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olde_fashionedI hadn't planned on making this into more than one entry, but it's gotten so long I think it might be best. So, this is part one of what will probably end up being three posts about the movie costume exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, which I was lucky enough to see last week.
On Wednesday, we went on a bit of an excursion, andmade the pilgrimage drove the distance to LA. Since it was entirely free, and scheduled to leave at the end of the month, and I'm a obsessed enthusiastic admirer of costumes in general, the FIDM Motion Picture Costume Design exhibit of 2009 movie costumes was a very big treat. :-D Films ranging from The Dark Knight, The Duchess, Changeling, as well as Valkyrie, Appaloosa, Doubt, and a bunch of others were all on display. This post mostly covers only TDK, but I'll elaborate on the rest of the exhibit when I have more time to write the rest up!
They wouldn't allow photography (*sobsobsob*) but for some reason I've found photos taken by others posted online, so due to a lack of my own images, I'm linking to the lucky souls who were actually allowed to preserve the sights before their eyes with their viewfinders. All the images in this post and others forthcoming are courtesy of here, here, and here.
To avoid confusion, I'm going to go in the order the costumes were displayed in the exhibit, skipping over ones I didn't feel were worth more than a cursory glance and elaborating on the ones I was most impressed with.
Click the cut only if you're interested in lots of pics, tons of text, and some very long rambles about my own observations of some of my favourite costumes, mostly those from The Dark Knight which I spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at. ;-)
As you first walk beneath the black lights (which lit up everything white as neon purple) and round the corner which separates the costume-clad mannequins from the harmful rays of sunlight, the first costumes you are presented with are those from The Spirit and some comedy movie I've never heard of. Not being interested in any way, shape, or form in The Spirit I was a bit surprised to find myself drawn to the overall design of the main character's black outfit with the striking contrast of a red tie.
Pretty straight forward and simple, but pretty neat looking, too, even if the tie wasn't silk. The two ladies' costumes (one from The Spirit, the other what looked to me like a Fantastic Four knock off) badly needed some sort of cover-up in the chest area. >.< I almost feel bad for the actresses for having to wear them!
[not posting pics due to prudish tendencies] ;-P
Next up were Lindy Hemming's costumes from The Dark Knight, one of the primary reasons for my wanting to go in the first place (you should’ve seen my reaction when I spotted the batsuit lurking in one of the wide shots of a local news channel's coverage of the exhibit months ago!) and by far the most impressive costumes in the exhibit, or at least in my very humble (and very unbiased) opinion. ;-)
First, Harvey Dent's Two Face suit.
Harvey's costume was surprisingly detailed. Perhaps I just never noticed or thought about it, because so much of it is shrouded in darkness for the duration of its appearance in the film. With the wearer's left half doused with "gasoline," darkened with scorch marks, red material (lining?) exposed and showing underneath, the blackened portions of the suit's extensive damage are shiny in the way that they almost glitter and catch the light. I wonder what they used? Puffy paint??
It amuses me that my brother has a tie very similar to this. ;-)
And now...the masterpiece! *cues epic music* (If you're not interested in the smaller details of the suit, you can skip the next couple paragraphs, lol, because I definitely wax verbose!) ;-)
The Batsuit. Lemme tell ya, and you can think I'm crazy if you like, but in person, that thing is almost beautiful in its complexities. Light years away from the Batman Begins suit which, though nice, is admittedly little more than a fancy-looking rubber suit. Shades of interesting gray, charcoal, and slate in color, every very line or crevice that looks like it's a separate piece, is a separate piece, making me wonder in amazement just how the heck the thing is assembled and held together. (Strike that, how long did it take Christian Bale to get dressed every time they filmed a Batman scene?? Did he have to have help, maybe even really read that instruction manual they joke about in the movie? LOL!)
The cape is flocked on both sides (which I knew from watching the making-of documentary on the DVD extras) but it was surprisingly stiff, almost like it was a light-weight nylon, rather than the velvet-y looking cloth I had imagined.
I've illustrated most of the "new and exciting" observations I made on the suit here to show just exactly what I mean, because a picture is worth a thousand words, so I GIMP'd a promo pic of the suit to highlight the different parts, so as to reduce confusion by trying to describe to them. (somehow "the stretchy/stripey bands on the bulgy part of his arm" just doesn't sound right.)
