Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Only Murders In The Building with Costume Designer, Dana Covarrubias

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Only Murders In The Building with Costume Designer, Dana Covarrubias · The Art of Costume Podcast

0:11
He's doesn't love being around a lot of people.
0:14
Like he's just one of those people that like, wants to be
0:15
home, wants to be alone, is happy to have a a uniform.
0:19
You know, like he's got 20 different blue shirts, you know,
0:24
five different blue, yeah, five different blue Blazers, 5
0:27
different blue sweaters, you know, 5 pairs of jeans.
0:30
And he just kind of, you know, rotates them.
0:43
Hello and welcome to the Otter Crossing Podcast.
0:45
I'm Elisa Joy Glass. And I'm Spencer Williams.
0:48
Hey, Elizabeth. I'm glad you have light and
0:51
power. Me too.
0:54
Oh my gosh, it was. I was worried for a couple days
0:58
there. Elizabeth has been living in a
1:01
dark cave for the past week as storms have been ravaging the
1:05
east side of the country. I had no idea any of this was
1:09
happening if I'm being real, but yeah.
1:12
Tuesday was not great, didn't have power, didn't have power.
1:17
Friday things got better, but then, you know, the Microsoft
1:20
thing happened, so work was wild.
1:23
Just you, you really lived a life knowing what's like that.
1:26
Just, you know, have no power, no electronics.
1:30
Well, I guess you had your Nintendo Switch though, so you
1:32
survived. I didn't bring it with me.
1:35
Oh, oh man. 'Cause my wife, I couldn't have
1:39
done very much. My Wi-Fi was out.
1:42
Oh yeah, that's true. Dream Light Valley isn't fun if
1:45
you can't connect to the Internet.
1:48
Yeah. Well, yeah.
1:51
It's it's been crazy. You didn't really miss much.
1:53
It's been really hot. But I'm sure you figured that
1:55
out. But we did get some good news
1:59
because the Emmy nominations came out, which has been fun.
2:03
We love Emmy nominations and you know, Elizabeth and I are going
2:08
to get together soon and just do an episode only about Emmy
2:11
nominations, one of our bonus episodes.
2:13
So look out for that soon. But Elizabeth, some good stuff
2:18
happens, like for example, in Outstanding Period Costumes, The
2:23
Gilded Age was nominated, and I just feel like you and I need to
2:26
take a victory lap on that. Yes, we called it.
2:31
Finally, I feel like this makes up for a season one and Shogun
2:37
was nominated. Carlos Rosario whom I love.
2:41
Palm Royale, the new look, winning time, all great shows,
2:48
even more period costumes feud. Capote versus the Swans that Lou
2:52
Eric and Lee Katz Nelson did. I haven't seen a feud, but I've
2:56
been dying to see this show. Same, but like all the pictures
3:00
I've seen I'm like why is this gorgeous?
3:02
Like why is it this gorgeous? Well.
3:05
Lou Eirich is one of the greatest, I just have to say
3:10
Griselda, Lessons in chemistry, Marion George Ripley, which I
3:15
really want to see. I love a black and white
3:17
production so I've been wanting to get into that.
3:19
That's on Netflix outstanding fantasy sci-fi costumes.
3:25
My favorite category might be yours too, I'm not sure.
3:28
Are you a period or a fantasy person?
3:31
It it it wavers this year. Definitely fantasy.
3:35
I've seen most of what's on here.
3:39
Well, you have Ahsoka with, you know, Shawna Terpsik was
3:42
nominated, which I'm so happy about.
3:44
And he, Alcala really was working hard to get to make this
3:48
happen, so I'm so happy for them.
3:51
Echo Fallout with Amy Westcott, Yes, Loki with our girl
3:55
Christine WADA, who I'm so stoked for.
3:59
And of course what We Do in the Shadows with our good friend
4:02
Laura Montgomery. I'm so happy that show keeps
4:05
getting nominated. Getting into contemporary hacks
4:08
with Kathleen Felix Hager. I haven't seen season 3 yet, but
4:12
I'm so excited. I love hacks.
4:13
Do you watch Hacks? I don't, but I I know it's one
4:17
of your favorites. You have to get into it.
4:20
Only Murders in the Building with Dana Cova Rubias, which
4:24
we're getting ready to talk about.
4:28
The bear. The Crown made it into
4:30
contemporary this year, which is interesting.
4:33
I haven't seen or finished the last season yet, but I guess
4:37
it's considered contemporary. Elizabeth's face is showing a
4:42
lot of emotions. I would not have considered it
4:44
contemporary. I think it's just like an Emmy's
4:49
rule once you get to like a certain, you know, year.
4:53
Oh. 'Cause like half of it was in
4:54
the 90s. The second-half was split
4:57
between like the late aughts and the early 20 tens, I guess.
5:02
Yeah, so there you go. I think that's like the Emmy
5:06
rule, but I don't know. We'll we'll look into it before
5:09
we get into our Emmys costume episode.
5:13
And I have to shout out, Christina Flannery from The
5:16
Righteous Gemstones was nominated.
5:18
And I'm. Super stoked on that.
5:22
Then we have outstanding contemporary costumes for a
5:25
limited or anthology series. American Horror Story Delicate
5:29
baby reindeer. I've heard so much about the
5:31
show. I haven't started it yet, but.
5:33
I know I wasn't gonna watch it until the nomination came
5:37
through and I was like, wait, what is happening in this show?
5:40
Yeah, it must be good. Fargo, the regime and True
5:44
Detective Night Country with our friend Alex Beauvaired.
5:48
I've been dying to get into that show.
5:50
I just haven't. But and now I have.
5:52
To I started watching the first season when it first came out
5:56
and was like genuinely creeped out.
5:59
So I never watched anything else.
6:01
And now I feel it's been on for so long.
6:04
I'm like, I feel like I need to like go back and watch all of
6:06
this. Right.
6:07
Yeah, well, apparently it's a really good show.
6:10
Super happy for all the nominees.
6:12
I feel like, you know, I'm, I think I'm pretty happy with how
6:16
it went. So I'm excited to get into it
6:19
with you in a couple weeks here. I I cannot wait.
6:23
But Elizabeth, before we get into our main episode today, I
6:27
have some reviews to read to. You.
6:30
Yay. Oh, this is exciting.
6:32
Yeah, we got quite a few Apple podcast reviews to read and you
6:37
know, I really hope that all of you will also head to Apple
6:40
podcast, leave us a 5 star text review so we can read it on the
6:43
episode cause it just warms our hearts and who doesn't want to
6:48
warm Elizabeth and mine? Mine's Hearts's.
6:52
Yes. Let's get into it.
6:56
So I'm sorry I if I get your usernames wrong, but Mia's mom
7:03
Melody said left five stars and the title is my favorite show.
7:08
Entertaining, informative and well produced is clear.
7:12
These folks are passionate about costumes and I am passionate
7:16
about this podcast and nobody is doing it like them.
7:19
I look forward to every episode and greatly appreciate the
7:22
lengths which they go to research to discuss each topic.
7:26
The interviews are all superb. Hands down this is my favorite
7:29
show. Recommended for anyone
7:31
interested in costume design or otherwise.
7:33
Thank you. Yeah, that was so sweet.
7:38
Passionate about this podcast. I love that.
7:41
I need that tattooed. I I know we get matching tattoos
7:48
Passionate about this podcast. Oh my gosh, I'm gonna look like
7:50
the illustrated man from what was it, Furiosa, where he just
7:54
has Oh my God, reviews ran all over myself.
7:59
Yeah. Our next 5 star review says
8:03
favorite industry podcast. I love this podcast.
8:06
They do real well-rounded deep dives into the designs.
8:09
I love the episodes where they bring designers and illustrators
8:13
etcetera as guests. They ask really insightful
8:15
questions. Keep them coming.
8:18
Thank you. Oh, we will, for as long as we
8:21
can. Until we pass out, we're still
8:25
going. We have the rest of it this year
8:27
planned out so. Yeah, I'm excited for the rest
8:30
of this year. Yeah, we have some good stuff
8:32
coming. We actually have our spooky
8:34
season planned so. It's looking tight.
8:38
Yeah, I'm real excited. And the last one that I'll read
8:42
for today, five stars from Just Call Me E says, Love this
8:46
podcast. I work in TV and film in the
8:49
costume department. And it's not every day you get a
8:51
whole podcast show that celebrates the hard work costume
8:54
designers and their crew do to help bring your favorite movies
8:57
and TV shows to life. Thank you for all your hard work
9:01
and. Thank you for giving us
9:04
something to talk about. Right.
9:06
I mean, we do this because we love all of your work and you
9:10
know, we just are here to support and be that voice and
9:14
just gush over incredible costume design.
9:17
So if you keep them coming, we'll keep them coming.
9:21
Absolutely, Absolutely. So yeah, don't forget to leave
9:25
us a 5 star text review so we could read them on our future
9:28
episodes. And I have one more thing for
9:30
you, Elizabeth, and you'll get a kick out of this, so.
9:34
I don't know how I missed this on Instagram.
9:37
Yeah, so after our Bridgerton episode, I did a poll for all of
9:41
our Instagram listeners and I you know, we talked a little bit
9:45
about Benedict Bridgeton and his his situation ship with Lady
9:53
Tilly Arnold and Herman slash friend don't know what's.
9:58
Happening. Yeah, it's a whole mess.
10:00
Basically they were in a throuple for a whole 2 episodes.
10:04
Spoiler if you haven't seen Bridgeton, sorry.
10:07
So I asked, I'd set up a poll and these are the choices.
10:12
Should Benedict go live his life as in, you know, go celebrate
10:17
his new by awakening? The second option was should
10:22
Benedict get together if Lady Tilly don't walk away from this
10:27
strong independent woman who he clearly has a think for.
10:32
And the last option was I wanted more throuple action.
10:35
Where was the throuple? Action.
10:40
And Elizabeth, the results are in 43% of our Instagram
10:43
listeners said Benedict should go live his life, meaning he
10:47
needs to go explore his new sexuality needs to.
10:50
Go find a new throuple. So yeah, 43% second place was
10:57
38% that wanted more throuple action.
11:00
Yes. 19 percent said he needs to get with Lady Tilly Arnold.
11:06
No, see, OK, I have. To say and Elizabeth did not
11:11
vote for this, by the way. I checked to make sure.
11:13
She then skewed the. Polls.
11:15
So I have. I've had so much going on in my
11:18
life that I put a time limit on my Instagram.
11:21
Good. Just cuz like it you can get
11:23
lost in it and lose precious time.
11:26
So I that's how I miss this I think.
11:29
That's good, yeah. I didn't see it.
11:33
I and I wish we had gotten to talk about Lady Tilly a little
11:36
bit more on our episode. It was just there was too much.
11:40
There was too much. But she was such a cool
11:44
character. And I was like, girl, just enjoy
11:48
your men like you are an independent, wealthy woman who
11:53
doesn't have to answer to anybody.
11:55
Enjoy these two gorgeous men who are lavishing attention on you.
12:03
Like just go for it. I don't know why she wanted to
12:07
try and have the relationship talk with Benedict like.
12:12
Yeah, so I said when we did the episode with Chloe that I felt
12:17
like Benedict should have just got together Tilly, you know,
12:20
and just kept going. But I've had a few weeks to sit
12:23
back and ponder this. I wanted more throuple action.
12:26
That's just like the plain truth.
12:28
I wanted more throuple action. I would have liked maybe season
12:32
four to be half throuple action. And then he realizes he wants to
12:36
be of Lady Tilly. I just wanted to, yeah, play it
12:38
out a little bit. Let's have some fun.
12:40
I don't think Lady Tilly's the person he gets within the books,
12:43
so who knows? Oh, but I'm like, I would have
12:46
loved them like, yeah, season 4, the throuple.
12:49
And it's like, that man could have gotten Benedict like back
12:52
into his painting 'cause he's clearly like a patron of the
12:55
arts. Like, mm hmm.
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Cause Benedict seems a little bit lost this season.
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Yeah, 'cause he, he feels like he got into art school unfairly
13:04
through his brother's donation, which I didn't realize he full
13:08
stopped quit painting. Yeah, I know.
13:10
Such a bummer. Like what everyone acts like he
13:13
was never doing anything with his life.
13:18
So I would have loved them to have like are really like good,
13:21
like boosting each other up and like getting Benedict on a path
13:25
and whether they stay together or not.
13:28
Like, I just would have liked to see that like people helping
13:32
people and loving each other. I think that would have been
13:34
nice. It would have been nice.
13:36
Clearly we are very passionate about this and if you didn't
13:39
listen to our Bridgeton episode right after this, I suggest you
13:43
go back because it's a good one. I've actually listened to it a
13:45
couple times just because it's it's funny and it makes me
13:48
smile. And as we said earlier, it's
13:52
been dark times. So a little Bridgeton is some
13:55
great escapism. I have to say, I've reflected
13:59
upon the episodes and from all the information I've gotten in,
14:04
I was an idiot. How did I not notice that
14:07
Francesca was totally? I need to call Chloe.
14:16
I was. I was just, I don't know where
14:19
my head was when I was first watching that.
14:23
Oh wow. I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm
14:26
dumb. Like the the two of you were
14:29
right. The two of you were right.
14:32
First of all, I don't think you've ever said I've been right
14:35
on this podcast, So this is a great moment.
14:40
I. Mean every now and then,
14:41
Spencer, you're bound to a broken.
14:44
Clock is right twice a year. I will continue to double down
14:50
on my Dowager Lady Bridgerton. That's fine, we'll work on that.
14:55
Season 4. But no, that's.
14:57
Yeah. I'm so glad you came to that
14:59
realization. That's that's so funny.
15:02
I think we need to call Chloe after this.
15:04
But before we go too much into a deep dive on Bridgerton, we need
15:07
to direct our attention to a more contemporary time.
15:11
Yeah, in New York City, where there's not a lot of throuple,
15:16
but there's lots of murders. They have my favorite platonic
15:20
throuple. They're oh, right, It is a
15:23
throuple. What am I saying?
15:25
It is a throuple. It's just not the kind we're
15:26
talking about. We are talking about Only
15:29
Murders in the Building, yes. Season 3.
15:34
Yeah, this is one of your favorite shows.
15:37
It is because I I think I waited till season one was all out
15:41
because I I'd been like seeing things about it and like seeing
15:45
all the photos. And it's like when you see
15:47
that's like the costume dine the fashion in that show, like
15:52
brilliant. Yeah, so good.
15:54
And I was like, OK, I should go watch.
15:55
And I like a murder mystery. Yeah, who doesn't?
15:58
And yeah, and it's like the show was definitely like, not quite.
16:01
Was that what I was anticipating?
16:04
It was so much better. It was so much better.
16:07
And it's like you just get hooked.
16:09
You fall in love with these characters and the costume
16:12
design is top notch. Like it's hard to get better.
16:16
It's hard to get better than what what is happening in Only
16:20
Murders in the Building. That is a ringing endorsement.
16:24
Yeah, I've. So I've seen bits and pieces of
16:27
season one and two, and I've saw season three because, you know,
16:30
unfortunately I kind of saw this in the tropical storm that is
16:34
Emmy season. So I am kind of like bits and
16:37
pieces of like every show right now.
16:39
But Elizabeth's been trying to get me to watch the show for a
16:42
while, and I'm so glad that I finally got to jump in because
16:45
it is really so good. It's so funny, and the amount of
16:49
cameos in the show, I mean, it's like wild.
16:52
Just like casually, like Meryl Streep will show up, you know,
16:55
just like, it's really insane the amount of talented people on
17:00
this series. I never thought I'd see, Oh, I
17:04
guess Meryl Streep has been in TV shows before.
17:06
But like, I like, I don't know. I don't see.
17:10
Meryl Streep is like a a movie star to me.
17:12
Yeah. So like I never expect her to be
17:14
in like ATV show. And it's just, she's so charming
17:18
in this show. So charming.
17:20
So charming. I think everyone on this cast,
17:23
this crew is charming. It's really been a great show,
17:26
which is why, you know, it's been nominated for like a
17:29
million gazillion Emmys, including costume design, which
17:33
we'll get into. But first, let me give a little
17:36
summary of Only Murders in the Building.
17:38
Spencer. Only Murders in the Building
17:41
follows 3 strangers who share an obsession with true crime and
17:45
suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one when a death occurs
17:49
inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building.
17:53
The trio suspects murder and employs the precise knowledge of
17:56
true crime to investigate the truth as they record a podcast
18:00
of their own to document the case.
18:02
The three unraveled the complex secrets of the building, which
18:05
stretched back years. As we get to season three, we
18:09
have a leading man down just as Oliver returns a Broadway.
18:14
Ben Glenroy collapses on stage, leading Charles, Oliver and
18:19
Mabel to piece together to show's first days with a
18:22
suspicious cast and crew to determine if foul play was
18:25
involved. And that is only Murders in the
18:28
Building. If you have not watched Only
18:31
Murders in the Building, get to Hulu.
18:34
Get to watch Watch all three seasons.
18:38
Elizabeth, if a murder happened in our apartment building when
18:41
we live together, Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
18:45
Can you imagine And Avisha would have been over every day.
18:49
We would have started a podcast years ago.
18:52
We would have you imagine us. We would have, we bought
18:55
binoculars and we we would have, we probably would have gotten
18:58
like a ADNFDNA swab kit. Oh yeah, I'm all.
19:02
Online. I would just I would be starting
19:05
a podcast if someone left our laundry in the laundry room too
19:08
long. Like, let alone a murder.
19:13
So Oh my gosh, we would have been insufferable if that
19:15
happens. Yeah, and let's go behind the
19:20
costumes. We have creators John Hoffman
19:25
and Steve Martin and our incredible costume designer,
19:31
Dana Covarrubias. You will know her work from
19:35
Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Master of None, Klaus, Rami, and
19:43
Babes. You will also know her from her
19:46
work on every single season of Only Murders in the Building.
19:50
She was the only costume designer the show has ever had,
19:54
and she has received an Emmy nomination for every single
19:58
season and is nominated this year for Outstanding
20:03
Contemporary Design. Yeah, Dana does not miss.
20:07
And I mean everyone knows it. Yeah, yeah.
20:13
Literally every single season of this show has been nominated for
20:15
its costume design. Yeah.
20:17
Yeah. Incredible.
20:18
That's awesome. I don't, I don't feel like that
20:20
happens very often. I mean, no, at least not I mean
20:25
usually. Maybe it starts to happen like
20:26
season 2 now. From the very beginning.
20:28
Only murders knew was doing Elizabeth as you know.
20:34
Maybe the the listeners do not know, but I actually got to meet
20:38
Dana and talk about the costumes for season three.
20:43
This happened not too long ago. Unfortunately Elizabeth was not
20:46
able to attend. Maybe, maybe the storm wiped her
20:50
power away. I don't remember, but but
20:53
Elizabeth still sent me her questions.
20:55
So we had a great time breaking down season three especially,
21:00
but we do kind of talk about the characters throughout the series
21:03
as a whole. So I hope you all just get to
21:07
sit back and enjoy. It's a great conversation and
21:10
when it's over, Elizabeth and I will come back and play our
21:13
favorite game. Yes, everyone enjoy Spencer's
21:17
interview with Dana Koverubius. None.
21:46
I am so happy to finally welcome costume designer Dana
21:50
Kolarubias. Hey Dana, how are you?
21:52
Good. How are you?
21:54
Good. I'm so excited to talk to you.
21:56
I feel like I've been hearing everyone tell me to watch Only
21:59
Murders in the Building ever since I came out, and I'm just
22:02
so excited to finally make it happen because the listeners
22:06
have just been dying for this episode, so I'm I'm so thrilled.
22:10
That's that's so good to hear. Yeah, we, we are in the midst of
22:15
season 4 right now. And so I'm trying to, you know,
22:19
remember everything from season three as it's always, we always
22:21
do the interviews like a year later and it's always how do I,
22:25
you know, remember everything. But but yeah, I'm so excited to
22:28
talk with you. Well.
22:29
Good, I'll I'll guide you through it too.
22:30
And my Co host Elizabeth is actually like a die hard fan and
22:34
she sent a lot of questions as well.
22:36
So we're going to get into all the specifics, but first, like I
22:39
was saying, you know, I've been looking forward to talking to
22:41
you for a while because this show is just so successful.
22:44
I mean, you've picked up two Emmy nominations so far in this
22:47
series, So what does that been like?
22:49
That must be a huge whirlwind. Oh, yeah, yeah.
22:52
I mean, I, I, I kind of knew when I started the job that it
22:56
would get a lot of attention because of our unbelievable cast
23:00
and, and the writing. You know, I, I just knew the
23:03
story was going to be appealing to people.
23:05
And people are all about, you know, murder mystery and, you
23:09
know, crime dramas and all of that.
23:11
And obviously comedy and having Steve and Marty and Selena, it's
23:16
like, how can you kind of go wrong there?
23:19
You can't. So I knew it would how?
23:21
Can we? Resist right, right.
23:23
I knew it would get a lot of attention, but I, you know, I
23:25
didn't. You know, when you're costume
23:27
design, you kind of, you go from the script and you, you have
23:30
your meetings and you do your mood boards and you think about
23:32
your inspiration. And but you're doing, you know,
23:35
I do it, you know, based on character.
23:37
And I'm and I'm thinking about that more than anything else.
23:39
And then when it gets the attention that it's been
23:40
getting, it's just, it's just very exciting and it's, it's
23:44
very, you know, I'm very grateful and but it's not
23:47
something you expect, you know, it's not, you're just kind of
23:48
head down doing the work. Yeah, yeah, it's been, it's
23:52
been, has been a whirlwind and and I'm, yeah, I just feel very
23:56
lucky. Awesome.
23:57
Yeah, it's great to follow along, too.
23:59
I mean, every time a new season comes out, I'm like, oh, what
24:01
does she have in store for us this time?
24:03
So I'm always very excited. So within that same vein,
24:06
talking about the series as a whole, you're from New York
24:08
City, right? Actually, I grew up in Texas.
24:12
Yeah. It's funny, like Selena and I
24:14
have that in common. We both grew up in Texas and we
24:16
both are half Mexican, so we like had that little thing in
24:20
common. But.
24:21
But I came to New York when I was 17 to start going to school.
24:24
So I've been in New York for over 20 years.
24:26
Yeah. That's awesome.
24:28
So I talked with my friends at Makeover Montage quite a bit,
24:31
Marie and Blair, about how we always have Co envy living in
24:34
Los Angeles. And I think your show is suspect
24:37
#1 in that Co envy, yeah. So how has your experience
24:41
living in New York informed Only Murders in the Building?
24:46
Oh, I mean everything it's you know, it's it's as a costume
24:49
designer living in New York, I always say it's like it's the
24:51
best research, you know, you can really have living here because
24:56
just everywhere you go, you see amazing, you know, people and
25:00
and not just like, you know, but yes, there's amazing fashion
25:03
here, but it it's really just character, you know, like you
25:07
see these like characters everywhere.
25:10
And it's so fun to kind of hone in on what that person's look
25:14
is. And you know, you're on the
25:16
subway or, you know, you're walking down the street and you
25:18
see someone and you're like, wow, they put that with that and
25:21
those shoes. And that's such an interesting
25:22
combination. And who are they and where are
25:24
they going? And, you know, I think it just
25:25
gets your costume designer brain kind of ticking in a way that it
25:29
probably wouldn't maybe in other cities.
25:32
And of course you have all different kinds of people living
25:35
here of all different, you know, socio economic backgrounds and
25:39
coming from all different countries.
25:41
And it's just such a melting pot in New York and always has been.
25:44
And I think that really informs costume design in general and
25:49
definitely specifically on this show.
25:51
But yeah, when I first came to New York, I was living on the
25:54
Upper West Side where our show takes place.
25:56
So I lived there for five years maybe so and, and you know, and
26:01
then now since then I've lived almost in every borough.
26:04
I've lived in something like 10 different apartments or
26:08
something since my 20 years of being in New York.
26:11
And so I've seen every borough. I've seen every kind of person
26:14
I've, you know, studied all the people.
26:16
So so I feel like that gives me a really great advantage when I
26:20
designed New York City based shows.
26:23
And then specifically with Only Murders, you know, I had a
26:26
really, you know, I had a lot of time to study the Upper West
26:28
Side people. And I, I worked in college, I
26:31
worked at a wine bar that was across from the Met.
26:34
And, and so I was, all of our customers were like pre and
26:38
post, you know, Met people, you know, going, going to the opera
26:42
or going to the ballet. And, and I think I just really
26:46
loved how elegant everyone, you know, everyone's so fashionable
26:49
and elegant. And I think that's that's the
26:52
kind of look that I wanted for the Arconia, this kind of like
26:55
old New York elegance. But yeah, I mean, yeah, I think
27:00
everything, everything about the show has been helped by the fact
27:03
that I've lived in New York for so long, for sure.
