Costume: Actresses Jane Fonda & Minka Kelly Transform Into American Icons for ‘The Butler’

©ourtesy of Meriah Doty

From sketch to real life, Jane Fonda evokes former first lady Nancy Reagan (The Weinstein Company)

“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” spans eight decades and depicts a spectrum of characters that could make any costume designer’s head spin: from a rural African-American field worker (portrayed by Mariah Carey) to a boozy-yet-stylish ’50s lady (Oprah Winfrey — whose character traverses all of the film’s decades as the wife of longtime White House butler Cecil Gaines) to iconic first ladies including Nancy Reagan (Jane Fonda) and Jacqueline Kennedy (Minka Kelly).

From Fonda to Reagan
In the film, 75-year-old Fonda is in close replicas to the real clothing of ’80s-era Nancy Reagan. “She loved red,” Ruth Carter, costume designer for “The Butler,” told Yahoo! Movies of Reagan. “A very vibrant tomato red — coined as ‘Reagan Red,’” said Carter, who mimicked the designs of Reagan’s favorite designers, including Bill Blass. Carter even replicated a gown Reagan wore to a state dinner.

It’s not only the clothes, but Fonda’s hair — which was coincidentally already in the right cut to play Reagan — and her makeup transformed the Oscar winner into a convincing facsimile of the former first lady.
But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any drama in assuming the role. Fonda managed to avoid a wardrobe catastrophe, Carter recalled, on her first day of filming: one of Fonda’s costumes went missing — and she was only scheduled to shoot for a few short days. “I was walking on pins and needles.” But Fonda made it work, swapping a costume intended for another scene while she waited for the missing outfit to arrive (and it did, as a frantic Carter actually flew it in). Close call.

[Related: Oprah and Cast Serve Up 'Butler' Scoop]

Minka Kelly brings a Jackie Kennedy outfit to life in ‘The Butler’ (The Weinstein Company)

For Minka Kelly to pull it off as the stylish Mrs. Kennedy, Carter knew she had to pay attention to detail. “My main focus was to make sure the pink Chanel suit she wears when the [JFK] assassination happens is perfect,” said the costume designer. “Of course we want Jackie Kennedy’s look to be as iconic as it was in real life.” -- >

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Costume Exhibit at LA’s FIDM

The 19^th Annual Art of Motion Picture of Costume Design hosted by FIDM. Exhibit Begins: February 8  till  April 30, 2011. On view will be actual costumes from over 20 movies from 2010. This exhibition is free to the public and will be open Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The Museum & Galleries will be closed April 22 through April 25 for Spring Recess.

Group tours may be arranged by calling the college at 
213.623.5821.
 

LA’s Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) is rolling out its 19th annual salute to the “Art of Motion Picture Costume Design,” which will display the original costumes of more than 20 top films from 2010. On display from February 8 thru April 30 at the FIDM Museum & Galleries On The Park, located in Downtown LA, this annual major exhibition is the only one of its kind in the world, paying homage to the creativity of the film industry’s costume designers with a dazzling show of outstanding costumes and Oscar® nominated and award-winning designs. On view will be more than 100 actual costumes — including the costumes from major motion pictures including Alice in Wonderland by costume designer Colleen Atwood, Inception by costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, Shutter Island by costume designer Sandy Powell, and The Wolfman by costume designer Milena Canonero. The FIDM Museum houses the FIDM Permanent and Study Collections, along with the renowned Rudi Gernreich Archive, the Gianni Versace Menswear Archive and the Hollywood Costume Collection from the Department of Recreation and Parks, City of Los Angeles. The 15,000-piece collection ranges in date from 1785 to the present day, and is composed of couture and ready-to-wear garments, film and theatre costumes, non-western garments, textiles, jewelry and accessories. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Archived Online Exhibitions of Past Exhibits
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Costume Guild Award “Nominees” Announced

“Black Swan ,” “Burlesque ” are among those up for the honors

 

The Costume Designers Guild Award nominees were announced Thursday.
The ceremony will be held Feb. 22, 2011 at the Beverly Hilton, hosted by Sex and the City‘s Kristin Davis.
Halle Berry will be given the Lacoste Spotlight Award because her “talent and career personifies an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special awareness of the role and importance of costume design,” according to the organization.
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore will introduce a montage highlighting the extraordinary career of two-time Oscar nominee and multiple Emmy-winning costume designer Julie Weiss , who will be honored with the Disaronno Career Achievement in Film and Television Award. The honor will be presented by Academy Award winners Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall.
The Distinguished Collaborator Award will be presented to Joel Schumacher.

List of Nominees include: Click Here
 

• If Black Swan wins prizes for best costume design, as they are expected to, Rodarte won’t get any credit. Since the Mulleavy sisters didn’t negotiate credits in their contract for the movie, the film’s main costume designer, Amy Westcott, will be awarded. [Fashionista]

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Halle Berry & Kristin Davis: Hosting CDG Awards

January 12, 2011: The DGA Awards which are scheduled to take place on the 22nd of February at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills is reportedly going to be hosted by Kristen Davis, the effervescent star of Sex and the City 2.

Reportedly, the authorities of the CDG are to felicitate the Hollywood star Halle Berry with a distinguished award. Halle Berry is to be presented with the special award titled the Lacoste Spotlight Award. This is relatively a new award and has been specially introduced to honor an actor for his or her talent and career which excels to personify an enduring commitment to excellence and an ever enthusiastic interest in the role and importance of costume design. There are other very distinguished celebrities who are to be honored at the event like director Joel Schumacher, who actually started his career as a costume designer. He is to be honored with the Distinguished Collaborator Award. Then there is Julie Weiss, who is an extremely well known costume designer who has won the CDG for American Beauty and Blades of Glory, and is now going to be awarded the Disaronno Career Achievement in film and Television Award. During the presentation of the award to Julie Weiss, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Robert Duvall are to be presented.

A special award for the late Michael Dennison is to be honored posthumously by getting inducted into the guild’s Hall of Fame.

–Sampurn Wire