One of the best (IMO) things that I was most surprised to notice (after staring anddrooling admiring for a long while) was something that doesn't really show up on film at all, to my knowledge. I couldn't get a good look at the entire suit, obviously, and there are probably some that I missed/couldn't see/didn't notice, but see those colored/edited portions I've highlighted in blue? They're transparent. [insert geeky spaz-out moment here]
It was reallyreallyreally hard to tell in the dim lighting, but I'm convinced that certain plates of the armor are translucent plastic/resin/whatever, tinted a smoky quartz/slate gray color. The almost hexagonal pattern or design that shows up in higher quality close-ups of the suit aren't patterns on the plating itself, it's the mesh-like fabric beneath the plates that is showing through them. Neat, huh? ;-D The mesh is also black, but shiny, which is why it looks gray (it's not) in the images.
You can see the texture of the fabric underneath pretty well in the three "ribcage" strips in the photo below.
(And take a look at those nasty-lookin' knuckle guard thingies! They look like they'd really hurt whoever was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his fist, lol.) You can see it better in the next photo, but there is also elastic on each finger of the glove, with leather at the fingertips. The orange portions at the wrist in that promo pic I colored are the Velcro fasteners, which I thought was kind of funny!
The tang-like protrusions on the gauntlets look verrrrry sharp, but there wasn't any visible clue to how the firing mechanism from the movie works. I'm thinking those were a special prop? Another thing that might be a prop was the belt. It doesn't look as "snazzy" in person as it does onscreen, and the accessories/utilities clip and hook over the belt on the top and bottom. The silver stripes on each segment appear to be entirely decorative, rather than magnets as I had hoped, and the grapple gun was tied down to the holster, presumably for preventative measures against thieves, or over-eager fans.
The above is also a good shot of the mesh bodysuit underneath.
Rachel's dress was conveniently standing right beside the Batsuit, so I didn't have to move more than a few steps to go from one favourite to the other. ;-P
Rachel's evening gown was even more gorgeous in person that it is onscreen, and it was one of the most well-made and constructed garments in the entire exhibit, from what I could tell. It's not blue as it sometimes appears in certain lighting conditions, but is definitely green, kind of a bluish peacock green. It looks like a high-quality silk, soft and shiny, like a satin with a lovely drape, and the sheer fabric flutters in the air currents like a chiffon or very fine crepe.
The dress itself has a very feminine design that looks like it would be somewhat flattering to the figure, but Maggie Gyllenhaal must be awfully tiny, because that dress was so darn small! I do think the dummy was shorter than Maggie, though, because in the exhibit the dress pools on the ground and it doesn't in the film. Exhibit pic vs. screenshot. The skirt of the gown also appears to be on the bias.
There are literally sheer inserts all over the dress; with the neckline having a sheer accent, also with the dagged/picot type edging (see remarks below) which matches the sleeves, a chevron-shaped insert underneath the bust (which I'm pretty sure runs down along the back of the waist), and smaller intersecting inserts across the hips and thighs.
The gown is actually sleeveless, although it's not noticeable in the movie, there is clearly a shrug made from the sheer chiffon/crepe over a sleeveless dress once you see it in person. I also found an image from the CostumesGuide.com which must be a behind-the-scenes shot, because the straps are never visible in the film.
In the last and the next pics you can see the trio of darts at the bust, which I thought was a nice touch, instead of having a single dart. The second pic also gives a pretty good glimpse of the beading along the edge of the shrug. I don't think any part of the dress was beaded.
The sheer fabrics are edged with either a veryvery tiny picot trim, or what is more likely IMO, some sort of finishing method or stitch that gives a very delicate dagged edge. There are what appear to be flat, rectangular sequins width-wise rather than length-wise along the duration of the beaded trim on the shrug, which is actually kind of striped, with an outer row of seed beads, then a row of sequins, another row of beads, a second row of sequins, and lastly more seed beads on the outside edge. The sequins are almost an abalone or hematite sort of color.
Now we proceed from elegance and sophistication to degradation and filth...
The Joker's costume was, like Harvey's, a bit of a surprise in the amount of detail they put into the distressing and grunged portions. I'd heard that there was a conscious decision to make him look more and more disheveled through the duration of the film, especially his makeup, but I hadn't realized his trademark purple outfit is delightfully dirty right from the start.
The rust colored jacket lining is a great touch, IMO, as is the watch and chain, and you can see the dirt and smudges of grime, especially on the wrists, lapels, shoulder pads, and even his pocket flaps.
Another view. You can really see the gunk on his pinstriped pants here!
You gotta love (or love to hate?) his socks!
More costumes from other movies will (hopefully!) follow in a few days. :-)
ETA: Since posting this I've also discovered two new promo pics that show the sideviews of both the Batsuit and Rachel's dress (the latter has been lightened to show detail).