27:05
Right. I mean, talking about the best
27:06
research ever, just walking down the street is just like a, you
27:09
know, a homework assignment sometimes.
27:12
The code specifically like that, you see, I mean, it's it's
27:15
winter. I think people don't realize
27:17
growing up in Texas, of course, it was just a shock for me that
27:21
winter is nine months long here. You know, like, I mean, kind of
27:27
you're kind of wearing a coat for nine months.
27:29
Yeah, nine months. And you have to because of that.
27:31
And it's not, they're different kinds of cold.
27:34
You know, there's like really, really cold and then there's
27:36
like little tiny cold days. So it's like you want to have a
27:40
bunch of different coats for every kind of, you know, weather
27:44
there might be. I personally have probably 2
27:48
closets worth of coats. You know, you gotta have your
27:52
rain coming back. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:55
You gotta have your raincoats. You gotta have your trench
27:57
coats. You have to have your puffer
27:58
coat. You have to have your like, more
27:59
elegant, longer wool coat, you know.
28:02
So I kind of thought that, you know, our characters would have
28:06
that as well, right? It's become, we always joke that
28:09
it's a coat. It's a show about coats.
28:11
The best show about coats, if I might say so.
28:14
So I'm excited to get into season three as there is a lot
28:17
of great stuff going on here as this season heavily revolves
28:21
around Broadway musicals. So before we get into the
28:24
specifics, I have to imagine, you know, having this experience
28:27
now living in New York City, that must have been quite
28:30
exciting to you to bring Broadway into the series.
28:34
Yeah, absolutely. It was very exciting when I
28:37
found out that that was what this season's kind of main arc
28:41
was going to be about. And I growing up, did musicals.
28:46
I think I did a production of, well, I don't know if it was a
28:51
musical, but it was something called a production of Stone
28:54
Soup when I was like four or five and then and then.
29:00
I did stun sing too. I could sing a song to you, but
29:03
I'm not going to. That'd be horrible.
29:04
Amazing. Oh my God, that's necessary.
29:08
Yes, yes. But yeah, very young, very
29:09
young, you know, and then like, and I think I did like Annie get
29:12
your gun in like 6th grade or, you know, and I just had the
29:15
theatre bug my whole childhood and, and then was a total
29:19
theatre nerd all throughout high school and college and went to
29:22
school for performance and switched kind of like I got
29:26
interested in costume design while I was in college, but.
29:30
It's like the most easy transition, honestly, yeah.
29:32
Well, you know, and I, I realized after years of doing it
29:36
that I actually like, hated kind of being in front of people.
29:40
And the part of theater that I really enjoyed was creating the
29:43
character. You know, I would like, I love,
29:45
I love the camaraderie of the crew.
29:47
Like I love being part of a crew and I loved creating character
29:52
and doing all the research behind creating character and so
29:55
that like, so when I sort of got more into costumes, I was like,
29:58
oh, this is perfect. This is exactly what I'm looking
30:00
for. But yes, I love musicals.
30:02
Whole childhood was like, totally, you know, listen to
30:06
rent probably 5000 times and annoy my parents endlessly.
30:12
So yeah. So I was very excited to use
30:14
that as inspiration for this whole season and kind of pick
30:17
and choose which musicals I thought, you know, would be fun
30:20
to use as inspiration for the costumes this season.
30:24
Yeah, that's that's so exciting. I mean, it's like the costume
30:26
designer's dream. I can't believe you brought up
30:29
stone suit. That's such AI thought that was,
30:31
I thought that was like an exclusive experience.
30:33
So I need to like do some research I guess.
30:35
Funny, I know. I like I have a vague memory of
30:37
my costume in it and that's it. Yeah, or like like standing
30:42
around the cauldron and putting. Oh yeah.
30:45
Or something. Yes, very cauldron.
30:49
I'm going to chat with you after.
30:52
So season after season, everyone's talking about Selena
30:55
Gomez's character Mabel and all of her brilliant costumes.
30:59
I grew up watching Selena Gomez on Wizards Wavery Place, been a
31:02
fan forever so I was just so excited to see her in this.
31:05
I mean this season Mabel's looks appear to be heavily influenced
31:09
by said Broadway musicals like we were talking about.
31:11
So how did this come to be and how much have you collaborated
31:14
with Selena in creating her characters look?
31:18
Well, every season I like to pick kind of a central influence
31:22
based on, you know, what we're doing with the, the writing and
31:24
what the main plot line is that season.
31:27
So, you know, season one, it was, it was kind of very Hardy
31:31
boys face plot line. So that was the main inspiration
31:34
for the looks. And then, Oh my gosh, oh, season
31:37
2 was sort of there was this Hitchcockian theme that we had
31:41
going. So that's where we went.
31:42
And then the season was musical. So I it's this, it's actually
31:47
what I did press. I think after season one,
31:49
someone asked me if, if the costumes had any sort of like
31:54
mystery element in them or like what's called Easter egg, you
31:58
know, kind of situation. I didn't really have that season
32:02
one. And I was like, well, that would
32:03
be such a cool idea to incorporate into the costume
32:06
design. If I can kind of make a mystery
32:08
within our mystery, which is, you know, for our audience and
32:14
our fans who are watching to, to know that I'm that I have some
32:18
sort of inspiration and to kind of try to figure it out, you
32:21
know, so on season two, it was, you know, I was, I told people,
32:26
you know, we're, you're doing Hitchcock.
32:28
And so like, can you tell like as an audience member, can you
32:31
tell as you're watching like which Hitchcock movie is the
32:34
book inspired from? And so this season we're doing
32:37
the same thing or season three, we're doing the same thing with
32:39
musicals. So, so yeah, almost almost every
32:44
single costume she wears in season three is inspired by a
32:47
specific musical, kind of a combination of a musical.
32:51
One of the looks she wears in the beginning is kind of like a
32:54
sweater vest look that's inspired by Little Shop of
32:59
Horrors in combination with Gypsy sort of mix there.
33:05
And yeah, we, we, I caught. The Phantom rose on Yeah, yeah,
33:08
that. Was great That was my favorite
33:10
one. I think the Phantom Opera look
33:12
that she wears to a date night. It's like a beautiful rose
33:16
velvet, very like real dark romance, you know, kind of dress
33:21
and yeah. And yeah, so it was just fun to
33:24
choose all of that. And and yeah, I mean, Selena's
33:27
like she's just so game. She's like, she's very, I think
33:30
she the most input she offers typically when we're in a
33:35
fitting is like this feels very Mabel or this does not, you
33:38
know, like, I think she's just so honed in on who Mabel is that
33:41
when we'll put something on, sometimes I'll see what she's
33:44
wearing in real life and I get inspired by that and I'll try to
33:49
mix that in a little bit. And then sometimes she's like,
33:51
she'll be like, no, this is to Selena, you know, like this
33:53
feels to Selena, not Mabel. So we we really try to, you
33:57
know, make a distinction there. So yeah, she's just so, you
34:00
know, she's really just lets me and my team do what we do and is
34:04
great in that way. Yeah, that's so exciting.
34:07
And then we have these two legendary comedians that you're
34:10
working with, you know, just Martin Short and Steve Martin.
34:15
So in Season 3, Oliver, by the way, Oliver is a fashion icon.
34:19
I'm just going to get that out of the way for the short amount.
34:21
I've been watching the show. I'm already like, I, this is
34:24
what I want to be. So Oliver returns to Broadway.
34:29
And so tell me about design costings for Oliver and how that
34:33
may or may not have evolved as we got into season three once he
34:37
returns back to Broadway. Yeah, Oliver, he is.
34:42
Yeah, he's it's hard to pick from all your children, of
34:45
course, but like I have to do, I do have to say that Oliver is my
34:48
favorite person. You're.
34:50
Like I will choose but since you didn't ask, I will choose.
34:54
I will choose it is Oliver. He's just so fun.
34:59
And I mean there's so much to to work with their character wise.
35:02
You know, the way he's scripted, he's this very tragic character
35:06
who's not afraid of fashion and not afraid of standing out and
35:11
wants to stand out. And that's just very exciting,
35:14
you know, to kind of work with that as a costume designer.
35:18
And yeah, I would say, you know what, what we established season
35:22
one is that, you know, he's this, you know, man who had a
35:26
heyday, you know, back in like the 80s, nineties, directing for
35:30
Broadway and had a lot of money then and kind of, well, maybe,
35:34
you know, a medium amount of money blew it all.
