile, Tai (Brittany Murphy) had an evolving wardrobe-who went from wide jerseys and graphics tees at the beginning of the film in Cher Plaids approved and eventually a happy grunge-meets-girly medium-who spoke on her journey to lose, discover and come to her.
With so many characters to dress, the appearance had to work together, such as the coordinated school of Cher and Dionne. On the one hand, it brought to mind a well -known scenario to call your friend to design clothes the night before school and, on the other hand, symbolized that the two were a counterpart. “Throughout the movie, I wanted to make sure they were just as modern, just as important,” May says.
Since the film was in southern California, it may feel that it was important to also depict the many subcultures, from the rich upper step to the skaters, the stoning and the children-casual children who took themselves very seriously. Although everyone was living in this world of Platinum credit cards, the style of Dionne and Murray, for example, was culturally about black American teenagers at that time, with Kangol hats, leopard printing and gold jewelry. He can achieve this authenticity by working with every actor to build his wardrobe together.
Dash, for example, was slightly larger than New York, and had a strong sense of personal style, which played a huge role in making the look of its character. In turn, according to May, “Murray [Donald Faison’s character] It had to look very well, because it would never date a relaxing. ”
The same care was expanded to Christian Stovitz (Justin Walker), the Chicago Transfer student, who later discover is gay. May wanted to drive the clothes with his personality and interests-like fashion, which resulted in wearing hats, a blue tuxedo and hair with spots-and not a reducing version of what a homosexual character could “look like” (not given at that time).
Fashion in Reserved May Signature Cement in all her works – which later included other classic worship The reunification of Romy and Michelle’s High School and It was never a kiss – And she gave the movie her stay. It is the reason why not even a Halloween without Cher and Dionne leisure, because the clothing collections in 1995 and then exploded Reserved-Inspired yarn, and because 30 years later, we are still celebrating the film that introduced Alaïa to many of our vocabulary.
“It is incredible that this film has lived in many people’s hearts. It has changed them and made them feel good. I am so proud. I will have a pink bow in my grave.”
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