The hi-res Batman pics are courtesy of Christian Bale's fansite and the last pic of Rachel and the Joker is courtesy of Maggie Gyllenhaal's fansite. ;-) A kind commenter pointed out this article on the TDK costumes as well.
On Wednesday, we went on a bit of an excursion, and
They wouldn't allow photography (*sobsobsob*) but for some reason I've found photos taken by others posted online, so due to a lack of my own images, I'm linking to the lucky souls who were actually allowed to preserve the sights before their eyes with their viewfinders. All the images in this post and others forthcoming are courtesy of here, here, and here.
To avoid confusion, I'm going to go in the order the costumes were displayed in the exhibit, skipping over ones I didn't feel were worth more than a cursory glance and elaborating on the ones I was most impressed with.
Click the cut only if you're interested in lots of pics, tons of text, and some very long rambles about my own observations of some of my favourite costumes, mostly those from The Dark Knight which I spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at. ;-)
As you first walk beneath the black lights (which lit up everything white as neon purple) and round the corner which separates the costume-clad mannequins from the harmful rays of sunlight, the first costumes you are presented with are those from The Spirit and some comedy movie I've never heard of. Not being interested in any way, shape, or form in The Spirit I was a bit surprised to find myself drawn to the overall design of the main character's black outfit with the striking contrast of a red tie.
Pretty straight forward and simple, but pretty neat looking, too, even if the tie wasn't silk. The two ladies' costumes (one from The Spirit, the other what looked to me like a Fantastic Four knock off) badly needed some sort of cover-up in the chest area. >.< I almost feel bad for the actresses for having to wear them!
[not posting pics due to prudish tendencies] ;-P
Next up were Lindy Hemming's costumes from The Dark Knight, one of the primary reasons for my wanting to go in the first place (you should’ve seen my reaction when I spotted the batsuit lurking in one of the wide shots of a local news channel's coverage of the exhibit months ago!) and by far the most impressive costumes in the exhibit, or at least in my very humble (and very unbiased) opinion. ;-)
First, Harvey Dent's Two Face suit.
Harvey's costume was surprisingly detailed. Perhaps I just never noticed or thought about it, because so much of it is shrouded in darkness for the duration of its appearance in the film. With the wearer's left half doused with "gasoline," darkened with scorch marks, red material (lining?) exposed and showing underneath, the blackened portions of the suit's extensive damage are shiny in the way that they almost glitter and catch the light. I wonder what they used? Puffy paint??
It amuses me that my brother has a tie very similar to this. ;-)
And now...the masterpiece! *cues epic music* (If you're not interested in the smaller details of the suit, you can skip the next couple paragraphs, lol, because I definitely wax verbose!) ;-)
The Batsuit. Lemme tell ya, and you can think I'm crazy if you like, but in person, that thing is almost beautiful in its complexities. Light years away from the Batman Begins suit which, though nice, is admittedly little more than a fancy-looking rubber suit. Shades of interesting gray, charcoal, and slate in color, every very line or crevice that looks like it's a separate piece, is a separate piece, making me wonder in amazement just how the heck the thing is assembled and held together. (Strike that, how long did it take Christian Bale to get dressed every time they filmed a Batman scene?? Did he have to have help, maybe even really read that instruction manual they joke about in the movie? LOL!)
The cape is flocked on both sides (which I knew from watching the making-of documentary on the DVD extras) but it was surprisingly stiff, almost like it was a light-weight nylon, rather than the velvet-y looking cloth I had imagined.
I've illustrated most of the "new and exciting" observations I made on the suit here to show just exactly what I mean, because a picture is worth a thousand words, so I GIMP'd a promo pic of the suit to highlight the different parts, so as to reduce confusion by trying to describe to them. (somehow "the stretchy/stripey bands on the bulgy part of his arm" just doesn't sound right.)
One of the best (IMO) things that I was most surprised to notice (after staring and
It was reallyreallyreally hard to tell in the dim lighting, but I'm convinced that certain plates of the armor are translucent plastic/resin/whatever, tinted a smoky quartz/slate gray color. The almost hexagonal pattern or design that shows up in higher quality close-ups of the suit aren't patterns on the plating itself, it's the mesh-like fabric beneath the plates that is showing through them. Neat, huh? ;-D The mesh is also black, but shiny, which is why it looks gray (it's not) in the images.
You can see the texture of the fabric underneath pretty well in the three "ribcage" strips in the photo below.
(And take a look at those nasty-lookin' knuckle guard thingies! They look like they'd really hurt whoever was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his fist, lol.) You can see it better in the next photo, but there is also elastic on each finger of the glove, with leather at the fingertips. The orange portions at the wrist in that promo pic I colored are the Velcro fasteners, which I thought was kind of funny!
