Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Wednesday (S2) with Costume Designer, Colleen Atwood - The Costume House with Spencer Williams

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Wednesday (S2) with Costume Designer, Colleen Atwood - The Costume House with Spencer Williams · The Art of Costume Podcast

• 0:13
  I am so pleased to be here with one of my favorites, costume
• 0:18
  designer Colleen Atwood. It's so good to see you,
• 0:20
  Colleen. Nice to see you again, here we
• 0:24
  are. Here we are with so much to talk
• 0:26
  about. Wednesday Season 2 Love the
• 0:28
  season just gets better and better every time we watch it.
• 0:33
  So much to talk about. OK, first let's start with
• 0:36
  Wednesday of course. So we saw so much growth with
• 0:39
  Wednesday in the season compared to the 1st, and you could really
• 0:43
  feel the maturity in Wednesday this season.
• 0:47
  One thing I find so hilarious about Wednesday is that we never
• 0:51
  seem to see her in a class. She's actually always at like a
• 0:54
  crime scene, and we get to see her in this detective silhouette
• 0:59
  in her first days back at Nevermore.
• 1:02
  So how did you approach her costumes this season as she
• 1:05
  steps further into her new maturity, her new found roll at
• 1:12
  Nevermore? Well, I think what I, what I
• 1:14
  really wanted to do or what we really wanted to do is sort of
• 1:18
  convey that she's had matured in the world that she, you know,
• 1:22
  she went to France, she did some traveling.
• 1:25
  So she got a little bit, you know, maybe more sophisticated
• 1:29
  in, in her visual sensibility. And I saw this leather trench
• 1:35
  at, at Dover Street Market in London that I really liked.
• 1:41
  It was just too much, the whole bulk of it and stuff.
• 1:44
  But the idea of it I really liked for her.
• 1:47
  So I, I took that idea and sort of modified it into a classic
• 1:53
  kind of, of trench coat with a modern sort of sort of vibe to
• 1:59
  it. It's sort of a semi matte
• 2:02
  leather, but enough to catch light in the dark.
• 2:05
  And when she could wear it even, you know, with her uniform if we
• 2:09
  wanted to, but mainly with, with street clothes and sort of have
• 2:13
  an edge to her that she hasn't really had before in her
• 2:17
  everyday clothes. Yeah, yeah, it was really fun to
• 2:21
  see her. Definitely feels like she grew
• 2:23
  up while she had her time away from Nevermore.
• 2:28
  But my biggest wish after Season 1, and I feel like we talked
• 2:32
  about this when last time we talked about Wednesday, was I
• 2:35
  wanted more Morticia when we saw season 2.
• 2:38
  And I really feel like we got our wish cause more Morticia
• 2:42
  meant more and Morticia costumes and we got that, especially with
• 2:46
  Morticia taking on a larger role as a gala chair.
• 2:49
  So how did you all decide to elevate her costumes this
• 2:52
  season? We got to see even a little bit
• 2:54
  of color, some red in Morticia's costumes this season.
• 2:58
  It was a lot of fun. I was like, you know, we know
• 3:01
  Morticia's always black. And that silo, that kind of 30s
• 3:04
  silhouette has been, you know, the signature of Morticia Adams
• 3:08
  since Charles Adams days. But I said to the guys, I said,
• 3:15
  is there some role that she can't have any color?
• 3:19
  You know, so. And they said no.
• 3:23
  So even though she was, you know, in the Addams Family, her
• 3:27
  house, I was, you know, her house has kind of got a lot of
• 3:30
  red in it. And I said, you know, I said to
• 3:33
  Mark, let's put red inside her. Let's do a red go day up the
• 3:37
  front and then put red inside the sleeve.
• 3:40
  So we have a little drama, you know, with the dress rather than
• 3:43
  it being all, all red. And then when we got the Day of
• 3:47
  the Dead scene dress, I like put white in it and did roses on it
• 3:50
  to kind of go with that theme. So she kind of branched out a
• 3:53
  little bit. And then she had some nice
• 3:56
  adventures. So she got to wear some
• 3:57
  different gear for for different scenes, which was fun, yeah.
• 4:01
  Who knew that Morticia would be such a camping icon as well too?
• 4:05
  I mean, she really is going to be on everyone's camping
• 4:07
  Pinterest boards. Yeah, it's the ultimate
• 4:11
  glamping. And I like when when I did the
• 4:16
  first fitting with with Catherine in New York, we kind
• 4:19
  of had that look. And she says, can I just have a
• 4:22
  really big pith helmet with a veil, you know, because I was
• 4:26
  going to give her a veil, but I wasn't going to do a pith
• 4:28
  helmet. I was going to different kind of
• 4:29
  hat. But then it worked great with,
• 4:32
  you know, with the idea of her helmet, I think.
• 4:35
  So much fun. Well, I'm so excited to see you
• 4:38
  more of Morticia in the coming season.
• 4:42
  But Speaking of Morticia, we got another layer of the Addams
• 4:45
  Family with the rival of Hesse Front, played by the Joanna
• 4:49
  Lumley. I know.
• 4:51
  My gosh, I mean, talking about perfect casting.
• 4:53
  There have been several interpretations of the grandma
• 4:56
  character over the years, but this felt like a completely
• 4:59
  original take. So I love to hear about your
• 5:01
  inspirations in creating her look.
• 5:04
  This was very exciting. Well, I thought she was the
• 5:08
  ultimately like, you know, chic, chic Addams family member, like
• 5:15
  she's where it all started. And so she's the kind of style
• 5:19
  head of the Addams family. So I really wanted her clothes
• 5:22
  to be super, super like oak couture looking like she had
• 5:29
  them made especially for her, which most of them we did.
• 5:33
  We bought a couple pieces a night, a great dries coat and a
• 5:36
  couple things. But but her inspiration was was
• 5:41
  sort of it was sort of like, you know, revisiting horror a little
• 5:47
  bit with the sort of quasi beehive look, but with her face.
• 5:53
  When I met her in person, I said, I have this idea for your
• 5:55
  hair just going straight back. And I'm a huge fan of Daphne
• 6:00
  Guinness and she was my an inspiration for for her hair for
• 6:06
  the character. And then, you know, we took it
• 6:08
  to a more exaggerated, less kind of less fashion level than
• 6:13
  Daphne's. But but she was really the
• 6:16
  person. I'd done a, a job with her and
• 6:20
  met her in person and talked to her and stuff.
• 6:22
  And, and I just kept thinking about that hair for Joanne and
• 6:28
  I, I so that was kind of my inspo for that.
• 6:31
  And then, you know, Joanna's actual ideas of the movement for
• 6:38
  the character and all the things the great actress brings to a
• 6:41
  part really kind of made it all come together in a great way.
• 6:46
  Yeah, such a great character, instantly in love.
• 6:49
  And I was going to guess Daphne Guinness actually, so that that
• 6:52
  really came through pretty immediately.
• 6:56
  Another character I want to check in though on was Enid.
• 7:00
  She also feels like she matured a little bit this season, with
• 7:04
  richer textures and silhouettes that move away a lot from the
• 7:08
  pastel Nets we saw her in before in the first season.
• 7:12
  She's also on this journey toward becoming an alpha
• 7:15
  werewolf this season. So how did you use costume to
• 7:18
  reflect that evolution while preserving that optimism and
• 7:22
  color that makes Enid such a great counterpart to Wednesday?
• 7:26
  Well, we kept the energy of her color, but like you said, we
• 7:29
  did, we took it from pastel to sort of secondary in the, you
• 7:34
  know, in the range of color. It was more saturated colors.
• 7:38
  But still the, the thing with her colors is a lot of times
• 7:42
  it's not just the colors, but it's the colors that are
• 7:43
  together that bounce off each other.
• 7:47
  And that was sort of the concentrated concentration of
• 7:50
  color for her. And we wanted her, you know, she
• 7:55
  was again, a little more grown up, a little bit more like aware
• 7:58
  of boys and that thing along with, you know, with with all
• 8:04
  her other issues being alpha, but really discovering herself
• 8:10
  and and who she was and really evolving, you know, from being
• 8:17
  sort of a a flighty girl into somebody who is, you know, ready
• 8:22
  to be taken seriously. And I think by using clothes
• 8:25
  that were more that were little harder silhouettes and then the
• 8:31
  stronger colors kind of help, you know, our part of trying to
• 8:34
  do that. Yeah, I would say like she was
• 8:37
  adorable, cute in the first season and now she's like
• 8:39
  confident cute, almost like very like a street wear.
• 8:43
  But I have to say, after running with a certain iconic ghost,
• 8:48
  which we'll discuss later Wednesday and Enid have a
• 8:51
  certain freaky Friday afternoon and switch bodies and one.
• 8:54
  Of the episodes. And seeing Jenna as Enid in
• 8:59
  Wednesday's body, I hope I wrote that down correctly.
• 9:03
  Must have been such a fun costume challenge for the team.
• 9:09
  You know, at first you could really overthink that, but the
• 9:12
  girls made it work so well. I like what would she hate the
• 9:15
  most to have to wear of that person's clothes and and they
• 9:20
  just kind of they really worked on it in a quiet way themselves
• 9:24
  and worked it all out. So our part of it, our part of
• 9:28
  it was, you know, was sort of secondary, I'd think to the
• 9:33
  actual performance and the sort of prep that the actors gave to
• 9:37
  it. But just because they're already
• 9:40
  so different in what they wear, it kind of it was funny, you
• 9:44
  know, just to to see each other. The hair alone it.
• 9:51
  Was so much fun, I was dying laughing.
• 9:55
  OK, so we have to talk about the gala.
• 9:58
  I mean, I saw the gala scenes before I even watched the
• 10:01
  season. I mean, it was just so iconic.
• 10:04
  18th century Venetian with something on that scale.
• 10:08
  At what point in the process did those conversations begin, and
• 10:12
  how did you make sure each principal characters gala look
• 10:14
  still reflected their individual personality?
• 10:18
  Well, we knew from the beginning, 'cause we had this
• 10:21
  script at the top, which doesn't always happen, but we didn't
• 10:25
  have the script from the top. So we knew that the that it was
• 10:29
  coming. So I'd say we got started with
• 10:32
  the show and then about a month into it we started prepping for
• 10:35
  that because we made, we had to pretty much make everything.
• 10:39
  So we probably made 4 or 500 costumes for that.
• 10:44
  And the principles, the principles kind of came
• 10:48
  together. I really wanted it to be 18th
• 10:51
  century but modern at the same time because I mean, you know,
• 10:57
  we've seen 18th century done really well and it didn't make
• 11:00
  sense for the Addams family to do time traveling.
• 11:05
  So, you know, with Morticia, for instance, you know, I kept her
• 11:11
  silhouette underneath the thing and I just put the Pennet, which
• 11:14
  is sculptor in New York, made on the outside.
• 11:18
  So it was like a piece of jewelry as opposed to a piece of
• 11:21
  underwear. And I thought that was, you
• 11:25
  know, as the chairman of the ball, that that was a really
• 11:28
  good way for Morticia to sort of be Morticia, but still give a
• 11:34
  nod to the thing. Hester was full on, you know,
• 11:39
  like she she was like cosplay extraordinaire.
• 11:43
  And then we had Gwendolyn Christie, who's the dream person
• 11:47
  to put in an 18th century dress because her scale is so extreme
• 11:52
  and, and, and big and wonderful. And also she was a ghost.
• 11:57
  So I found this like really cool iridescent fabric to make her
• 12:03
  costume out of that you could kind of see through, but it
• 12:05
  reflected light. And then when you take that kind
• 12:09
  of huge skirt, extreme, you know, corseted bodice and all
• 12:13
  that, and make it out of that material, it becomes a whole
• 12:16
  other creature. You know, it's almost like if
• 12:18
  you made her out of cellophane. And to me, my visually, my
• 12:23
  visual reference for that was, was kind of the Good Witch's
• 12:27
  content con costume in the original Wizard of Oz.
• 12:32
  The way that costume kind of looked like it was made out of
• 12:35
  maybe plastic instead of or like glass instead of fabrics.
