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Posts Tagged ‘film costumes’

Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing is Featured in the New York Post

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , on April 20, 2021| 5 Comments »

Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing. Photo: Richard Aiello.

Helen Uffner is well-known around NYC and Hollywood for having the best old duds. She runs her own business renting period clothing and accessories for theater productions, films, television, magazine editorials, and book covers. 

I met Helen over hats in 2013 at the reception opening for the Milliner’s Guild exhibition. When I mentioned that I write about fashion and have a fondness for vintage, she generously invited my partner and me to her warehouse.

We stayed in touch and I remember that in 2018 Helen had to move her collection of fabulous vintage/antique clothing to a new space. That was no easy feat! Now she faces another eviction as her warehouse is getting knocked down for a residential high-rise. Still, she presses on.

Read more about Helen and how important she is to costumers from coast to coast:

https://nypost.com/2021/04/12/helen-uffners-private-vintage-collection-outfits-hollywood/

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Favorite Fashion Films: You’ve Got Mail

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2020| 4 Comments »

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Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.

 

Number three on my list of Favorite Go-to Films is: You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (1998).

It’s the story of two book store owners – Joe Fox, who owns the mega-chain Fox Books and Kathleen Kennedy, proprietor of the children’s book store Shop Around the Corner. The two have found each other online (a very novel concept in the late 90s) but they also know – and dislike – each other in person. The thing is they don’t know the online people are also the in-person people. And then there’s the problem of Joe putting Kathleen out of business.  Directed by Nora Ephronand based on the 1940 film Shop The Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, You’ve Got Mail is oh-so-charming and quite funny.

OK, so the costumes aren’t showy in this romantic comedy, but they are certainly of the era and appropriate for the characters. Costume designer Albert Wolsky says that he was striving for a studious look for Kathleen. Covering four seasons in the Upper West Side of New York City, we see Kathleen in jumpers and opaque tights, skirts with Oxford shirts, khaki slacks paired with a white t-shirt and a grey cardigan. Colors are muted and the silhouettes are simple. Wolsky says that Kathleen is not a fashion plate. Kathleen’s dress in the final scene is a Marc Jacobs and the only designer brand used.

It’s rare for me to have extended laugh-out-loud moments while watching movies, but co-stars Parker Posey (Joe’s self-focused girlfriend) and Dave Chappelle (Joe’s business assistant) are hilarious in just a few brief scenes. I enjoy these actors and I always rewind their scenes for the laughs. Dabney Coleman as Joe’s cad-of-a-father is also pretty funny as is Jean Stapleton, Kathleen’s spirit-guided accountant.

We’ve got charm, humor, books, and gorgeous NYC street scenes. What’s not to like?

 

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Nicole Kidman

Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Nicole Kidman in The Destroyer.

We took so long to find the leather jacket that I wear in pretty much every frame of the film. I became so obsessed with that jacket, I would wear it at home. I put it on first thing in the morning. My kids visited the set and were shocked at the way I looked.  

Nicole Kidman, Australian born actress.

In an interview for W magazine (v.1 2019) Kidman was talking about the jacket she wore in her most recent film, The Destroyer, which was released in December 2018. Costumes by Audrey Fisher.

I see how an article of clothing can help actors find their characters: Hercule Poirot’s spats; Holly Golightly’s little black dress; Columbo’s top coat.

Clothing or accessories are part of what defines us. For example my mother is known for her scarves. People think of me in hats, particularly cloche. I once worked with a woman who, every day, wore an armful of silver bracelets, many of them handcrafted with turquoise by Native Americans. We might have been a bit bewildered had she ever shown up at work without those bracelets. 

I call these signature pieces. Some people have a signature piece and don’t even know it. They’re just wearing what they like.  It could be a ring one wears every day, like a class ring. It could be a  go-to jacket or a silk flower on a lapel. Perhaps a certain brand of distinctive shoe such as Dr. Marten’s. 

How about you? Do you have a signature piece?

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Ruth E. Carter

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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Costumes for the film Black Panther by Ruth E. Carter.

What I discovered between the research, artistry, and messages in all the costumes I designed for the many historical and imagined figures is my contribution to Afro-futurism. I am honored to receive this recognition from the Costumes Designers Guild and look forward to telling more stories which can change the world. 

Ruth E. Carter, American costume designer.

This quote is from an article about Ms. Carter by Meera Manek in The Costume Designer (The Official Magazine of the Costume Designers Guild), winter 2019.

Ms. Carter recently received the Career Achievement Award from the Costume Designers Guild and she’s been nominated for an Oscar (her third nomination) for her work on Black Panther. In the business since the 1980s, Ms. Carter has worked on Amistad, Malcolm X, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, to name just a few.  For Black Panther, Ms. Carter says that she found inspiration in her research on ancient African cultures. I like her use of accessories such as the bold jewelry and the marvelous hats worn by Angela Basset. who played Ramonda.

Best of luck to Ms. Carter and all the Oscar nominees this Sunday, February 24th.

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Mason Cooley

Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. 

Mason Cooley (1927-2002), American aphorist and professor of world literature.

I think that perhaps costume designers would agree with Mr. Mason.

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Mary Queen of Scots. Costumes by Alexandra Byrne. 

 

Congratulations to the 2019 Oscar nominees for Best Costumes:

Alexandra Byrne – Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther

Mary Zophres – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Sandy Powell – Mary Poppins Returns

 

Each one of these films is a little different and I’m sure not without various challenges.

Find out the winner on February 24, 2019.

 

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Fashionable Quote of the Week by Rosie Boylan

Posted in Events, Fashion, Vintage, tagged , , , , on May 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I think women are really going to tap into the Gatsby look because it’s quite feminine and soft and joyful, and I think that, post financial crisis, people are looking for a little joy. And women are rediscovering the power a hat has to transform their look and to give them some extra ways of styling themselves.

Rosie Boylan, milliner. (Ms. Boylan created most of the 1000 hats used in the new The Great Gatsby film.)

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