The tang-like protrusions on the gauntlets look verrrrry sharp, but there wasn't any visible clue to how the firing mechanism from the movie works. I'm thinking those were a special prop? Another thing that might be a prop was the belt. It doesn't look as "snazzy" in person as it does onscreen, and the accessories/utilities clip and hook over the belt on the top and bottom. The silver stripes on each segment appear to be entirely decorative, rather than magnets as I had hoped, and the grapple gun was tied down to the holster, presumably for preventative measures against thieves, or over-eager fans.
The above is also a good shot of the mesh bodysuit underneath.
Rachel's dress was conveniently standing right beside the Batsuit, so I didn't have to move more than a few steps to go from one favourite to the other. ;-P
Rachel's evening gown was even more gorgeous in person that it is onscreen, and it was one of the most well-made and constructed garments in the entire exhibit, from what I could tell. It's not blue as it sometimes appears in certain lighting conditions, but is definitely green, kind of a bluish peacock green. It looks like a high-quality silk, soft and shiny, like a satin with a lovely drape, and the sheer fabric flutters in the air currents like a chiffon or very fine crepe.
The dress itself has a very feminine design that looks like it would be somewhat flattering to the figure, but Maggie Gyllenhaal must be awfully tiny, because that dress was so darn small! I do think the dummy was shorter than Maggie, though, because in the exhibit the dress pools on the ground and it doesn't in the film. Exhibit pic vs. screenshot. The skirt of the gown also appears to be on the bias.
There are literally sheer inserts all over the dress; with the neckline having a sheer accent, also with the dagged/picot type edging (see remarks below) which matches the sleeves, a chevron-shaped insert underneath the bust (which I'm pretty sure runs down along the back of the waist), and smaller intersecting inserts across the hips and thighs.
The gown is actually sleeveless, although it's not noticeable in the movie, there is clearly a shrug made from the sheer chiffon/crepe over a sleeveless dress once you see it in person. I also found an image from the CostumesGuide.com which must be a behind-the-scenes shot, because the straps are never visible in the film.
In the last and the next pics you can see the trio of darts at the bust, which I thought was a nice touch, instead of having a single dart. The second pic also gives a pretty good glimpse of the beading along the edge of the shrug. I don't think any part of the dress was beaded.
The sheer fabrics are edged with either a veryvery tiny picot trim, or what is more likely IMO, some sort of finishing method or stitch that gives a very delicate dagged edge. There are what appear to be flat, rectangular sequins width-wise rather than length-wise along the duration of the beaded trim on the shrug, which is actually kind of striped, with an outer row of seed beads, then a row of sequins, another row of beads, a second row of sequins, and lastly more seed beads on the outside edge. The sequins are almost an abalone or hematite sort of color.
Now we proceed from elegance and sophistication to degradation and filth...
The Joker's costume was, like Harvey's, a bit of a surprise in the amount of detail they put into the distressing and grunged portions. I'd heard that there was a conscious decision to make him look more and more disheveled through the duration of the film, especially his makeup, but I hadn't realized his trademark purple outfit is delightfully dirty right from the start.
The rust colored jacket lining is a great touch, IMO, as is the watch and chain, and you can see the dirt and smudges of grime, especially on the wrists, lapels, shoulder pads, and even his pocket flaps.
Another view. You can really see the gunk on his pinstriped pants here!
You gotta love (or love to hate?) his socks!
More costumes from other movies will (hopefully!) follow in a few days. :-)
ETA: Since posting this I've also discovered two new promo pics that show the sideviews of both the Batsuit and Rachel's dress (the latter has been lightened to show detail).
The hi-res Batman pics are courtesy of Christian Bale's fansite and the last pic of Rachel and the Joker is courtesy of Maggie Gyllenhaal's fansite. ;-) A kind commenter pointed out this article on the TDK costumes as well.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-01 05:03 am (UTC)*thinks hard* ;D ;D
I filed this icon under "TDK -- batsuit love". ;-)
Oh I see I see.... *giggles*
I really do think it's just Rachel, though. ;-)
Very true! The character was overall annoying . No but I NEVER thought that they would kill her! It was pretty shocking for me ! I mean they never really kill off the female lead like that so I wasn`t expecting it but then again it wasn`t a big deal .
no subject
Date: 2009-04-01 09:19 pm (UTC)*iz pathetic*
I did think they would kill her, because that would be the perfect way to torture Bruce with angsty guilt, and that sort of thing makes for a good story. ;-P