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Dressing Hollywood: artist behind the screen, story of Hollywood's costume shops

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Dressing Hollywood: artist behind the screen, story of Hollywood's costume shops

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DRESSING HOLLYWOOD
ARTIST BEHIND THE SCREEN, STORY OF HOLLYWOOD’S COSTUME SHOPS
By
Angel Chen

____________________________________________________________

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM: THE ARTS)
August 2017

Copyright 2017 Angel Chen
2

Acknowledgements
Thank you to Peggy Bustamante for supporting and walking me throughout the process. Not to
mention sharing her coding expertise and technical help. Thank you also to Christina Haatainen-
Jones for introducing me to the people in the costume industry. Furthermore, thank you to Dan
Birman for helping me reshaped my video to the best it can be.
Deepest thanks to Western Costume Shop, Muto little, USC Costume Shops, Wonderworks,
Unions and Caravan Production’s staffs for allowing me to film in their shop despite their busy
schedule. And finally, I would like to say thank you to Terry Gordon for guiding me through the
industry.

3

Table of Content:
Acknowledgements 2
List of figures 4
Abstract 5
Introduction 6
Website 10
Web: Intro 11
Web: Timeline 12
Web: Video 19
Web: Map of costume shops in Los Angeles 35
References 37

4

List of Figures:

Figure 1: Screenshot of the top of “Dressing Hollywood”. 11
Figure 2: Screenshot of the illustrated timeline 12
Figure 3: Screenshot of illustrated timeline. When hovered over, the illustration reveals 13
the original photograph underneath
Figure 4: Screenshot of the illustrated timeline when clicked on. It revealed the text that 14
tells more about the period.
Figure 5: Screenshot of “click image to watch the video” 19
Figure 6: Screenshot of the video pop-up box 20
Figure 7: Screenshot of the “Learn more box” 20
Figure 8: Screenshot of the rollover map. 35

5

Abstract

Dressing Hollywood
1
is a multimedia website that looks at Hollywood’s costume industry’s past
and present. It will take website’s users into the world of costume through an illustrated timeline,
a video, and a rollover map.

Costume is a trade with a humble beginning that has developed into the industry that can now be
found all over Los Angeles. But it is currently facing problems from emerging technology to the
lack of young craftsmen entering the workforce.

Bringing an introduction of the artists, creations, and their challenges online then became my
goal. After all, younger generations are more prolific users of digital media and their use of
social media may compensate for the decline of their use on traditional news media.
2
Base on a
research done in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, 72% of the respondents were active participants
when it comes to sharing the news on social networks and on newspaper websites. Therefore
creating a shareable website became the objective.
3

I hope to capture the magic of visual storytelling done by the costume designers. And by creating
an interactive and shareable website, it would be more accessible to younger artists.

1
Dressing Hollywood- http://angelklchen.com/files/dressing-hollywood/web-tpl-adv-all/DressingHollywood.html.
2
Holt, Kristoffer, Adam Shehata, Jesper Strömbäck, and Elisabet Ljungberg. "Age and the effects of news media
attention and social media use on political interest and participation: Do social media function as leveller?"
European Journal of Communication 28, no. 1 (2013): 19-34. doi:10.1177/0267323112465369.
3
Global, The Conversation. "Why journalists should engage with their readers: a view from Slovakia." The
Huffington Post. June 12, 2017. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-journalists-
should-engage-with-their-readers-a_us_5939724fe4b094fa859f1651.
6

Introduction

The concept of creating a costume is rather conflicted. To create or shop for a garment just to
drag it through mud and distress the material, and spend weeks and months crafting the correct
outfit just so the piece of art can blend in with the environment on the silver screen.
4
Costume
designers and costumers create art that is often overlooked because it is their job to maintain an
illusion. And that need for invisibility and camouflage made it quite difficult to celebrate the
artist behind this industry.

Perhaps, for that reason it wasn’t until about 20 years from the first Oscar on May 16, 1929, that
the Academy started recognizing and giving the award to Best Costume Design.
5
Best of
Costume Design came after Best Art Direction (now known as Best Production Design, which
shares the award with the set decorators), Sound Recording and Special Effects.

The initial idea for the website was to visually display the process of making costumes and
introduce users to the artists behind costume making. But as I did more research and interviews, I
came to realize that the development and the history of costume industry were important aspects
to the story. They not only tell the story of designers before us, they also give a glimpse of how
the industry might continue to evolve.

My first interview was with Bobi Garland. She was the Director of the Research Library and
Costume Archive at Western Costume Company and has recently retired. She answered my

4
Anderson, Barbara, and Cletus Anderson. Costume design. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning,
1999.
5
Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (2017). The 20th Academy Awards | 1948. [online]
Available at: http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1948 [Accessed 29 Jun. 2017].
7

questions on what are the roles of costume shops play in a production and provided me the
history of the industry. But what stood out to me from the conversation were her worries of how
this industry is changing and possibly disappearing.

And Garland is not alone.

Donn Hook, the costume shop manager at Warner Bro., pointed to three main changes that are
affecting and contributing to the closing of some costume shops around Los Angeles. First is the
emerging technology like CGI (Computer-generated imagery) and MOCAP (Motion capture)
6
.

It intertwines technology with costume design. Sometimes, it might be as small as changing or
enhancing the color after a day of shooting. But it is important to note that “They still need to
have real costume that people can wear,” said Hook.

He recalled while he was working on Stuart little (1999), he created mockett of the costumes
pattern before the animator could sew the costume together in their animation program. He
viewed the change as another way for customers to create fantastical costumes that would be
difficult to make in physical form.

Another more serious change that is affecting Costume shops is the industry fragmenting and
moving away.

6
CGI’s Evolution From Westworld to The Matrix to Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow." AMC. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.amc.com/talk/2009/05/cgi-movie-milestones-1.
8

“The business is fragmented,” said Hook, “Now because of the tax incentive, companies are
thinking it is much cheaper to shoot in Atlanta. And so they will start in Los Angeles, and
everything will finish prepping in Atlanta. The crews are stretched and they are not that
seasoned.”

In recent studies by the Motion Picture Association of America
7
, Georgia film industry is now
ranked third right behind California and New York in the US. And its economic impact on
Georgia was more than $7 billion, up from $244million nine years ago
8
.

Finally, Hook mentioned there has been a gradual decline of craftsmen in this industry. He urged
me to read the book “Cecil Beaton’s Fair Lady”, and said “it shows you how much this business
has changed and the scale they operate during that time.

According to Cecil Beaton, the costume designer and one of the art directors of the film, there
were about seventy people working in the Warner Bros.' costume workshop. And that is
something that can rarely be seen today.

Jane Bethany, from Motion Picture Costumers
9
, echoed that sentiment and said,
There is a huge declined. We have a couple milliners left, we have like one beader and
one glove maker, and we are down in number for all of that. And people who still know

7
Mpaa.org. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.mpaa.org/.
8
Special To CNBC.com. "A film mecca in the Deep South is rising, rivaling
Hollywood." CNBC. November 01, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2017.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/01/atlanta-rivals-hollywood-to-become-major-film-mecca.html
9
Motion Picture Costumers IATSE Local 705. Accessed June 30, 2017.
https://www.motionpicturecostumers.org/.
9

that are highly sought out. So we actually have classes to try to get people back into this.
Education classes for our members. We are trying to get people involved. But again, this
is a dying art; there are so many dying arts. We are currently starting to work on that. But
we probably won’t have it done until 4-7 years.

And these researchers inspired me to produce, film, and edit a video to address these challenges.
Along with the video, the other main portion of the content is the timeline. The combination of
both elements shows the past and present of the industry. The final element is the map that
displays several costume shops located around Los Angeles.

10

Website

It is not always easy to develop a character’s background within 2 hours even with dialogue.
That is when visual comes in handy. Jessica Rabbit’s sensual red dress and Indiana Jones’s
iconic hat and worn-out shirt build the character the moment they appear on the big screen.

For my website, I decided to focus my story telling on visual elements. Dressing Hollywood
10
is
a scroll website with vertical layouts. It uses dark frames to section the content and help the
costume illustration standout on the page. It is designed to look like the illustrations and contents
are on the silver screen.

The website is divided into five main sections. There is the intro, timeline, video, maps, and
footer. It also features a menu bar that is fixed on top of the page and a simple footer.