35:37
You know, he's in like very serious credit card debt and he,
35:44
you know, but so he has these luxury items, he has these
35:46
luxury pieces, but they're all from like the 90s and the early
35:49
aughts basically. So for him, we do a lot of
35:53
shopping on the real reel because it's kind of perfect
35:55
because it's like second hand luxury items that we just look
35:58
for stuff that looks a little more like, you know, 90s or
36:01
early aughts for him. And you know, his, his main goal
36:04
is that he's, he's always playing a role.
36:06
He's always trying to, you know, be, be what the other person
36:11
wants him to be in any given situation.
36:13
So he he's really loud with his with his wardrobe and we love to
36:19
mix patterns and color and we just have so much fun with him.
36:23
And then specifically this season, you know, he's getting
36:26
back to the director role, like you said.
36:28
So we we tried to focus more on kind of a more casual Oliver
36:33
look where he's a little bit more like pushed his sleeves up.
36:37
Let's get down to business. Let's whip these actors into
36:40
shape. You know, he's a little he's in
36:43
the theater all the time or he's, you know, they're
36:45
rehearsing at the building and he's in rehearsal mode, you
36:49
know, so it's a bit of a different look than his life.
36:52
It's a. Work mode, yeah.
36:53
So it's a bit of a different. Look than his like three piece
36:55
suit kind of thing that he you know, will wear a lot of times
36:59
and then. Steve Martin's character,
37:01
Charles, he, I mean, first of all, one amazing actor.
37:05
So what was it like working with Steve Martin?
37:07
How do you describe his characters costumes in season
37:09
three? He's a little bit harder for me
37:11
to understand because he just. I mean, he always has such great
37:14
style, but he's also gained into his role as well.
37:17
Yeah. Yeah.
37:18
So his. His main thing, you know,
37:20
character wise is that he's he, he's kind of the opposite of
37:24
Oliver. He, he doesn't like to stand out
37:27
and he has a lot of comfort in, in the day-to-day repetitiveness
37:33
of things. Like he, he's kind of, he's
37:36
doesn't love being around a lot of people.
37:38
Like he's just one of those people that like, wants to be
37:39
home, wants to be alone, is happy to have a, a uniform.
37:43
You know, like he's got 20 different blue shirts, you know,
37:48
five different, yeah, five different blue Blazers, 5
37:51
different blue sweaters, you know, 5 pairs of jeans.
37:54
And he just kind of, you know, rotates them and makes it easy
37:58
for him. And he, you know, but he always
37:59
looks good. Like he knows what looks good on
38:01
him, but he just, you know, he's sticking to his color palette
38:04
and his silhouettes that he knows work.
38:07
And So what we've so the so I think character wise, what's
38:10
been fun with his, his character is that we've anytime he
38:14
deviates from that, you know, does something else, it's a big
38:17
choice, you know, so as the seasons have been going really
38:21
in season one, we really only did blue, white, Gray, maybe a
38:28
little bit of green, maybe maybe.
38:31
And then now as the seasons have gone, we've gone, you know, he's
38:33
really push. He's has these new best friends
38:36
of, you know, Mabel and and Oliver, and he's pushing
38:41
himself. He's constantly pushing himself
38:42
out of his comfort zone. And so we try to reflect that
38:45
with his costume by adding a bit more color, adding a bit more
38:48
pattern, but very, very subtly. I think in season 2 we just
38:52
started adding color in his hat bands, like barely like
38:57
anything. And then and now in season
39:00
three, we've tried to really push the color, I mean, for him.
39:04
And, and he's, you know, now he's acting in this play that
39:09
Oliver's directing, which he's, you know, he's used to doing his
39:13
crime procedural that he did back in the 90s, which is a very
39:16
different kind of acting than live musical performance.
39:20
So he's very nervous. He's very worried about having
39:24
to be in the musical and having to pull off the song.
39:27
He has to do a patter song, which is a very, very difficult
39:30
song to do. And so we wanted to show that he
39:34
was kind of pushing himself by adding more color.
39:37
But then there are these scenes where he goes to a quote UN
39:41
quote white room where he kind of has these like freak out
39:44
moments. He, you know, it's kind of like
39:47
when you're on stage, you forget your lines, you forget, you
39:48
know, you have that like horrifying.
39:51
And so he goes to the white room and then when he's in the white
39:53
room, it's like all of the color is sucked out.
39:56
So he's just head to toe wearing white, a white version of what
40:00
he would normally wear. So that was really fun.
40:03
We got, you know, we made custom, we knocked off his
40:06
normal hat and like made a custom white one and found it
40:09
and. Yeah, we had a lot.
40:11
Of fun with that look for him but yeah he's completely like
40:14
pushing himself like you know out of the comfort zone and goes
40:17
back and then yeah I I. From what I'm gathering, I just
40:21
feel like Charles is just so relatable because I mean,
40:24
everything you're saying about Charles, I'm like, I, I feel
40:27
this way plenty of time. So yeah, I think we're all like.
40:33
I think that's what's fun about the show is like we're all a
40:35
little bit of each of them, you know, we're all, we're all
40:37
little Mabel. We're all little Charles.
40:39
I'm feeling very Charles. Today, but I'm hoping tomorrow
40:42
I'll be feeling pretty Oliver. Oliver, it's like a weekend.
40:45
Personality. Exactly.
40:49
So this next question was actually submitted by my Co host
40:52
who really want to be here but couldn't unfortunately.
40:55
But she really wanted to talk about the musical aspect of the
40:59
show as well, specifically Def Rattle Dazzle.
41:02
She said the musicals costumes with their unique blend of
41:05
fantasy reality were undeniably a standout feature of the
41:08
season. I was particularly enamoured
41:11
with the crab people. And So what was the creative
41:14
process like when designing costumes for a show?
41:16
Within a show? It was a dream.
41:19
Come true because I've, you know, I, I did theatre in school
41:21
but then I as soon as I got out of school I really started
41:24
working in film and TV and I haven't really gone back to
41:28
theater. So it was very, very fun to
41:31
design this version of theater for television.
41:36
I'm a big sequence person. I love anything sparkly.
41:41
I have racks of clothes that are like in in my costume stock that
41:45
are just sequins. Like I just have racks that are
41:48
just like, these are my sparkle racks.
41:49
Yeah, in case of emergency. Sequence.
41:54
I just, I don't know, I've always loved them.
41:55
And so I just got excited that, you know, the, the the straight
42:00
play version that we establish of Oliver's play at the
42:03
beginning of the season is just called Death Rattle.
42:07
And then he creates this, you know, redone version that's the
42:12
musical called Death Rattle Dazzle.
42:14
And when I just heard the title and and I knew that, you know,
42:19
plot line wise and character wise, what's happening is that
42:23
he doesn't have the money, you know, he doesn't have the money
42:25
to like remount the show. So what would they do?
42:29
They would use the existing costumes they have and just
42:33
cover them and rhinestones, you know what I mean?
42:36
Like get as many sequins and rhinestones and crayon glitter
42:39
that you can and, and cover them because they wouldn't have the
42:42
money to completely reproduce a costume.
42:44
Right. So that's kind of where we went
42:47
with it. And, and we were also really
42:49
inspired by a little shop of horrors and, and that kind of
42:53
like campy, like this mix of like camp and reality.
42:59
And then we also wanted to poke a little bit of fun in a way at,
43:03
you know, musical costume design and like go go really far with
43:08
it. Like ridiculous, like make
43:10
everything sparkly and everything, you know, over the
43:14
top. We you know, I spent I don't
43:16
know how many man hours hand hand stoning shoes.
43:21
My gosh. Which is I love doing.
43:23
It's so fun. But but quite the.
43:25
Task. Though.
43:26
Yes, quite the task. Yeah, and.
43:27
As you mentioned too. When Oliver realizes what this,
43:31
you know, production needs to become, there's that fun, a
43:34
little Fosse montage dream sequence that we get that's I
43:38
feel like it's too short. I need a whole episode of it.
43:41
You. Know that was.
43:44
My only thing. Like when I watched the season
43:46
back, I was like, oh, I just wish there were.
43:47
I wish like we could have just like, almost like music videos
43:51
of like, right? Just the musical parts, maybe,
43:53
just like. Hulu needs to do like a limited
43:56
just hour long production. Yeah, yeah.
43:58
There you go. You know we.
44:00
We used the. Costumes.
44:01
We're fine. Yeah.
44:02
Yeah, that. Was really fun, all that.
44:04
Yeah, we had. So a lot of Mabel's costumes
44:06
this season were designed by or designed by, were inspired by
44:10
Fosse, you know, productions, different Fosse productions.
44:15
And yeah, that scene specifically was was so fun to
44:19
design and to see, to see Steve and Selena in those looks, you
44:23
know, something we we don't ever get to do on the show.
44:26
So that was really fun. Yeah.
44:27
That was one of my favorite. Parts I was sitting up in my on
44:30
my couch just like so thrilled, like, oh, this is fun.
44:34
So I've heard you talk before about how Clueless was very
44:38
integral to your trajectory and to gain into costume design.
44:42
So then comes Ben Glenroy played by Paul Rudd, which I can
44:47
imagine must have been quite exciting.
44:50
He is a self-centered movie star and you you definitely get to
44:54
know him in this season as he goes through quite a lot and you
44:58
also see some of his films such as Girl Cop which I found found
45:02
to be hilarious. So what is it like working with
45:05
this character? It was so.
45:07
Fun We I've this was my second time working with Paul.
45:11
We did a movie together called they came together many years
45:14
ago. And so it was great to work with
45:17
him again. And I think, you know, actually
45:21
when we did that movie, it it was a it's a movie with him and
45:24
Amy Poehler and it's kind of poking fun at ROM coms and
45:28
directed by David Wain. And in that movie he's playing
45:32
like an archetype of like every man that's in a ROM com.
45:36
And that's you know what he he does that like he has that look
45:38
a lot. He does that look a lot.
45:40
And he kind of, I remember back and when we did that movie, you
45:44
know, we had him in like a button down patterned shirt and
45:47
a crew neck sweater and some jeans and some boots.
45:51
And he was like, this is basically the costume I wear and
45:53
everything. You know, like, yeah, that makes
45:55
sense. That's fair.
45:57
Fair enough. So.
45:58
So I really so that when I, you know, read his character and
46:02
read who he was and and I kind of was like, I really want to do
46:05
something different. Like I want to give Paul a look
46:08
that he's never done before. He's never really won before.
46:12
So we kind of went with this like, you know, rock a little
46:17
slightly rocker, like a bit John Varvatos in there, you know, and
46:22
he's just like this very self-centered, you know, actor
46:26
who's kind of mean to everyone around him.
46:28
And and and we wanted him to look, We we were inspired, but
46:33
not that Oh my God, not that he's this way.
46:35
I've never worked with him. It's easy lovely.
46:38
But we were inspired by off duty Keanu Reeves.
46:43
Yeah, that's. I don't know if you've ever
46:45
like. Studied them, but I wouldn't say
46:47
studied but I get. The reference, yeah, they're
46:50
very fascinating. It'll be like it'll be like
46:54
jeans and like a blaze, like a beat up kind of blazer that he's
46:58
probably had for a while and AT shirt, but then paired with like
47:01
a hiking boot right here. Like what's I don't?
47:04
Know what's happening? Yeah, it's very interesting
47:07
combination of things. So that was one of our
47:11
inspirations and and yeah, you know, he wanted like finger
47:16
tattoos and we were like, yeah, let's get, let's give you like a
47:19
wallet chain. Why not?
47:20
And. Yeah, we like we.
47:22
We punk rocked him up a bit and yeah, we just had a lot of fun
47:25
with it. It was great.
47:26
It was such a fun. It's such a fun.
47:28
Character And then I remember at one point last year when I heard
47:32
the news that one Meryl Streep was going to be joining the
47:35
cast, I was just. I thought about you immediately.
47:38
I was like, OK, well, you know, here comes another great season.
47:42
Meryl Streep plays Loretta Durkin, a seasoned actress who
47:45
has waited decades for her moment in the spotlight.
47:49
So what did you want to convey about Loretta and her life
47:51
through costumes? And I will say I noticed that
47:53
she also enjoys a scarf, much like our dear Oliver.
47:59
Yeah. Scarf Twinsies.
48:01
Which was very fun. Yeah.
48:03
Loretta, you know, working with Meryl is a dream come true, as
48:07
you could imagine. And I can't, I can't imagine
48:10
actually you. Know I was just you have to.
48:12
Sort of disengage your brain and just do your do your job.
48:17
Yeah. But yeah, he's so lovely.
48:21
And and I loved what we kind of came up with for her character.
48:25
We, you know, we always John Hoffman, our showrunner and
48:28
Meryl and I had a Zoom early on and, you know, talked about what
48:33
we what we thought her look might be.
48:35
And I think where the original inspiration came from was that
48:39
this character, Loretta, is kind of the sliding doors version of
48:43
Meryl Streep's life. You know, it's like if she
48:46
wouldn't have made it, you know, like if just Meryl didn't make
48:50
it and she just kind of, you know, but, but loved acting so
48:54
much and loved performing and just kind of kept hitting the
48:57
pavement and kept trying to make it happen for herself, but never
48:59
really made it big. And so we looked back at images
49:05
of what Meryl was wearing in the 70s and like late 60s,
49:10
seventies, early 80s. And we're like, you know, what
49:14
if her style was just sort of arrested in that moment.
49:18
So that was kind of the original idea for her costume design was
49:22
kind of kind of these, I had this beautiful image of her
49:26
where she's wearing like a tall boot with like a MIDI length, a
49:30
line skirt and a blazer and a blouse.
49:33
And I don't know, the the colors were all very like kind of
49:36
autumnal, but with a bit of like jewel tone in there as well.
49:40
And so yeah, that was the first inspiration.
49:42
Wow, it's kind of. Dark and I love it.
49:45
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when Marilyn and I
49:48
talked about it, she loved that original idea.
49:51
And then, you know, she and I kind of came up with this other
49:54
part that was like, you know, she's she's given up everything
49:59
in her life to dedicate herself fully to acting.
50:02
So she's like the most hardcore when it comes to being an actor.
50:06
And, and in in that how she dresses herself is either it
50:12
it's kind of two things. It's either like completely
50:14
blank slate, like she's wearing just like all black, or, you
50:19
know, something very simple, just like jeans and a, you know,
50:22
button down, like a very simple button down shirt.
50:24
So that when she's at a rehearsal or at an audition, she
50:28
can kind of become anything. You know, it's like giving
50:31
yourself a blank slate so that you can take on whatever
50:33
character or so that her closet's made of those kinds of
50:36
pieces, these like blank slate pieces or they're pieces in her
50:40
closet that she's kind of taken from different productions she's
50:44
been part of. And they're very characterful.
50:47
And they're sort of these pieces that, you know, you could even,
50:51
you know, we were saying as we would do a fitting, we'd be
50:52
like, oh, this is something you took from like an Ibsen
50:55
production you were in, or this is something from a Chekhov
50:57
production you were in. Or this is very Shakespearean,
50:59
you know, So all these plays that she's been in, all these
51:02
roles she's had, she's taken pieces of those characters with
51:06
her. So, yeah, it was kind of an
51:08
interesting combination of like, very characterful pieces, very
51:11
simple pieces. I think it turned out really
51:13
cool. Yeah.
51:14
But look. I.
51:16
I love the back story. Too, all these little
51:18
connections too, it just really shows that you and your your
51:20
crew really just put thought into every little piece.
51:23
Even though there's, I have to say, a lot of characters in this
51:26
series. So it's probably a lot to keep
51:28
all these all these different storylines going.
51:31
It is. Well, that's, I mean, and
51:32
that's. Something you know, that I
51:33
definitely need to talk about is that I have an amazing team and
51:37
like I'm one person and we have like a seventeen person team or
51:41
something like that. And everyone I could Oh my God,
51:45
I could I I lean on my assistant designers very heavily and they
51:48
are very talented and amazing and help me out so much because
51:52
it's true. It's like, you know, I can only
51:53
focus my energies on. We have, we have so many amazing
51:57
people in the show. And so I focus on, you know,
51:59
maybe 5 to 10 actors and then they're focusing on, you know,
52:04
the rest. And it's a lot.
52:06
Gosh. Well, a costume.
52:07
Designers only as good as their crew and you are amazing.
52:09
So that's a big shout out to them as well.
52:12
So one other question that Elizabeth sent for me to ask.
52:16
She said one of the season's funniest moments for her was
52:19
watching Mabel running through New York with Charles and Oliver
52:22
in Texas to the courthouse for her gown.
52:25
What was the overall look you wanted to achieve?
52:28
Well, you. Learned that the gown was
52:31
actually something that was given.
52:33
It was Charles's girlfriend Joy. It was her mother's.
52:39
So it was supposed to be sort of a 1950s silhouette, you know,
52:44
kind of gown, wedding gown. And but of course, we didn't get
52:49
the script until maybe a week before we were shooting this.
52:52
And I don't know if you've ever had to order a wedding gown, but
52:55
they can take, you know, 6 to 8 weeks to be custom made and
52:58
ordered. And it can be quite difficult to
53:00
procure. And, you know, and then in the
53:04
wedding shops, like, they typically don't have like a
53:06
large size run. You know, they kind of have what
53:09
they have and they're sample ones.
53:10
And they're usually kind of, you know, so it was like, OK, find a
53:14
1950s wedding gown in two days. They're not making multiples to
53:17
run. Through the streets of New York.
53:18
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.
53:21
So we knew we wanted a 50s sort of silhouette, so we kind of
53:26
just ran around and just tried to find what we could find, and
53:29
we ended up actually finding something from David's Bridal.
53:34
Nice. That was like my first guest.
53:37
I thought that would be crazy. Yeah.
53:39
But then of. Course, we did our costume magic
53:42
to it and we replaced the lining.
53:44
The lining was kind of this like really overly bright white,
53:47
almost blue, intense fabric that made it look very new.
53:52
And so we just took that out. Replaced it with something.
53:55
A little more of an off white to give it more of an antiqued, you
53:58
know, look and, and yeah. And then paired it with some
54:02
sweet gloves. And, you know, I think trying to
54:05
remember what kind of yeah, we just, we kind of tried to make
54:07
the other pieces that she was wearing with it a little more
54:10
leaning towards the 1950s to give it that vibe.
54:14
And then of course, she's running around.
54:16
So we thought it would be cute if she was wearing her classic
54:18
Mabel chunky boots. So we put it in a pair of boots.
54:22
I love it. It's such a great look, so
54:24
funny, and there's two other characters I want to talk about
54:27
because they really caught my eye when I saw them.
54:30
It is the producers of Def Randall, Dazzle, Donna and
54:34
Clifford. I'm a big fan of Linda Edmond.
54:36
The Linda Edmond, she is just so fabulous and they both have
54:41
looks that tell you exactly who they are.
54:43
I believe when you see them, they're like, oh, I know who
54:45
they are. So what are your inspirations
54:47
for these two characters? So.
54:50
They were inspired by a real and I'm, I can't believe that I'm
54:53
forgetting their names right now, but it has been a year.
54:56
Yeah, I'm pregnant. So my brain doesn't work as.
54:58
Well, but, but they were inspired by a real mother and
55:03
son theatre producer team and gosh, I have to Google it.
55:09
Is that OK? Can I do that?
55:10
Yeah, no, you're. Fine.
55:13
Is that what it is, Jordan? Yes.
55:14
Jordan Roth figured it out. OK, That's one of the two.
55:18
Right, Jordan Roth. That is the son.
55:22
Daryl, I think Daryl is his mother anyways, the Roths, the
55:27
Roths mother and son glow the Roths, they are fabulous.
55:31
And and that is what we that's what those characters were
55:35
inspired by. And you know, we wanted, we
55:39
wanted Donna to be this like bad ass New York woman who doesn't
55:44
take anything from anyone. And we wanted her to be this
55:51
kind of Upper East Side. You know, she has a lot of
55:55
money, but she's also like, she's there to work.
55:58
She's there to grind and she's there to like, we don't want her
56:01
to feel too conservative or you know what I mean?
56:05
She's she's still a theater person.
56:08
And so we had so much fun going wild, wild with her costumes.
56:13
And then her son Cliff, you know, you don't know much about
56:16
him besides the fact that they're both just like, you
56:18
know, these theatre lovers and that Cliff, I think at one point
56:23
maybe you learned that he has a background in dance.
56:25
And so there are these really hilarious moments where he pulls
56:28
off these amazing dance moves and flips.
56:30
He just randomly flips and scenes.
56:34
But yeah, we we went really crazy with his costumes as well
56:37
and had a really fun time designing that.
56:41
And yeah, we just wanted them to be very theatrical and and
56:46
showy, you know, that's, that's who they are as people.
56:48
Yeah, right. Such a fun.
56:50
Duo and such a fun show. Dana, this has been such a joy.
56:54
And like I said, I've been looking forward to speaking to
56:56
you for a while and it was well worth the wait.
56:58
So just looking back at everything you and your crew
57:01
have achieved on Only Murders in the Building, what is this
57:03
series meant to you as? I mean, you're working on season
57:06
4 right now. I mean, the two Emmy
57:08
nominations. It's, it's incredible.
57:10
What does it meant to you? I mean, it's been, it's.
57:13
Been everything it's been it's been such a again, I feel so so
57:17
so grateful to have worked on this job and and to to keep
57:21
working on it and I hope we get, you know a million more seasons.
57:25
You know, Marty always jokes that we'll just keep doing it
57:29
until Steve doesn't want to do it anymore.
57:30
So hopefully he'll keep wanting to do it.
57:34
And and yeah, I mean, it's, it's, I can't even.
57:39
There are no words to describe how how amazing it is to work on
57:43
it. Like truly, truly love everyone.
57:46
I, you know, my crew, of course, given that they are all amazing
57:50
and I love them. And then, you know, I've never
57:52
before worked on a job where, like, every single crew is
57:56
amazing and the show runners are amazing, the producers are
57:59
amazing and the actors are so kind and so wonderful and so
58:03
talented. And yeah, you just really
58:05
couldn't ask for a better job. You know, it's it's like
58:08
perfectly. It's very creative.
58:11
You're allowed to be a little silly because it's a comedy, but
58:14
it's also very grounded in character.
58:16
So yeah, as a costume designer, it's AI really think it's a once
58:19
in a lifetime. Yeah, it's, it's so exciting
58:22
and. I'm just on the edge of my seat
58:24
getting ready to figure out what Mabel's thing will be next
58:26
season or what the new theme is. So I'm, I'm excited.
58:29
Dana Covarubias, thank you so much.
58:31
This has been such a joy. And congratulations on a lot of
58:35
many different things. So I'm so happy for you.
58:39
Thank you. Hi, this is Dan.
58:57
Audio engineer of the podcast here.
58:59
To let you know that if you wanted to support the show, you
59:02
can head over to the Art of costume.com/pod store.
59:07
There you can buy some awesome T public merch with the podcast
59:11
logo such as a shirt, coffee mug, stickers, and of course a
59:17
baby onesie. Thanks for all your support.
59:41
Spencer. That was incredible.
59:44
That was so much fun. It was so fun.
59:46
I love. Dana, she's so cool.
59:48
And I mean, I love a musical. I love a musical.
59:53
I love a whole season based on musicals and I also love when
59:57
there's lots of subtle references in a costumes.
1:00:00
The fact that you could just, there's a different theme to
1:00:03
Mabel's costumes every season, whether it be Hitchcock or, you
1:00:08
know, even like Phantom of the Opera and Little Shop of
1:00:10
Horrors. I love that.
1:00:12
And I'm just dying to know what it's going to be in season four,
1:00:16
right? It's just.
1:00:18
It's so cool and just like her attention to the detail I'm like
1:00:23
that's incredible and I her talking about creating death
1:00:30
rattle dazzle like it was so much fun.
1:00:34
Wish she had talked about the crab people more but like.
1:00:39
It's just like. This is just such a wild concept
1:00:43
a show. Literally the only other time
1:00:45
I've seen anything close to this was Did You Watch Smash back in
1:00:50
the day? I did not, no.
1:00:52
And like it only got like 2. Seasons.
1:00:53
But it was literally about, it was about people producing
1:00:56
Broadway shows. Oh, that was the only thing
1:00:59
close that I've ever seen. But this was like even better
1:01:02
than that. It was so much better than that.
1:01:05
It's fun. And I just like the fact that
1:01:08
she works with these stars. I mean, Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd,
1:01:11
Steve Martin, I mean Martin Short.
1:01:14
It just, it keeps going and I just like, I can't imagine the
1:01:17
pressure and it just looks spectacular and cohesive.