• 12:40
  And that was what I wanted to achieve with her costume.
• 12:44
  And then the girls, Agnes and Enid, like it was, we knew they
• 12:48
  had a dance number, but I really wanted them to contrast, even
• 12:51
  though they were a duet kind of thing.
• 12:54
  So, and they had to do ballet performance.
• 12:58
  So I took the front really short so it could do that and again,
• 13:01
  expose the cages and wrap them in ribbon and stuff, which was,
• 13:05
  you know, a fun, modern take on a really beautiful kind of idea
• 13:09
  of a human shape. Yeah, it was such a fun scene.
• 13:13
  And Buscemi is like almost like George Washington.
• 13:15
  I know. It's all ridiculous, but I
• 13:20
  there's so much to look at. I mean, I feel I got to watch.
• 13:23
  This and all the boys too, we had fun with them in their
• 13:25
  different like, you know, the wolves being in Browns and golds
• 13:30
  and the other ones but but sort of in a modern take on the 18th
• 13:34
  century kind of vibe. Yeah, yeah.
• 13:37
  There was so much to look at. It was so much fun.
• 13:41
  Congratulations on a scene. I could watch it over and over
• 13:44
  and over. But so you could practically
• 13:47
  hear the world collectively gasp when Gaga was revealed as a
• 13:51
  ghost of Rosalynn Rotwood, a Raven, just like Wednesday,
• 13:54
  knowing she was quite literally knowing she was quite literally
• 13:57
  going to be a ghost, how did you design A costume to give her
• 14:00
  that other real spectral quality?
• 14:03
  Well, we wanted something. The costume itself, we sort of
• 14:07
  'cause there was a back story to Rotwood, which really ultimately
• 14:11
  you didn't. You know how sometimes stuff
• 14:13
  gets edited out. So you know where Rotwood came
• 14:16
  from. She was before that, her back
• 14:18
  story was, you know, she was a teacher at Nevermore so and in
• 14:25
  the kind of in the 30s. So I kind of really wanted to do
• 14:29
  a 30s silhouette on her kind of to tie her in with Morticia a
• 14:33
  little bit just and I had like 2 minutes to make our costume
• 14:38
  because it was really like Gaga's, you know, you can fit
• 14:42
  Gaga. And like because they, they
• 14:44
  kept, they wouldn't really commit or say out loud that she
• 14:46
  was in it. So I couldn't really do anything
• 14:48
  before. But anyway, so I made it out of
• 14:51
  a really like a bias cut kind of of crepe fabric, which was sort
• 14:57
  of sculptural, but period. And then the real thing that I
• 15:01
  think worked was in the fitting. I had this crepeoline fabric,
• 15:04
  which is a French sheer kind of of silk.
• 15:09
  And we're we're ready her hair and makeup people there.
• 15:12
  And then I said, what would it look like if we just put this
• 15:14
  over the whole thing? Because it you can see
• 15:17
  everything through it, but it still gives it a quality.
• 15:21
  And that was kind of the win. Then we, you know, that was kind
• 15:24
  of before it was just a dress. But by doing that, it made it
• 15:27
  photographically more haunted looking and more, you know,
• 15:31
  without ruining like that, you couldn't tell who was in, you
• 15:34
  know. Yeah, it gave it that spooky
• 15:37
  quality and it was so beautiful. Like, I mean, it's it was there
• 15:41
  for just 10, I don't know, 30 seconds a minute, but still was
• 15:46
  like. It was fast.
• 15:47
  Yeah, I know when for all the talk it was like, that's all we
• 15:54
  want, More Gaga. Always.
• 15:56
  Seriously. Alright, as we get to the end of
• 15:59
  yours, I just want there was something that came up to me.
• 16:01
  I don't know, maybe I'm making something out of nothing.
• 16:04
  But in the first episode of Haley Joel Osment as a Kansas
• 16:09
  City scalper, I could help but wonder if there was a little bit
• 16:11
  of Silence of the Lambs nostalgia for you.
• 16:14
  Am I making something on nothing here?
• 16:17
  You mean the Ted Ted Levine character?