10
Chen, Angel . "Dressing Hollywood." Project: Dressing Hollywood. June & july 2017. Accessed June 30, 2017.
http://angelklchen.com/files/dressing-hollywood/web-tpl-adv-all/DressingHollywood.html.

11

Web:Intro
“Scroll down to enter the world of Hollywood’s costume shops”

Examine the formation of costume industry through the timeline, and then see the creation of
costumes and the people who make them through the video. Finally, find these costume shops’
locations.

Figure 1: Screenshot of the top of “Dressing Hollywood”.

12

Web: Illustrated timeline

This is a visual timeline that tells the story of how the costume industry developed to what it is
today. Hover over the costume illustration to reveal the original images and click on them to read
more about the time period. And when you’re done, click again to make it go away.

The timeline is built in several layers. One is the floating years on the furthest side. They give the
general time period of the images. There are two layers for the images. The top layer is the
fashion illustration. They were illustrated by me to provide a more uniformed look to the web
page. Beneath the illustrated images, there are the original posters of stills of the film. It would
fade in when the pointer hovered over image.

Figure 2: Screenshot of the illustrated timeline
13

Figure 3: Screenshot of illustrated timeline. When hovered over, the illustration reveals the
original photograph underneath

14

Figure 4: Screenshot of the illustrated timeline when clicked on. It revealed the text that tells
more about the period.
The last interactive element of the timeline is the text. When clicked on, textbox would appear.
Text of the timeline
1912:
Early cinema often relied on the performers themselves to produce the costumes for the
film. In 1912, Sarah Bernhardt commissioned French Couturier, to design her main
costume for her role in The Loves for Queen Elizabeth (Les Amours de la Reine
15

Elisabeth). The gown he created became the first costume in cinema history created
specifically by a costume designer.
11

1912:
Western Costume Shop was founded by L.L. Burns in 1912. It is one of the oldest
costume shops in Los Angeles and has been a staple of Hollywood since the golden age
of film.
12

1915:
Intolerance (1916), directed by D.W. Griffith, was one of the first films with costumes
that crossed over between period costume and contemporary fashion.
The screen's a genuine style-creator, for the 'princess beloved' is inspiring the modistes of
Fifth Ave.
-Lillian Howard for Photoplay(1915).
13

1921:
For a big budget film like Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Metro only provided
Rudolph Valentino with his Argentine gaucho costume and his French soldier's uniform.
Thus, he still had to spend thousands of dollars on more than 25 custom-fitted suits from
a New York tailor with his $350 a week salary. But later in the 1920's, costume designers
became specialized artists creating their designs for films in most of the larger studios.

11
Landis, Deborah Nadoolman. Hollywood costume. London: V&A, 2012.
12
History | Western Costume Company. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://westerncostume.com/about-
us/history.
13
Hollywood and history: costume design in film: May 29-August 14, 1988: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston:
Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
16

1929:
One of the most extravagant productions from the 30's was Marie Antoinette (1938) with
2500 costumes. MGM wanted everything to be as authentic as possible so they located
authentic period fabrics in Lyon, France. They also brought fifty skilled artisans from
Guadalajara, Mexico to Los Angeles, to embroider the intricate designs and sew on the
thousands of beads and sequins required to achieve the desired look for the character.
1938:
A great number of period films were created during the Depression. Many were set in the
antebellum and the American Civil war periods, including Little Women (1933), and
Gone with the Wind (1939). The audience was often attracted to the glamorous past
where life seemed more elegant and luxurious.
14

1938:
The first costume design nominations at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences were split between the color film category and the black-and-white film
category. These were awarded to Roger K. Furse, who designed for the black and white
film Hamlet, and to the team of Dorothy Jeakins and Barbara Karinska for the color film
Joan of Arc.
15

1949:

14
Hollywood and history: costume design in film: May 29-August 14, 1988: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston:
Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
15
Mpaa.org. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.mpaa.org/.
17

In 1937, during the time when only 20 percent of the costume staff in Hollywood were
women, Edith Head became head of the costume department at Paramount. She also
became the first woman to hold a prominent position in a major studio.
16

1958:
Les Girls (1957), with costumes designed by Orry-Kelly, won the first Academy Award
for Best Costume Design after the Black and White and Colored films merged into one
category.
17

1959:
Some Like It Hot (1959) directed by Billy Wilder was set in 1920's Chicago. Although
both Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were in period flapper costumes, Marilyn Monroe
wore figure hugging dresses and a 50's hairstyle to maintain her 'star image'. Studios had
to rely on their stars to appeal to the box office. Few were willing to risk losing their
star's image, so actors, designers and makeup artists often had to create a look that
blended elements from the past with contemporary fashion trends.
18

1964:
My Fair Lady (1964), was considered 'the last great musical of the studio era'. It was the
highest-grossing film from Warner Brothers at the time and won the Academy Award for
Best Costume Design. Cecil Beaton, the costume designer and one of the art director of
the film, noted in his diary, Cecil Beaton's Fair Lady, there were about two hundred

16
"Edith Head." Biography.com. March 08, 2015. Accessed June 30, 2017.
https://www.biography.com/people/edith-head-9332755.
17
Mpaa.org. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.mpaa.org/.
18
Hollywood and history: costume design in film: May 29-August 14, 1988: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston:
Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
18

people working in the Warner Bros.' costume workshop. And that is something that can
rarely be seen today.
19

1967:
Faye Dunaway's narrow midi-skirt and beret in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) did not reflect
1930's chiffon and feminine dresses. Instead Theadora Van Runkle choose to reflect
Dunaway's character with easy and tomboyish style, which resonated with many 60's
women. The designer's choice to reflect the contemporary society over the historical
period was a common approach in the sixties.
20

2011:
According to Vanity Fair, Debbie Reynolds purchased many props and costumes from an
M.G.M. auction held in 1970. She tried to get the items into museums, but without the
Academy’s help and partnership, each attempt failed. In 2011, she auctioned off some of
the costumes and props from her massive collection. It is estimated that she brought in
more than $25 million from that sale.
21

19
Beaton, Cecil Walter Hardy. Cecil Beatons fair lady. New York: Rinehart et Winston, 1964.
20
Casper, Drew. Hollywood film, 1963-1976 years of revolution and reaction. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell,
2011.
21
Moore, Booth. "Debbie Reynolds' Legacy in Saving Hollywood Costumes." The Hollywood Reporter.
December 29, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/debbie-reynolds-
legacy-saving-hollywood-costume-history-959835.

19

Web: Video
“The Changes of Costume Design and Costume Shops”

Click on the image for the video that tells more about how the industry has changed and how
would it continue to change. While watching the video pause and click the link on the side to
read more about certain topics.

The next part in the video portion is a citation and further reading box. As it reaches certain
points in the video, on the "learn more here" box, a like to articles or further readings would pop
up, so viewers can be lead to more sources or my citation if they want.

Figure 5: Screenshot of “click image to watch the video”

20

Figure 6: Screenshot of the video pop-up box

Figure 7: Screenshot of the “Learn more box”
21

Since many of these costume shops works with current productions, filming can be quite difficult
sometimes. But I was allowed to film at USC School of Dramatic Art’s costume shop. The staff
allowed me to follow their process of the making of one of their costume.

I was also given a chance to film inside Western Costume Company. They allowed me to film in
certain locations in their shop. While I was there, they gave me a tour of the costume shops.
Rows on top of rows of costume lined up vertically with each other. Each line is categorized into
era, gender, item, and culture. Amber Morris
22
also introduced me to the collections, which
includes Dorothy’s gingham dress from Wizard of Oz and Scarlett O’Hara’s curtain dress from
Gone with the wind.

Finally, I had a sit-down interview with the owner of Muto Little, Antoinette Muto
23
.
Other than that the video used graphics, animation and old footages.

Script to video
VO NARRATOR Opening
with animated movie still.
[0.00-0.11]

DOROTHY’S RUBY SHOES, BONNIE PARKER’S
NARROW MIDI-SKIRT AND LONG CARDIGAN
SWEATER, AND HAN SOLO’S LEATHER VEST AND
LOW OPENED SHIRT TELLS THE AUDIENCE A LOT
ABOUT CHARACTER’S PERSONALITY AND

22
Morris, Amber, interview by Angel Chen, personal interview, Western Costume Company, North Hollywood,
California, March, 2017
23
Muto, Antoinette interview by Angel Chen, personal interview, Muto-Little, Los Angeles, California, March,
2017
22

Ruby Shoes with heels
clicking.
[0.11-0.24]

Costume illustration sliding.
[0.24-0.38]

Split screen between
footage of Gone With the
Wind, Breakfast at
Tiffany’s. Marie Antoinette
and Grease
[0.38-0.41]

Section Card: Costume
Designer
[0.41-0.42]
SOMETIMES DRIVES THE STORY.