1:01:21
And it also like she also has such a great sense of style, her
1:01:25
and her crew, I should say. Like they all have such like a
1:01:27
great sense of style too, in the casual moments, but then could
1:01:32
also like totally put together a Broadway production if they
1:01:35
wanted to, which they did. Yeah, such a great.
1:01:38
Sense of style. And also, like, I feel like
1:01:40
she's brings in trendy elements while still being pretty
1:01:44
timeless. Like, I feel like I'll be able
1:01:47
to watch this in like, 10 years and still feel like there's a
1:01:51
level of contemporariness to it. And but then also be like, I
1:01:55
remember when that was popular. Yeah.
1:01:58
Totally. So, Elizabeth, how many stitches
1:02:02
would you give of Only Murders in the Building?
1:02:06
Oh, only murders. In the building is a 5 out of
1:02:09
five stitch production. The cast, the costumes, the sets
1:02:16
the sets on the show are incredible.
1:02:19
Like the story it just season after and also Spencer when you
1:02:26
when you're able to like cohesively watch this in order.
1:02:31
The way. Each season rolls into the next,
1:02:34
'cause I hate cliffhangers. This show has cliffhangers and
1:02:39
it works. It works like you're not, you're
1:02:44
not annoyed cause and most shows when there, when there's a
1:02:48
cliffhanger, I'm annoyed. I'm like, like, we could not
1:02:52
have wrapped this up. But the I'm like, Oh my gosh.
1:02:57
Now I need the next season like it's it's such a flawless show.
1:03:02
I love it. Five out of five stitches.
1:03:04
This garment is not coming apart.
1:03:07
Five out of five and she's. Solid on that.
1:03:09
That is the first five out of five, I believe.
1:03:12
And I got to say, I mean, from what I've seen, I've only really
1:03:16
seen like all of season three. And from what Elizabeth's said,
1:03:21
I can't really do anything other than give it five out of five
1:03:25
stitches because all I've seen is perfection so far.
1:03:28
So it's fun, it's funny. It still has true crime, murder.
1:03:33
I love a murder mystery. The cast is a plus.
1:03:36
The production. I said in the interview that,
1:03:39
you know, we've talked about this before.
1:03:41
I have serious Co envy. I wish I could live in cooler
1:03:44
climates and wear coats all the time.
1:03:47
And this show is like prime suspect #1 it almost makes me
1:03:51
want to move to New York. I just want to experience it for
1:03:54
like a a year maybe. Oh yeah.
1:03:57
And it's just fun. And I love just a musical
1:04:01
element of this. It just makes you.
1:04:03
Yeah, just. It's so much fun.
1:04:05
Five out of five stitches. That's a easy one.
1:04:08
So, but we also got to play our our other favorite game.
1:04:12
I guess we have two favorite games now, but Oh yeah, let's
1:04:16
let's do it. Daniel the One costume.
1:04:20
To rule them all. Spencer, what was your one?
1:04:28
Costume to rule them all. Mine was easy.
1:04:30
I knew the. Second, I saw it.
1:04:32
It was the Bob Fosse cabaret type musical number that just
1:04:38
happens randomly when you see Selena and Steve Martin and
1:04:46
these cabaret type looks. It's just so much fun.
1:04:49
And I that that was like the moment I knew I was like, oh,
1:04:52
I'm really going to love this show because it keeps you on
1:04:55
your toes and done effortlessly. It was just a small musical
1:05:00
number and it just happened. So Florida State, that was an
1:05:04
easy one for me, that was. That was such a great moment
1:05:09
this season. It was so funny, so perfect.
1:05:15
But personally I gotta say my one cost costumes, I will say to
1:05:22
rule them all was the death rattle dazzle costumes,
1:05:27
particularly Steve Martin and Meryl Streep.
1:05:35
Like that sequin cop? Like constable outfit they're.
1:05:42
Ridiculous, that is. Objectively ridiculous.
1:05:49
And like Meryl. Streep's just like very cute
1:05:52
little like nanny like coat and little jaunty hat, which is like
1:05:56
the sequins, like on the on the lapel.
1:06:01
And her hat is on a ridiculous ain't like, yeah, it was just so
1:06:05
insane. And you're I'm like these
1:06:07
costumes bring me joy. So they really do.
1:06:11
That's so true. It's just, it's like, fun.
1:06:13
It's just good fun. And I just love how, I mean, not
1:06:16
that I've ever felt like Steve Martin is, like, too serious.
1:06:19
He's obviously one of the greatest comedians of all time.
1:06:22
Oh, yeah. And the fact that you would
1:06:23
throw this on and it's just, you know, it's just so much fun.
1:06:27
You could tell that everyone just has, like, such a good time
1:06:30
being on the show, Yeah. It's it's perfect.
1:06:34
It's joyous. That's perfect, you.
1:06:37
You all heard it here, Elizabeth.
1:06:39
This is such a fun, fun show. I really wanna get back into all
1:06:44
of only MERS in the building and I'm excited to know that Dana
1:06:49
was working on season four when I talked to her.
1:06:51
I believe actually she was in the final days.
1:06:54
Yeah, yeah, I think. So, so it's it's coming.
1:06:57
Back, and we'll have to, hopefully we could have her back
1:07:01
on and Elizabeth could be there to say all this to her face,
1:07:04
yes. I cannot.
1:07:07
Wait for that day. Well, if you.
1:07:10
All want to tell us what your One Costume Rule Them All was?
1:07:13
Leave us a voicemail at 626-515-1826.
1:07:17
Let me remind you, that's just a voicemail box.
1:07:19
You don't have to talk to us on the phone unless you want to.
1:07:21
But we don't answer. It's just a voicemail box.
1:07:24
So tell us what your One costume rule them All is or e-mail us at
1:07:28
theartofcostume@gmail.com. Elizabeth Conk girl Summer is
1:07:34
ongoing and we are doing something actually very
1:07:38
different in our next episode. What are we watching?
1:07:42
You all have wanted a. Classic movie from us.
1:07:46
So we are giving you a hot girl classic with one of the hot
1:07:51
girls of the 20th century. Next week we will be watching
1:07:57
Funny Face, starring Audrey Hepburn with costumes by
1:08:04
Objectively, the queen of costume design in the 20th
1:08:08
century, Edith Head. Wow, I I.
1:08:12
Cannot believe that we are Four Seasons and we have not done a
1:08:15
classic Hollywood films as such and we have not I don't think
1:08:19
we've talked about Audrey Hepburn or Edith Head so I don't
1:08:22
think so I'm. Excited I.
1:08:25
Am very excited for this. Really.
1:08:27
I've actually never seen funny face either, so I'm ready to get
1:08:31
into it. I have not seen.
1:08:33
Funny face either. So, well, there you go, it'll.
1:08:35
Be fun for you and I, I, I hope you all listen.
1:08:40
And in the meantime, don't forget to subscribe to us on
1:08:43
YouTube at youtube.com/the Art of Costume Instagram at the Art
1:08:47
of Costume Pod, TikTok at the Art of Costume.
1:08:51
Hit up our merch store at the Art of costume.com/pod store.
1:08:54
I actually just got a new T-shirt this week.
1:08:56
I wore it at Comic Con. Yes.
1:09:00
You know, it's all. Black, but it still has our logo
1:09:03
on it and looks so cute and it's a nice fabric.
1:09:06
And as always, leave us a 5 star text review on Apple podcasts.
1:09:10
We can read those reviews on the podcast and you know, we really
1:09:15
want to hear what you have to say because it helps us plan the
1:09:19
direction of the show. Elizabeth, this has been a lot
1:09:22
of fun. I feel like I need to go get my,
1:09:25
I don't know, magnifying glass and start doing some true crime
1:09:29
detecting. True crime detecting find.
1:09:31
The reference references in each episode?
1:09:34
Yeah, find some clues. Whatever we do, Elizabeth, it's
1:09:40
been so good to see you as always.
1:09:42
You as well, Spencer. Everyone have a fantastic week.
1:09:50
The art of costume. Podcast is hosted and produced
1:09:53
by Elizabeth Joy Glass and Spencer Williams.
1:09:57
Our audio engineering and editing is done by Dan White.
1:10:01
Follow us on TikTok at The Art of Costume and Instagram at the
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Art of Costume Pod. If you want to support the show,
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go to theartofcostume.com pod Store.
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For more podcast updates, costume reviews, deep dives and
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interviews, go to theartofcostume.com, A blog
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dedicated to highlighting the best in costume design.