• 16:20
  Yeah. You know, that might have been a
• 16:23
  Freudian slip. I love a man in a slinky
• 16:31
  synthetic outfit and he was so game Haley.
• 16:36
  He just made it like he just made it so much fun to to do his
• 16:42
  weird poodle out poodle grooming coat and his skanky online
• 16:47
  special. Yeah, yeah.
• 16:51
  I was like, hey, this feels like familiar territory a little bit.
• 16:54
  So that was fun. All right.
• 16:56
  Well, looking back on Wednesday Season 2 and just how much fun
• 17:00
  we've been having with Wednesday and we know we have more coming
• 17:03
  up in the future, just what has the Wednesday experience been
• 17:06
  like for you and seeing just a positive audience reaction to
• 17:11
  Wednesday over the past couple years?
• 17:14
  Well, you know, we went into Wednesday never knowing what you
• 17:16
  know, you never know what an audience is going to take on and
• 17:19
  you know, and and embrace and we kind of went into it, you know,
• 17:26
  just as this great project with, you know, working with Tim
• 17:30
  again, collaborating on his vision for me is always great.
• 17:33
  Miles and AL's riding and the support of, you know, the
• 17:37
  production, Karen Richards and Tommy Harper.
• 17:42
  They just like kind of and the studios, I mean, everyone was so
• 17:46
  for it. And then you start doing it and
• 17:49
  it's so much fun. And it's such a it's, you know,
• 17:52
  a lot of times you hear about these things and you don't
• 17:55
  realize how much creativity goes into a show like Wednesday
• 17:59
  Adams. But every week you're doing
• 18:03
  more, creating more costumes for these characters, but also new
• 18:07
  characters. And then what's going to happen,
• 18:10
  like the gala, like this, like that, Like there's all kinds of
• 18:13
  things always going on. So there's never a dull moment.
• 18:16
  And it's a lot of work. It goes on for nine months, you
• 18:19
  know, So the crew really has to have a lot of endurance.
• 18:25
  But the overall experience is great.
• 18:28
  And it's funny, now we're in the third season, everybody comes
• 18:31
  together. It's like a family reunion and
• 18:35
  everyone's happy to see each other.
• 18:36
  And the kids of all, you know, the kids have grown up, you
• 18:39
  know, it's a whole other. It's another, it's a whole other
• 18:42
  level. We've gotten some new students
• 18:44
  always so some new, new ones in the mix.
• 18:47
  So it still looks like high school, but but they're starting
• 18:51
  to be ready to graduate, you know, and and we'll see what
• 18:55
  happens. But but it's a great gift that
• 18:57
  show. It really is.
• 18:59
  It's so well written and creative and, you know, the
• 19:02
  actors are so good. I mean, look who we have.
• 19:04
  It's just amazing. Yeah, I'm so excited.
• 19:07
  It gets better and better. The cast is crazy.
• 19:10
  My favorite actress of all time is was announced to be playing
• 19:13
  Ophelia in the next season. So I'm very, very excited for
• 19:16
  that and I. Oh, you are.
• 19:18
  Oh, wait till you see her. She's going to be.
• 19:20
  She's really good, you know? I'm not going to press you on
• 19:22
  it, but I hope you'll come back and talk to me about it in the
• 19:24
  next. For sure.
• 19:26
  Comes out because. There are plenty to talk about.
• 19:29
  You've worked together before in the past.
• 19:31
  I'm excited to talk about that. But costume designer Colleen
• 19:35
  Atwood, thank you so much for coming and talk to me.
• 19:36
  About. Thank you.
• 19:37
  It's been so much fun. All right, Thank you.
• 19:39
  Take care. Thank you.
• 19:41
  Colleen the Costume House with Spencer Williams is a production
• 19:44
  of The Art of Costume. This episode was hosted,
• 19:47
  produced, and edited by Spencer Williams.
• 19:49
  To discover more conversations with the designer shaping film,
• 19:52
  television, and theater, visit theartofcostume.com or follow us
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  on social media at The Art of Costume.
• 19:59
  And don't forget to connect with me on Instagram at Host Spencer.
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