HOWEVER, THE HOLLYWOOD COSTUME INDUSTRY
THAT HAS BEEN EVOLVING FOR A LITTLE OVER A
HUNDRED YEARS IS NOW GOING THROUGH A RAPID
CHANGE.

AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE
PEOPLE WHO WILL BE AFFECTED AND HOW THE
INDUSTRY WILL BE CHANGING.

DRESSING JUST ONE CHARACTER FOR A SCENE
REQUIRES ATTENTION FROM MANY PEOPLE. BUT
FOR A FEATURE FILM, IT IS USUALLY MORE THAN
ONE CHARACTER AND ONE SCENE. OFTEN, THERE
ARE MULTIPLE OUTFITS FOR THE ANTAGONIST, THE
ROMANTIC INTEREST AND HUNDREDS OF EXTRAS.

AND IT ALL STARTS WITH THE DESIGNERS.

23

SOT LEE PHILLIPS:
Shots from the interview
[0.40-0.44]

SOT Edith Head:
Shots from the interview
[0.49-0.54]

VO NARRATOR
Quote Card
[0.58-1.09]

Section Card: Beginning of
Costume Design
[1.09-1.10]
Edith Head is the top designer for Paramount Pictures.
We must say you both are very fashionable ladies.

Oh, we are both very interested in Fashion. Except I made
it and Hildegard wears it)

"WHAT A COSTUME DESIGNER DOES IS A CROSS
BETWEEN MAGIC AND CAMOUFLAGE. WE CREATE
THE ILLUSION OF CHANGING THE ACTORS INTO
WHAT THEY ARE NOT. WE ASK THE PUBLIC TO
BELIEVE THAT EVERY TIME THEY SEE A
PERFORMER ON THE SCREEN HE'S BECOME A
DIFFERENT PERSON”

24

Slides of old movie clips.
[1.10-1.12]
VO NARRATOR
Clips from The Costume
Designer
[1.12-1.43]

Section Card: Changes in
Recent Years

IN 1937, DURING A TIME JUST 20 PERCENT OF THE
COSTUME STAFF IN HOLLYWOOD WERE WOMEN,
EDITH HEAD BECAME HEAD OF THE COSTUME
DEPARTMENT AT PARAMOUNT, SHE ALSO BECAME
THE FIRST WOMAN TO HOLD A PROMINENT
POSITION IN A MAJOR STUDIO.
24

IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 40’S THAT WOMEN WERE
ENCOURAGED TO WORK IN HOLLYWOOD, IN NO
SMALL PART DUE TO THE WAR EFFORT. IT
CONTINUED TO INCREASE THROUGH TO THE 70’S.
ACCORDING TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT THE
COSTUME DESIGNER GUILD, RACHEL STANLEY, 82%
OF THEIR MEMBERSHIP IS NOW HELD BY WOMEN.
25

24
"Edith Head." Biography.com. March 08, 2015. Accessed June 30, 2017.
https://www.biography.com/people/edith-head-9332755.
25
Bethany, Jane, interview by Angel Chen, personal interview, Warner Bro. Costume Shop,Burbank, California,
March, 2017
25

[1.43-1.45]
VO NARRATOR
Clips from CGI VFX
Breakdown “Green lantern”
[1.45-1.50]
Clips from Avatar
Exclusive- Behind the
Scenes
[1.50-1.56]
Clips from Iron man
Gamma Protocol
[1.56-2.00]
Clips from Costuming
Stuart Little Movie
[2.00-2.03]

ONE THING THAT ALTERED THE WAY SOME FILM
COSTUMERS WORK IS THE INCREASE OF
COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY (CGI) AND
MOTION CAPTURE (MOCAP) TECHNOLOGY IN
RECENT YEARS.
26

A LOT OF TIMES, SUCH AS IN DEADPOOL (2016),
NOTHING IS FILMED IN COSTUME. THE ACTORS
WOULD WEAR MOTION CAPTURE SUIT WHILE THEY
ARE FILMING, AND COMPUTER OPERATORS WILL
LATER IMPOSED DESIGNER'S SKETCHES ONTO THE
ACTOR DIGITALLY.

26
"Movie History– CGI’s Evolution From Westworld to The Matrix to Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow." AMC. Accessed June 30, 2017 http://www.amc.com/talk/2009/05/cgi-movie-milestones-1.
26

VO NARRATOR:
Intro Card:
Don Hook
[2.03-2.07]
Clips from Costuming
Stuart Little
[2.07-2.17]
SOT: ANTOINETTE
MUTO, CO-OWNER OF
MUTO LITTLE
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[2.17-2.30]

VO NARRATOR
Screen shot video of Muto
SOMETIMES CUSTOMERS, LIKE DONN HOOK, A
SHOP MANAGER AT WARNER BROS., CREATE
DIGITAL PATTERNS THAT WOULD LATER BE “SEWN”
ONTO THE COSTUMES BY A COMPUTER ARTIST,
SUCH AS STUART LITTLE (1999)’S TINY RED T-SHIRT
AND KHAKI PANTS.

You look at Avatar, and you question is there any costume
in it? But they still put a costume on a person. There is still
a costume designer and they often just do motion capture
just to get the motion going. There are costumes involved
with CGI, and it helps them. Even in animated film, there
are still costume designers for the characters in animation.

THAT WAS ANTOINETTE MUTTO
27
, ONE OF THE
OWNERS AT MUTTO LITTLE, THE COSTUME SHOP

27
Latest."Muto-Little. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.muto-little.com/.
27

Little’s store
[2.30-2.40]
Section Card:
Costumer
[2.40-2.42]
Shots of sewing floral fabric
from USC SDA’s costume
shop
[2.42-2.46]
VO Narrator
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[2.46-2.49]
SOT: ANTOINETTE
MUTO, CO-OWNER OF
MUTO LITTLE
Medium Shot interview at
HELPED CREATE COSTUMES FOR AVATAR (2009),
HIDDEN FIGURES (2016) AND SCREAM QUEENS
(2016).

SO HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING
AT MUTTO LITTLE?

At the moment, probably about 10-18 staff on average.

28

Muto Little’s office
[2.49-2.55]
VO Narrator
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[2.55-2.58]
SOT: ANTOINETTE
MUTO, CO-OWNER OF
MUTO LITTLE
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[2.58-3.03]
Exterior of Western
Costume Shop
[3.03-3.07]
Interior of Western
Costume Shop (Stock
Room)

AND IS THIS CONSIDERED AS A LARGE COSTUME
SHOP?

This is considered as a large costume shop. Places like
western have rental department, and if you have rental
department you have a enormous space, so they are
larger costume. But just as costume shop that makes
costumes, we are considered the two or three bigger shop
that builds costume.

29

[3.07-3.17]
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[3.17-3.23]
VO Narrator
Interior of Western
Costume Shop (Stock
Room)
[3.23-3.51]

DURING HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE, PLACES LIKE
WESTERN COSTUME SHOP AND WARNER BROS.’S
COSTUME DEPARTMENT WERE INHABITED WITH
TAILORS, MILLINERS, EMBROIDERS, AND JEWELRY
MAKERS
28
.

ACCORDING TO CECIL BEATON’S FAIR LADY,
DURING HIS PRODUCTION, THERE WERE SEVENTY
WORKING IN THE COSTUME SHOP.

TODAY MANY OF THESE STORES RENT OUT
COSTUMES THEY’VE COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS,
STORE THEM FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES, OR
SOMETIMES EXHIBIT THEM IN MUSEUMS.

28
Beaton, Cecil Walter Hardy. Cecil Beatons fair lady. New York: Rinehart et Winston, 1964.
30

Section Card:
Changes in Recent years
[3.51-3.54]
Divider card:
Shift from studio costume
shops to independent
costume shops
[3.54-3.58]
VO Narrator
Shots of the process of
making garment from USC
SDA’s costume shop
[3.58-4.09]
Divider card:
Less artist joining the work
force

ALTHOUGH SOME OF THESE SHOPS STILL BUILDS
NEW COSTUMES, WITH STUDIOS CONTINUE
DOWNSIZING, A LOT OF WORKS ARE BEING SENT
TO INDEPENDENT SHOPS, LIKE MUTTO LITTLE
29
.

BUT IN RECENT YEARS, ARTISTS LIKE ANTOINETTE
MUTTO, KIM LITTLE AND DONN HOOK ARE GETTING
HARDER TO FIND.

29
Bethany, Jane, interview by Angel Chen, personal interview, Warner Bro. Costume Shop,Burbank, California,
March, 2017
31

[4.09-4.13]

Intro Card: Bethany Jane
[4.13-4.17]
Quote Card from Bethany
Jane
[4.17-4.24]
Photo of Maggie Schpak,
owner of Studio Art Metal
Shop
[4.24- 4.31]
SOT: ANTOINETTE
MUTO, CO-OWNER OF
MUTO LITTLE
Footage of Maggie Schpak
from Press Your Luck

BETHANY JANE, AN EXECUTIVE OF 705 MOTION
PICTURE COSTUMERS
30
, SAID THAT

“THERE IS A HUGE DECLINED.WE HAVE ABOUT ONE
BEADER AND ONE GLOVE MAKER, AND WE ARE
DOWN IN NUMBER FOR ALL OF THAT. ”

MAGGIE SCHPAK
31
STARTED WORKING IN
PARAMOUNT, BEFORE OPENING STUDIO ARTS
METAL SHOP

She's been doing for almost 70 years maybe.

30
"Home."Motion Picture Costumers IATSE Local 705. Accessed June 30, 2017.
https://www.motionpicturecostumers.org/.
31
"Exhibition Review." Maggie Schpak, History's Accessorizer | Art Jewelry Forum.
Accessed June 30, 2017. https://artjewelryforum.org/maggie-schpak-history%E2%80%99s-accessorizer.
32

[4.31-4.36]
Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[4.36- 4:59]

VO NARRATOR
Shots of the process of
making garment from USC
SDA’s costume shop
[4.59-5.15]
Divider card:
Industry moving away
[5.15-5.20]
VO NARRATOR
Split screen. Zooming map
and quote
[5.20- 5.32]

She is going to retire, she did all the tiara from princess
diary and jewelry from star treks. She is the person doing
all the beautiful metal work, there is no one taking over the
business when she goes.

TO COMBAT TALENT DISAPPEARING, 705 MOTION
PICTURE COSTUMERS PLANNED TO START
CLASSES TO GET ARTISTS INTERESTED AGAIN.
BUT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO START THE
PROGRAM FOR AT LEAST 4-7 YEARS FROM NOW.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE COSTUME SHOPS ARE
FACING IS THE INDUSTRY MOVING AWAY FROM
HOLLYWOOD.

DONN HOOK MENTIONED, MANY FILMS ARE BEING
33

News headlines
[5.32-5.46]

VO NARRATOR
Shots from Caravan
Production, Wonder Work,
and Western Costume
Company.
[5.46-5.57]

SOT: ANTOINETTE
CONCEIVED IN HOLLYWOOD, BUT NOW CONDUCT
FILMING AND FINISH COSTUME PRODUCTION IN
PLACES THAT OFFER 20-30% TAX CREDIT, LIKE
ATLANTA
32
.

ACCORDING TO MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICA, GEORGIA FILM INDUSTRY IS NOW
RANKED THIRD RIGHT BEHIND CALIFORNIA AND
NEW YORK IN THE US. AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPACT
ON GEORGIA WAS MORE THAN $7 BILLION, UP
FROM $244MILLION NINE YEARS AGO.

SOME COSTUMERS ARE AFRAID THAT THIS WILL
LEAVE THE COSTUME SHOPS IN LOS ANGELES
WITH LESS OPPORTUNITY.

BUT, ANTOINETTE MUTTO SAYS, IT IS ABOUT
LEARNING TO ADAPT.

