Mean Girls the movie came out in 2004. It was a year that included highlights like hipbone-baring boot cut jeans, Paris Hilton's belly button piercing, knock-off Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton bags, and Kanye West's argyle sweaters. There were also pleated Burberry plaid mini skirts, Juicy Couture tracksuits, and Tiffany and Co. chain link charm bracelets, all of which were depicted in Tina Fey's coming of age comedy that became a pop culture symbol of the early 21st century. On Sunday, Mean Girls the musical will open on Broadway and while fans of Regina George and her army pants and flip-flops are probably expecting a singing and dancing showcase of those beloved early 2000s fashion items, that isn't at all what the on-stage aesthetic will look like. The narrative remains the same on Broadway as it was on screen and that oversized pink polo shirt is still worn by Cady Heron on her first Thursday at North Shore High School, but overall the fashion lives in the present. According to costume designer Gregg Barnes, who has also worked on Kinky Boots and the Legally Blonde musical, "I knew that we were updating the story and because of that, I didn't want to strongly reinforce a sense of early 2000s nostalgia." He adds, "Don't get me wrong, we studied the clothes in the movie frame-by-frame to understand what the audience's expectation might be, but then we reimagined the looks for a more contemporary sensibility."
Barnes and his two assistants (both in their 20s, Barnes calls them "invaluable" for their millennial-aged input) gathered approximately 250 costumes for the Mean Girls production from stores like Topshop, Asos, ModCloth, H&M and Forever 21. "The costumes are mix-mastered from a blend of high and low price tag items, which we used to support each character," Barnes notes. "For each ensemble, we isolated where and at what price point each character would shop. So, generically speaking, we have the J.Crew prepster juxtaposed with the Urban Outfitters hipster. We have the sporty Adidas trendsetter juxtaposed with the Free People festival-goer." He adds, "'The Plastics' wear a higher price point of brands juxtaposed with trendier more disposable pieces. For them we shopped at stores including Moschino, Miu Miu, and Saks Fifth Avenue, and then styled the looks with t-shirts from Zara and Topshop."
Had Mean Girls been filmed in 2018, it definitely would have been a must for the girls to embrace high-low fashion. Furthermore, instead of "The Plastics," they probably would have just called themselves "The Influencers." Back in 2004, there was no Instagram or Snapchat, and Facebook was in its very first year of existence. "We looked to Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande, Zendaya, and Hailey Baldwin," Barnes says of his muses for the production. "We also looked at Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Kanye West, for the guys, as well as TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale, which were helpful." He adds, "In 2018, a 17-year old is incredibly savvy about style and pop culture through the lens of social media and we had to keep that in mind in our work on stage." Barnes admits that it was a challenging job because, just as teenagers are constantly changing and updating and experimenting with their personal style, so too do their counterparts in the play. That means gathering as many outfit choices per character as possible. "For every article of clothing that appears on stage, we had to purchase at least seven options to get the fit and the essence of the character right," Barnes explains. "That means by the time we were done editing to just a couple of outfit changes for each, we had over 3,000 receipts for clothes that needed to be returned." The costume fittings were done with open and honest input from each actor and in general Barnes was cautious not to get too literal with the styles featured on stage. "All we had to do really was look at the world around us and find the humor in the way young people dress. Also, when an actor puts something on that is the right thing, you know it instantly—their expression tells you everything you need to know." In this case, that simply means the look is "so fetch."
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar