Costume designer Jennifer Johnson discusses the painstaking work that went into genuine re-creations of the display siren’s seems, together with a gown with a heart-shaped rear cut-out.
For BAFTA-nominated costume designer Jennifer Johnson (I, Tonya), engaged on Blonde was all about authenticity. Armed with a directive from writer-director Andrew Dominik — who wouldn't approve a creation until it was an ideal match — the whole lot from the shades of Marilyn Monroe’s pink opera gloves to the location of a pocket wanted to be actual. Archival images and movies proved invaluable for the design of 100-plus costumes for Monroe together with these for 1,800 extras and supporting characters (together with Joe DiMaggio, John F. Kennedy and Arthur Miller), which had been a combination of classic and made-from-scratch gadgets.
Taking her cues from Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the identical identify and Dominik’s script, Johnson’s purpose was to convey the inside workings of the enduring display siren (performed by Ana de Armas) by way of the costumes.
“I needed to get into the day-to-day, off-duty Norma Jeane and discover what felt probably the most genuine to her,” says the designer. “I assumed I knew her, however once I learn the script, the guide, and began the analysis, I found an entire new facet of her. What's superb is the movie will get into her inside psyche, and you'll be taught greater than you thought you knew.”
The costumes had been a examine in contrasts: There was the personal, day-to-day Norma Jeane Mortenson (her given identify) and the Hollywood intercourse image Marilyn. Off-camera, the actress’ wardrobe consists of her iconic black turtlenecks and capri pants (then referred to as pedal pushers). “Marilyn joined the Actors Studio and actually needed to be taken critically as an mental. She had a relationship with [designer] Anne Klein and borrowed garments from her that grew to become that stunning, elegant, virtually French minimalist beatnik method of dressing in New York Metropolis,” says the designer. She additionally favored high-waisted denims, as seen in her final movie, The Misfits (1961).
For onscreen Marilyn, Johnson regarded to authentic sketches by the star’s favourite costume designer, William Travilla, to duplicate the strapless shocking-pink satin robe with a big bow in Gents Want Blondes (1953) and iconic white georgette crepe halter gown in The Seven 12 months Itch (1955). Maybe the re-creation of designer Orry-Kelly’s gold lamé quantity in Some Like It Sizzling is probably the most provocative. Made with netting, silk chiffon and Austrian hand-beaded crystals, the risqué Twenties-style flesh-colored gown incorporates a heart-shaped cutout on the derriere (which gave the censors suits in 1959). “I name it the juicy gown as we constructed out de Armas’ physique [using padding] for that gown,” says Johnson. “With the appliqué beadwork and handiwork, it was probably the most labor-intensive gown of all of the costumes.”
The movie, predominantly shot in black-and-white with some scenes in coloration, proved one other problem for the designer. “We didn’t know going into prep the place Andrew needed to make use of black-and-white, so he and the DP labored it out as we went,” says Johnson, who took images of outfits in each coloration and black-and-white to guarantee that the seems would work regardless of how they had been shot. “Pink can appear like pale grey and we needed to make modifications off the cuff and activate a dime.”
On the finish of the day, the designer notes, “The toughest factor was the re-creations which might be burned into everybody’s thoughts’s eye, and the strain to drag it off was the motivator. We needed to pay her the correct homage.”
This story first appeared within the Sept. 28 subject of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click on right here to subscribe.