32
Cunneff, Tom, and Special To CNBC.com. "A film mecca in the Deep South is rising, rivaling Hollywood."
CNBC. November 01, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/01/atlanta-rivals-
hollywood-to-become-major-film-mecca.html
34

MUTO, CO-OWNER OF
MUTO LITTLE
Video screen grab from
Muto Little’s webpage.
[5.57-6.09]

Medium Shot interview at
Muto Little’s office
[6.09-6.15]
End Credit
[6.15-6.33]

I think interest in costume has increased tremendously. I
see in music. We do a lot of music people. Like concert.
People do big shows now, almost like Broadway shows.
Lady Gaga’s shows are like a huge Broadway show. We
did Cher, and that was an elaborate show with costume
and set. So that a place where costuming had really taken
off. So there are all these platforms for materials and
product.

Things are shifting, but they don’t go away.

35

Web:Map
“A Map of Costume Shops in Los Angeles”
A list of some of the costume shops around Los Angeles. The gray marks are independent
costume shops and the yellow are studio costume shops. Click on the marks to learn more about
them!

Figure 8: Screenshot of the rollover map.

List of costume shops on the map:
Caravan West Productions- 35660 Jayhawker Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91390
WonderWorks Inc.- 7231 Remmet Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91303
Eastern Costume Inc.- 7243 Coldwater Canyon Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91605
Global Effects, Inc. - 7115 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91605
Western Costume Co.- 11041 Vanowen St, North Hollywood, CA 91605
ABC Studios Costume Department- 545 Circle 7 Dr, Glendale, CA 91201
The Costume Shoppe- 746 W Doran St, Glendale, CA 91203
36

NBC Universal- 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
Hollywood Toys & Costumes- 6600 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Adele’s of Hollywood- 5034 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
20
th
Century Fox- 10201 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
Robinson Beautilities- 12320 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Sony Pictures Studios Property- 5933 W Slauson Ave, Culver City, CA 90230
StarMakers Costumes & Parties- 605 N Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91104

37

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all/DressingHollywood.html.
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Facilities RSS. Accessed June 30, 2017. http://studiofacilities.warnerbros.com/production-
rentals-and-services/costume-department/.
"Costuming Stuart Little." YouTube. February 16, 2017. Accessed June 30, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2MYHW2pHik.
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Hollywood." CNBC. November 01, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2017.
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mecca.html
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38

"Exhibition Review." Maggie Schpak, History's Accessorizer | Art Jewelry Forum.
Accessed June 30, 2017. https://artjewelryforum.org/maggie-schpak-history%E2%80%99s-
accessorizer.
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California, March, 2017
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https://www.motionpicturecostumers.org/.
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Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
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Burbank, California, March, 2017
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New York Times. November 12, 2015. Accessed June 30, 2017.
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you-are-what-you-wear.html?_r=0.
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39

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract Dressing Hollywood is a multimedia website that looks at Hollywood’s costume industry’s past and present. It will take website’s users into the world of costume through an illustrated timeline, a video, and a rollover map. ❧ Costume is a trade with a humble beginning that has developed into the industry that can now be found all over Los Angeles. But it is currently facing problems from emerging technology to the lack of young craftsmen entering the workforce. ❧ Bringing an introduction of the artists, creations, and their challenges online then became my goal. After all, younger generations are more prolific users of digital media and their use of social media may compensate for the decline of their use on traditional news media. Base on a research done in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, 72% of the respondents were active participants when it comes to sharing the news on social networks and on newspaper websites. Therefore creating a shareable website became the objective. ❧ I hope to capture the magic of visual storytelling done by the costume designers. And by creating an interactive and shareable website, it would be more accessible to younger artists.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Chen, Kuan-Ling Angel (author)

Core Title Dressing Hollywood: artist behind the screen, story of Hollywood's costume shops

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 07/24/2017

Defense Date 07/19/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag behind the scene,Costume,costume shops,entertainment industry,Hollywood,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Bustamante , Peggy (committee chair), Birman, Dan (committee member), Haatainen Jones, Christina (committee member)

Creator Email angelkuanlingchen@gmail.com,kuanling@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-410317

Unique identifier UC11214608

Identifier etd-ChenKuanLi-5597.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-410317 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ChenKuanLi-5597.pdf

Dmrecord 410317

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Chen, Kuan-Ling Angel

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA