Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Love Lies Bleeding with Costume Designer, Olga Mill

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Love Lies Bleeding with Costume Designer, Olga Mill · The Art of Costume Podcast

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Hey costume nerds, it's me, Spencer Williams, Co host and
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producer of The Art of Costume Podcast.
0:09
Before we get started with today's episode, I had to share
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an exciting update with you all, especially those who will be
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attending San Diego Comic Con in July 2024.
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This year we are partnering with the Costume Designers Guild
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Local 892 who will be hosting 3 panels at San Diego Comic Con.
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These panels will celebrate costume designers and showcase
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behind the scenes talent from your favorite franchises
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including The Hunger Games, Orville, Atlas, Avengers,
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Infinity War, The Mandalorian, The Last of Us, The Fall Guy,
0:41
The Boys and more. I am thrilled to announce that
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on Thursday, July 25th, I will be moderating the Secret to The
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Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes costumes
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panel featuring our friend, costume designer Trish
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Somerville and her incredible crew.
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On Friday, July 26th, don't miss the behind the futuristic
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costumes of Netflix's Atlas panel with Emmy winning costume
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designer Daniel Orlandi and his team moderated by assistant
1:09
costume designer Ivy Heather Fade.
1:12
Finally, on Saturday, July 27th, join us for the Ordinary People,
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Extraordinary Characters panel, moderated by.
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Philip Bootay. Featuring Emmy winning costume
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designer Cynthia Summers and assistant costume designer
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Kelsey Chobotar from The Last of Us season one, Emmy nominated
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costume designer Sarah Evelyn and assistant costume designer
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Annie Lopert from The Fall Guy, costume designer Wendy Chuck
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from Twilight and upcoming live action Leland Stitch and costume
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concept artist Gina Di Domenico from The Boys.
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Keep up with the San Diego Comic Con schedule online and I can't
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wait to see you there. We just wanted her body to like,
2:07
look really sick, you know, which was not hard because like
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Katie provided that. But it was like a consideration
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of like, what flows do you put on a really feminine, really
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muscular body in order to make it really flattering?
2:37
Hello and welcome to the Art of Costume podcast.
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I am your host, Spencer Williams, and thank you so much
2:43
for joining me for another bonus episode of What's Going On
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Costume Nerds. I'm so excited to talk with you
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all. When this episode comes out, I
2:53
will be on the road on the way to San Diego Comic Con.
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I hope I get to see all of you there.
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Just as a reminder, on Thursday, July 25th, I will be hosting the
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Secret to The Hunger Games, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
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Costumes panel presented by the Costume Designers Guild with our
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good friend Trish Summerville and her incredible team.
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I'm so, so excited for this panel.
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I just finished writing my interview.
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It's going to be super fun. So make sure come out, see us,
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come meet me, come say hi. And then also on Sunday, I will
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be hosting another panel on Sunday, July 28th at 10:00 AM
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with my dear friend, costume designer Jennifer May Nickel.
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That panel is called From Screen to Cosplay, making your favorite
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cosplay with accuracy. So we're going to be talking
3:45
about being inspired by film and television costuming and what
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tips and tricks cosplayers or creatives might need to bring
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some of those looks you see on screen to life.
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We have a great panel lined up with some really great guests,
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so I hope you'll come out and meet me that day too, if you
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miss out on Thursday. So it's going to be a lot of
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fun. Happy Comic Con, but let's get
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into today's episode. Today we are talking about Love
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Lies Bleeding, one of my favorite films of this year,
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starring Kristen Stewart and Katie O'Brien, which is now
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streaming on Max. And let's get into it.
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I'll start us off with a summary.
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Lou is a reclusive gym manager who falls hard for Jackie, an
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ambitious bodybuilder who's heading to Las Vegas to pursue
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her dream. Their love soon leads to
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violence as they get pulled deep into the web of Lou's criminal
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family. And that is Love Lies Bleeding.
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Let's go. Behind the costumes, we have
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director Rose Glass and costume designer Olga Mill.
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You know Olga from some for work such as First Reformed
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Hereditary, which is one of the greatest horror movie films of
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all time. Never Rarely, Sometimes, Always.
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And most recently, The Greatest Hits, which is on Hulu.
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And I just love this film. It was a lot of fun.
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I I actually saw it, I think it was Easter Sunday when I saw it
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in theaters. So it's definitely a weird
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Easter movie, but such a fun film.
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I mean, I love the aesthetic of it.
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I love the weightlifting aspect. You know, it takes place in the
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80s, but it's not the sparkly glam 80s that we know of.
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The big shoulder pads. It's a very kind of sweaty,
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sensual, kind of sexy 80s, and Kristen Stewart and Katie
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O'Brien are just brilliant in this film.
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I've been listening to the soundtrack on and on, which
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actually plays a big role in the costumes, as you'll soon come to
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learn, and I'm so excited. I got to speak with Olga Mill
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right after the film's release, and now that's dreaming on Max.
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I figured why not put this podcast out so you could all
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stream it on Max and come back and talk about the costumes with
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us. So without further ado, I resent
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to my interview with costume designer Olga Mill.
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I am so happy to welcome my friend, costume designer for
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Love Life Bleeding Olga Mill. Hey, Olga, how are you?
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Hi Spencer, I'm good. I'm excited to chat with you.
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Thanks for having me on. Of course.
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Me too. I've been looking forward to it.
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I want to see this movie for a hot minute now I got to see as
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part of the Easter holiday here in Los Angeles, so I'm ready.
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It was lots of fun. He has risen, yeah.
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I'm so, so curious what your experience was like.
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It's definitely like a trip. Right.
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Yeah. Well, I could say that everyone
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in my theater was having a good time.
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It was tense in there. There was lots of emotions
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going, going through the room, We were all feeling it together.
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Suddenly we were all pretty close so.
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It's a fun, it's a fun ride. It feels very like roller
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coastery or like one of those like VR rides where you're all
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like kind of like moving to the side together and like duck it.
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Yes. So let's get into it.
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So Loveless Bleeding takes place in the late 1980s, I'm assuming.
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So what did your research process look like in capturing
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the essence of the late 1980s? Because when you think of 80s,
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do you think of big shoulder pads and big old chunky jewelry?
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But this felt a little bit more grounded in reality.
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So how did you capture that essence?
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I'm so glad to hear you say that because I think that was
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important to Rose. And I was like, like, one of our
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early conversations were like, can we make an 80s movie in the
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gym without using, like, a pair of leg warmers, you know?
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Yeah. Like, nothing against that.
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Like, I love that aesthetic. But I really appreciated that
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Rose wanted to do something a little bit different, I think,
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for a few reasons. One, like the film takes so many
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like crazy leaps that we wanted the characters to feel really
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grounded, right? So it was like, let's not like
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sort of like elevate them up to full 80s glam, right?
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There's no like dynasty Jane Fonda about it.
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I think a lot of it was also color scheme.
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It was like, let's not go like neons.
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Everything is like a little bit sun drenched, sun washed dusty.
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And then in terms of like research, I, I did like order a
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bunch of like bodybuilding gym magazines on eBay.
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So I did look at that route, but also then really wanted to look
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at just kind of candid photos, which I always like go kind of
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sleuthing on, like Flickr, like finding somebody who's like,
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uploaded all their family photos.
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So trying to find, yeah, images that aren't like, editorial, if
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that makes sense. There's a really good
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documentary called Pumping Iron the Women.
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I've never seen it, but I have wanted to see it, yeah.
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OK, it's a little hard to find. I have a link somewhere if you
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can't get your hands on it. But it was really interesting in
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terms of, like the bodybuilding community and that kind of like
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raised a lot of like gender and kind of like women and strength
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questions that the movie dips into.
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So I thought that doc was really helpful for me.
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Like, I felt like I just, like, would watch that over and over.
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I'm trying to think of what else.
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Yeah, that was really it, like candid, candid research docs.
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And then I would still like for fun have like Roadhouse on
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sometimes just to get into the spirit.
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But yes, it was definitely like a dial down version of the 80s
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that was like, the challenge is not to make it the TV version of
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it. Right.
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Well, that really came through because you were really able to
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or get to know these characters without falling too much into
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the theatrics of it, I think. So I read that you all filmed in
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New Mexico. Is that true?
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So you're in New Mexico? Yeah.
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The Grapevine told me so you're in New Mexico and a lot of this
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felt like it had a lot of vintage pieces involved.
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Was that true? And if so, was it easy able to
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find all these vintage pieces for Lovelace bleeding?
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It was in New Mexico. We did have a lot of vintage
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pieces and it was like certainly not easy.
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I think a big challenge was that if it was just like, let's find
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like amazing 80s vintage pieces, cool because New Mexico does
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have a really good vintage scene, but because we needed
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multiples of things because of all the action, it adds like an
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extra layer, right? So it was either like find a
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vintage thing like loose jacket was originally a vintage piece
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and then we totally remade it and tweaked it a bit and that we
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had multiples of or a lot of it was just like our ACD Bailey
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Gardner did like an amazing job of hunting and gathering.
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And there was some things where you just kind of like the
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costume gods smile down on you, like lose sneakers, for example,
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were from like a dead stock vintage dealer that we found
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online who happened to have multiples of them and had like
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in the stunt sizes and for like a few for Kristen.
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And that's just like, I don't know, a costume miracle totally
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because like you could kind of be beholden to like a modern
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shoe that can work for the 80s, you know, But it was so cool to
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find an actual 80s shoe that we could have multiples of where
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else There's a place called Santa Fe vintage, which was
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really great. A lot of like loose seniors
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shirts and jewelry and that kind of stuff like came from them.
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It's definitely like the multiples and the vintage and
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the New Mexico of it all is like more of a challenge.
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But I think we had a really good team and we're really lucky.
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It's like the combo of it. Well, that really worked out.
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So then in what ways do you feel like you incorporated color into
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the characters? And just to overall, just
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looking at all the costumes in general, I felt like color
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played a big role, especially in conveying like Lou versus Jackie
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and just kind of like helping create this world that was Loki
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kind of colorful, which made it that much more sinister, I would
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say. So how did color play a role in
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your process? You know, I did these like color
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colleges early on that I just kind of like pull photos of, you
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know, it can be like a photograph of a person in AT
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shirt and I'll kind of just clip the, the fabrics in the in the
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photos. Or there's like there's a
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certain 80s aesthetic that's like kind of like a like a kit
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and caboodle pastel palette that's like mixed in with like
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primaries, right? That that, that we were more
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interested in and like a really washed out denim.
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So it was like pastels, primaries, denim again, not
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going for the Super graphic neon black contrasting palette.
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And then in terms of like her character, we always kind of
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thought of Jackie because she's like hitchhiking and needing to
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kind of gain favors from men in order to survive.
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There is like more of a traditionally sexy femme thing
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going on with with her. Also, it's just like was so fun
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to put a really muscular body with a really like feminine
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aesthetic. So her colors like do dip more
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into like a traditionally 80s feminine palette and then giving
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Lou a little bit more of the like washed out primaries.
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Right, that definitely came through.
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So then let's dive into each of these characters in terms of
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their costumes. The story of Love, Lies,
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Bleeding. I would say it's mostly told
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from Lou's point of view. And in terms of Lou, she's a bit
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more guarded and just a hard worker and not, you know, it's
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just not someone who you could easily walk up to and have the
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conversation with. Very guarded.
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So how does that come through in her costume in terms of compared
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to everyone else? We thought about Lou, like, in a
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very kind of practical way, right?
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Like, yeah, a part of it was like, she is a queer character
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in the small town. I loved that in the script.
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That's not like what the issue is, you know?
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She just is. But we thought about like.
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Trying to get by. Yeah, she's just a person trying
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to get by. But like, she is living in this
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town. She doesn't really leave, but
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she like, what are her influences?
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Kind of like, what music is she listening to?
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You know, she's reading like macho sluts anyway, looking at
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photographs of both people in super small towns in the 80s,
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but then also did look at photos of like a lesbian scene, like in
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somewhere more urban, like San Francisco or New York, right?
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Thinking that like, yeah, Lou's not like hanging out in those
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places. But there's like something
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slightly aspirationally, like there's an aspiration about it,
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right? So there's there's also like, I
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don't know, I imagine her to actually be kind of sentimental
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with clothing, like having not a big closet, but the pieces that
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she has are super worn in and she's going to wear something
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until it totally dies out. There's like a little bit with
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like the jacket and the jeans, like everything is like a little
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bit, I don't know, exoskeleton like Armory in the beginning and
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then it's like more exposed towards the end.
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That was kind of like the, I don't know, analytical through
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line. But then so much of it is like,
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honestly, I can come into it, Rose and Kristen, we could all
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have like sort of intellectual idea of it.
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And then once you like actually start the fitting process, I
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feel like there's like a certain element of it that's like, I
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like to leave room for myself and for everyone else.
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That's like, I don't know why this works, but it does, you
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know? And that's like, okie dokie,
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that's fine. I love all that, especially the
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idea of her like kind of being aspirational in a sense of like,
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sure, she could fit in and all these other places.
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She just can't get there because of obviously everything that's
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going on and where she's at. But Jackie, unlike Lou, I would
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say it's, you know, we talked about her being colorful, but
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she's also energetic, definitely aspirational.
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And she is traveling. So she is a little bit more
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cultured in the sense that she's kind of hopping all over the
18:25
place and, you know, while she's hitchhiking.
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So how would you say all this plays into Jackie's costumes?
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We like thought about her like, OK, she has like, again, there's
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always this sort of like mix between like practicalness,
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right? Of like she only has one duffel
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bag. So it's like, how much is in
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there? But then at the same time, like
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you can't suspend disbelief and like, what do you need to tell
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the story, you know? So for Jackie was like always
18:54
super mindful of she doesn't have a lot of stuff.
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Her life is like not easy. You know, she's like, we meet
19:01
her and she's like having sex in like a parking lot and then
19:07
she's like doing pull ups under a bridge, you know, But she
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again, she has to like present in a, in a way that's like
19:17
appealing to men in order to survive in a way that was a
19:21
consideration and she's training.
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There's also like, we just wanted her body to like look
19:28
really sick, you know, which was not hard because like Katie
19:34
provided that. But it was like a consideration
19:37
of like, what clothes do you put on a really feminine, really
19:42
muscular body in order to make it really flattering, in order
19:48
to serve it. It's a different like puzzle to
19:53
to solve, you know. So so that was always like a
19:57
thing of like, and it took a few fittings of like, OK, like what
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exactly is the height of the shorts in the end seam versus
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the out seam in order to like make your legs look like really
20:10
killer, you know? Right.
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And then so was Katie training throughout the film.
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So like, were those fittings constantly happening I'm
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assuming? Totally.
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Yeah, which was really like, it was interesting like looking
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back at like our we did like a prelim early fitting with Katie
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and with Kristen in LA and then like we did it again when they
20:34
got to New Mexico and it we were all like including with Katie,
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we were like, oh, this is crazy to see the photos from even like
20:42
a few weeks how much it would change.
20:45
And then she continued to train like all through filming.
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So really made a point to like do a lot of like, let's do a
20:55
check fit in your trailer after you wrap because your body's
20:59
constantly changing and like, I don't want those shorts to fit
21:04
differently a few weeks down the line, you know?
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So yes, constantly. Kind of like re tweaking it.
21:11
What a challenge. That's certainly a unique
21:13
challenge. So I did read in preparing for
21:17
this that director Rose Glass actually had a playlist for each
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character. How I love this idea.
21:23
I've heard some people who talk about music being an influence
21:26
in costume, but this was a direct for you to get the sound
21:30
and the vibe of the character. So what was that like?
21:33
It was so helpful. It was amazing.
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And I like selfishly now just want to ask that of every
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director because Rose had and yet her her partner also worked
21:49
on the film, kind of curated these and there was like one
21:52
that was kind of like a general vibe playlist for the movie.
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And then there was ones that were for each character and it's
22:01
so good. Like you can put it on in the
22:03
fitting. You could put it on while you're
22:04
doing research. Like if I'm out actually
22:07
shopping, sometimes I find like you get into a kind of role play
22:12
mentally, you know, and you're like, I'm Lou and I'm just at a
22:18
vintage store, you know? So it's like having that on is
22:22
so helpful. I also think just like music is
22:26
so indicative of like who a person is, you know, like if you
22:33
were going on a date or like met a friend and they could be in a
22:37
black T-shirt, but like if you knew what they were listening to
22:41
on their headphones as they walked up to meet you, like that
22:45
tells you so much about who that person is.
22:49
You know, I also think there's something about music, like I
22:54
always like to think about what character, like who they have
22:59
on, like who's the poster on their wall, right?
23:02
Because that's kind of like, even as an, as an adult, you
23:07
always kind of have, I don't know, a musician, a celebrity or
23:10
something that you're like aesthetically aspiring to hit
23:14
that same note. You know what I mean?
23:16
Right. Yeah.
23:17
And then so like I find it helpful to be like, who's the
23:21
poster on the wall and like how close are off the mark are they
23:27
from getting to it? And so having a playlist just
23:30
like answers so many of those questions.
23:35
I don't know, I loved it. I think it's, it's so great.
23:37
And then I've like had other folks do it too.
23:40
So I like, I love this trend. Yeah, I think it's really great.
23:44
I mean, it's one of the reasons why I love this film, because I
23:48
just feel like everything works together in a sense that the
23:51
music works together, colors, costumes, the sets, the cast.
23:55
It's just feels. Everything feels cohesive, which
23:58
I think is what just makes it such a great film.
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And I really feel like that is a great part of it are these
24:04
little, little playlists. So directors, if you're
24:06
listening, I think this is a great, great tool.
24:09
So if I'm gonna ask do it, it's. So good and yeah, thank you for
24:14
saying that. I feel like that's always like
24:15
the what you're trying to do is to like have it all congeal.
24:20
So that's great to hear. And I think, yeah, a lot of that
24:23
is ultimately like on Rose being really like open to ideas,
24:30
really open to ideas, but like super clear about what she
24:34
wants, which is like a like chefs kiss combo I think for any
24:39
collaborator. Right.
24:41
I love that. So one thing that I love about
24:45
costumes is the aging, dying breakdown of costumes.
24:49
And in Love Lies Bleeding, our characters go through quite a
24:53
bit of mess. I mean, there's sweat,
24:55
obviously, we're in the gym. There's also lots of blood, lots
24:58
of dirt, smoke, all the things are happening.
25:01
So how did that play a role in your process?
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Well, I have to like shout out and really took my hat to Jesse,
25:10
who is our like textile artist on the film.
25:15
It was also interesting. I like, I really he was like,
25:18
oh, I prefer textile artist to ager Dyer.
25:21
And I was like, I've worked as an ager Dyer too.
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And I was like, oh, I thought that's like so interesting.
25:26
Anyway, Jesse was like the best that I've ever worked with.
25:34
He was so good for me. That's like, you know, on the
25:38
assembly line of a costume of like you shop it, you fit it,
25:42
you tailor it. And then and then like the the
25:44
aging dying is like the last step on the train and a kid
25:48
really like make it or break it, you know?
25:53
And he was so great on a few levels.
25:57
Like one, we did a lot of dyeing where like because the color
26:01
palette I felt like was so specific and he was so good.
26:06
I felt like I could give him a Pantone and be like, it's this,
26:12
but like dial down a little bit and he would get it.
26:16
So one, we custom dyed a lot of things like Lou's Crater gym
26:22
T-shirts like we had printed, but that red and that turquoise
26:25
was was custom dyed. And then Jackie's like Burning
26:30
Love T-shirt was custom dyed a lot of things, but also just
26:34
like, yeah, the aging and the blood, he just had such a good
26:39
hand. Like it could look so
26:41
heavy-handed sometimes or sometimes like you think it's
26:45
too much and then on camera it's not enough.
26:47
Anyway. It just like I have so much
26:51
respect for that craft because it really like elevates things
26:57
so much. And also like our onset crew was
27:02
amazing in terms of like just keeping track of all the blood
27:06
continuity was such a trip and making like those blood
27:11
splatters look really amazing. You know, like when Daisy gets
27:15
shot, the blood spatter on Lou I thought worked so well.
27:19
And that was Ashley Keel, who is our on set with Kristen.
27:24
So yeah, like really takes a village to make somebody look.
27:27
Like that's such a good point. Also is that scene too?
27:30
Because I mean, I saw the blood go ever and I was just like, oh,
27:34
this is such a mess. Like it's going to be such a
27:36
pain in the ass for everyone else.
27:38
Such a mess. Yeah, such a mess.
27:42
And it's something that's like, not my strong suit, you know?
27:47
Like, I know if I'm going to do a movie that has like, a lot of
27:50
blood in it, I need a really strong onset team and a really
27:54
strong ager Dyer to like, pull it, pull it off because it's
27:59
like, not helpful. All I can be is like, doesn't
28:02
look quite right, but like I can't quite thread the needle on
28:05
like what it needs. I think like a big portion of
28:09
why it looked so good was was those guys for sure.
28:14
Right. You brought something up.
28:16
I just want to also commend it. The Burning Love shirt was such
28:19
a cool moment. I noticed it.
28:21
And she's like running up the you know, the hill game ready to
28:25
support some action. I saw the burning love shirt.
28:28
I was like, that's just such a cool moment because she's
28:31
literally fuming game ready to like Hulk out.
28:34
So I I love that shirt. It was so cool.
28:37
That was such a like family who's our ACD and I were like
28:41
just kind of remembering like what a process that was.
28:44
Yeah. Because it was definitely
28:46
influenced by like a lot of sort of like 80s stuff.
28:50
All has so much like graphics on it.
28:53
But then you run into like the clearance issue of things.
28:56
So you have to make your own, right?
28:58
So even like Jackie's striped shorts and I think she has a
29:03
sports bra two that has like a sporty logo on it.
29:07
We made basically just trying to like brand things as much as
29:10
possible. But the burning loved one we
29:13
like knew we wanted this graphic on it that was based on some
29:16
research we saw. And then Rose and I had like, an
29:20
ongoing e-mail chain of like, really goofy sayings that were
29:27
sort of like puns on muscles and sex and like, anyway, I should
29:32
probably find it. There's like some really funny
29:35
rejects on there. But it was like a process of
29:39
having this kind of brainstorm of like, dumb sayings and then
29:45
sending them to clearance and seeing what we could use.
29:48
And Burning Love made the made the cut.
29:52
OK, love it. Well, I'm glad that happened.
29:56
There's also something we talked about early on was that like
30:00
whatever clothes Jackie's in and that last portion of the movie,
30:05
she's in it for so long that it was like a really big decision
30:11
of like, what are Jackie and Lou going to wear for like 1/3 of
30:16
the movie at the end? And we talked about like, Thelma
30:20
and Louise too. Well, meta Louise actually.
30:24
I think it was a really good reference because it was super
30:27
grounded, you know, like, they're not wearing anything
30:29
crazy. But there are like in the same
30:34
look for so long. And it does become kind of like,
30:37
I don't know, iconic superhero outfits, even though the actual
30:42
clothing is all really rounded, basic, nothing crazy, you know?
30:49
Right. Yeah, I definitely see that.
30:51
So I also want to take a moment to talk about Lou Senior.
30:55
He is such a interesting guy. The first time you see him,
30:58
you're like, what's not? This is an interesting person
31:01
and you definitely don't trust him.
31:03
And but then he also loves like a busy pattern too.
31:06
So he's just like an interesting, interesting guy.
31:09
So tell Take Me behind Lou Seniors character played by the
31:13
brilliant Ed Harris. Lou Senior was like a really
31:18
interesting, like, nut to crack, you know, because we didn't.
31:21
And his character kind of like, evolved a lot as Rose and I were
31:25
talking about him, but we sort of were imagining him, like, not
31:29
wanting him to be sort of an outwardly, like, bad guy, you
31:35
know, like, it's not like a villain all in black.
31:38
He's also kind of classy too, like he likes nice music and has
31:42
like a nice play, so he's weird. Yeah, he's very weird.
31:46
His playlist was all kind of like acid jazz thing for some
31:52
reason. Like I also kept imagining him
31:55
like he's somebody who like has a really fun like weekend pool
32:02
BBQ party that you kind of like want to go to, you know, And
32:08
it's like, maybe he creates the atmosphere that like it is a
32:12
good time and it's really fun. And he's like, maybe on the
32:17
grill, like, and it's all fun until it's not really quickly
32:21
like, you know, those people that feel like a glass of water
32:24
on the edge of the table And, and, but, but, but there is
32:29
something still like, there has to be something kind of like
32:34
redeeming or magnetic about him. Like, like there is something
32:37
like, like grandpa's really fun. You know, we like hanging out
32:44
with him until you, like, see behind the curtain, you know, So
32:50
we had these kind of like, I don't know, the conceptual
32:54
conversations of like, who this guy maybe is or what it's like
32:58
spending time with him. But it wasn't like, I find the
33:02
most interesting characters are not the ones where you're like,
33:06
she's goth or like he's this type, you know, it's like a
33:11
little bit of a a soup, you know?
33:14
So he puts like, a little bit of like, yeah, like a guy you want
33:21
to have, like, margaritas with by the grill, like, a little bit
33:26
of, like, status searching, you know?
33:30
And then he, like, likes nice things.
33:33
But then there's something like, yeah, he loves like, a pattern.
33:38
He's not trying. He's not a wallflower, but he's
33:41
quiet. I don't know.
33:43
I mean, the hair does so much of the heavy lifting.
33:46
Yeah. So I didn't have to do like that
33:52
that much. It's like the hair and Ed are
33:54
really like holding up all all the weight.
33:57
But I don't know. He was really fun.
34:00
There's something about like him eating yogurt in that trailer
34:03
that was really like bone chilling for me.
34:07
But he's somebody that I would imagine, like, I don't know, you
34:10
like, see at the grocery store and it kind of like inspires a
34:17
curiosity. You're like, where is he going?
34:20
And like, why is he buying like Bloody Mary mix, you know?
34:25
That's literally the entire film where you're like, I, I kind of
34:28
feel like he might be a good guy, he's just misunderstood.
34:32
And then I just get close. You're like, Oh no, he is a bad
34:34
guy. But you still can help feel like
34:36
you're right. Like I definitely would have did
34:38
a Margarita with him though for sure.
34:40
Exactly. It's like there's he's
34:42
definitely like a bad guy, but there's something.
34:45
But he might be like a good hang if you don't get too close, you
34:49
know, or maybe he's not a good hang, but he can like curate a
34:53
good hang. Oh yeah, yeah.
34:54
Which is just as some important so.
34:56
Yes, yeah. But you like, Yeah.
35:00
Well, the last question I want to ask you, I loved the Vegas
35:05
scene and seeing all these bodybuilders in one room, all
35:09
these different colors and fabrics, textiles, a lot of
35:12
people, there was a lot of costumes in this room.
35:15
So I just want to ask you just about bringing this a few scenes
35:19
to life. You know, obviously Jackie's
35:21
going through a lot, but at the same time, I was just astounded
35:23
by all the different costumes. What was it like working with
35:26
all these bodybuilders and crowds?
35:30
Really fun. I mean, like, I think that's
35:32
what's like some of the best parts about being a costume
35:35
designer is you kind of moonlight into all these
35:38
different worlds, you know? And I always think like, I'm
35:45
never going to do enough research in X amount of months
35:50
to like really wrap my mind around something the way
35:52
somebody who has like spent their entire life in it.
35:57
So I always just like find an ally in whatever the field is
36:04
and like trust them to be able to like be like, is this right?
36:08
So it was so cool having them all there because you can
36:12
literally be like Debye it or not.
36:14
You know, we used a woman who has been making like bodybuilder
36:21
suits like since the 80s. I think it's suits by Amy.
36:25
She didn't do Jackie's. Jackie's we did in house with
36:29
our tailor. But a lot of we just ordered a
36:31
bunch of suits from, from her for some of the the other women
36:36
there. I mean, Vegas was also somewhere
36:38
where we did. Like the reason we didn't use
36:40
neon anywhere else is 'cause I wanted to save it.
36:43
For. For Vegas, there was also we
36:47
kind of collectively talked about how do we sell Vegas
36:52
really quickly, right? Like even that shot when Jackie
36:55
gets out of the van and she's like walking into the hotel.
37:01
We had all this background and I was like, let's put like 2
37:04
showgirl costumes, like smoking outside, like like anything.
37:10
I felt like it was an opportunity where like, OK, we
37:13
can't like as a production go and shoot in Vegas.
37:17
Like the costumes can do a lot of the we can get a lot of bang
37:21
for our buck if we kind of really invest in the background.
37:26
Yeah, I mean it was, it was selling pretty quickly.
37:31
I was trying to sell it. I was discounted it.
37:35
I put it on by the register. I was trying to sell Vegas very
37:39
strongly. But yeah, that that scene
37:43
actually like when we shot it, because the way we did it was
37:47
actually, you know, there was an audience of, I can't remember,
37:50
but like definitely 100 plus background.
37:53
There was a stage, there was real bodybuilders, you know,
37:57
Rose would play the song and they would do their thing and
38:00
Katie would do her whole routine.
38:03
It's not like it was pieced together.
38:05
And I just remember having this moment of like, this is so cool.
38:09
I'm like it at a bodybuilding competition, you know, And like
38:14
they would let the song play for the whole time.
38:17
And you know how like when you get through like a big crazy
38:20
background morning scene and like everybody's dressed in
38:24
their in their thing. And I just remember looking
38:26
around and Bailey and I were like, this is really cool.
38:29
Yeah, we did that. Like we did that and now I'm
38:34
like, literally it was like a dark theater and it's like I'm
38:37
at a bodybuilding competition in the 80s on like a Tuesday
38:41
morning like this is. Well, I mean, it also like
38:45
really speaks to like we talked about the transformative power
38:48
of costume design too. And I think that's also why we
38:51
like filmmaking, but also costume design is the ability to
38:55
transform you into these incredible worlds that you
38:58
honestly might not have ever learned about or ever
39:00
experienced before. So I mean like after that I was
39:03
like, I want to go to a bodybuilding competition just to
39:06
watch a. Totally, yes, 100%.
39:10
And then also watch Pumping Iron the women.
39:16
It was really interesting as like an 80 slice of life, this
39:20
like niche culture moment. I think the first one is Arnold
39:24
Schwarzenegger and then the second one is all about women.
39:27
So Oh yeah, I love Live, Love Lies, Bleeding.
39:30
It was such a great film. And I just want to know, like,
39:33
what did this film mean to you and what's next for you?
39:36
What? What do you want to do going
39:38
forward? I think this film was like, I
39:41
mean, really special on like a collaborative level, you know,
39:46
and that like the everybody that made it, I felt really like
39:50
intertwined with creatively and just as like a person, you know,
39:56
that was really special. I think it was also really cool.
39:59
I didn't really realize this until we were kind of deeper in
40:02
it. But like so, my family moved
40:05
from the Ukraine in 1990 to the States.
40:08
And there's something about, like, my first impression of
40:12
like, American culture aesthetically was like, late
40:16
80s, right? That's like what people were
40:18
still wearing, what you see on TV.
40:20
And there were so many things that I remember looking at like
40:23
whatever on sitcoms and thinking it was so cool, so aspirational,
40:29
like really salivating for it as a kid.
40:33
And then like being able to recreate like that era.
40:40
There's something really like personally satisfying about it
40:44
because I was like really into it.
40:46
And then I had to kind of like step back and have like a
40:49
therapy moment. I was like, why is this like
40:51
feel so special? And I think that's part of it is
40:54
like that era just always felt kind of like out of reach as a
40:58
kid. And so again, being able to like
41:01
tactically recreate it was really cool.
41:05
And then in terms of what's next, I think it's like, really,
41:09
I just want to like, make good movies with nice, smart,
41:14
interesting people. That's awesome.
41:16
Is that too much to ask? No, I think that's the perfect
41:20
goal. I mean, we just want to do what
41:22
we love and do it with people that are pretty cool too.
41:25
So yeah. Totally.
41:27
And I loved, even though this movie was, you know, it's,
41:30
you've seen it, it's Violet. I think what I really loved
41:33
about it too is like the the humor and the campiness of it.
41:39
So like more of that please. Yeah, it's serious, but also not
41:45
that serious, you know? Yeah, it's like, not.
41:47
That it's like not, it's not that serious.
41:50
It's a great looking ahead. Costume designer Olga Mill,
41:56
thank you so much for joining us.
41:58
This was such a treat and I loved it and I'm just so excited
42:01
to see what's next. Thank you so much.
42:04
Thanks for the interest and it's like a pleasure to chat.
42:07
Of course. Oh my gosh, we should have you
42:09
back for a spooky season so we could talk about Hereditary.
42:12
That's another another banker of yours.
42:15
You an octopus? Yeah.
42:18
Thank you. The Art of Costume podcast is
42:25
hosted and produced by Elizabeth Joy Glass and Spencer Williams.
42:30
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42:34
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