Email:neill@outloudculture.com
Socials: @neillfrazer
Hi Olga welcome to OLC! Can you share some insights into the creative process behind recreating the flashy and physical outfits of the 1980s for Love Lies Bleeding, and how it differed from your work on Eileen’s 1960s-set period piece?
The process for every project starts out in a similar way for me. I like to read the script and do an initial kind of visual response collage. I gather images that speak to an emotional reaction to the material. It’s about color, texture, and the general mood of the world. From there I move into the heavy lifting of collecting research. For Eileen I bought all of the Sears catalogs from the mid-fifties to the mid-sixties. These are great resources for understanding the clothes. There are detailed images of everything from shoes to undergarments. Eileen takes place in 1964 but by looking at an entire decade prior you start to understand how the silhouette evolved. For Love Lies Bleeding I was able to find candid photos from the 1980s on Flickr. There was also a great collection of photos I found from malls in America from the 80s. To understand the world of bodybuilding I watched a documentary called Pumping Iron II: The Women. Once the foundation of research is there I can move into making individual choices for each character. I always try to find candid photos so that your research is not all polished advertisements or staged portraits. I want to get a sense of what real people looked like in their everyday life. The further back you go the harder that is so it was trickier for Eileen. I was still able to find some archived family albums which felt more relaxed and genuine.
Given Love Lies Bleeding’s exploration of female bodybuilding, how did you approach designing costumes that capture the violent, romantic, and sexy elements of the film, while also reflecting on your own memories of moving to America in 1990?
The story is fueled by love and obsession. Lou and Jackie’s love for each other, Jackie’s obsession with bodybuilding and winning, Lou’s love for her sister. It’s what drives everyone’s choices. I wanted the characters to look worthy of that kind of attention.
Having worked on both Love Lies Bleeding and Eileen, how do you think your costumes contribute to challenging societal notions of gender and femininity, particularly in the context of these two films?
Both films have these amazing female characters that break from how women have been traditionally portrayed in film. Both Eileen and Love Lies Bleeding look at female desire in this raw dirty way that is usually reserved for men. There are moments in both films where we actively look at characters through the female gaze. When Lou first sees Jackie working out and the way Eileen looks at Rebecca. I wanted those moments to stand out visually. For the audience to share in that lustful experience but from a woman’s perspective. Especially for Eileen I wanted to break away from a “put together look”. She is not neat and perfect. Her stocking slouch around her ankles, not everything fits right and her clothes are sometimes stained. Women have not always been allowed those imperfections, especially in period films. For Jackie in Love Lies Bleeding we got to put really feminine pieces on a really strong muscular body. I found that juxtaposition so exciting and it felt revolutionary and subversive. To take feminine clothing and combine it with muscle, strength, and power. Characteristics that sadly are not usually associated with femininity. But all of that is changing and gender lines are blurred thankfully.
Could you elaborate on the significance of recreating iconic looks from the late 80s in Love Lies Bleeding, considering your first exposure to the U.S. came via the fashion of that era when you moved to America in 1990?
I was five years old when my family immigrated to the United States in 1990. So my first impression of American culture was all late 80’s fashion. I found it all really aspirational. It was so colorful. I loved revisiting and then having the opportunity to recreate that era on Love Lies Bleeding. It was almost like a childhood wish fulfillment. I remember playing aerobics instructor as a kid, taking a bathing suit and putting it over a pair of tights and adding my mom’s belt over it to try to get that Jane Fonda video look. Although on Love Lies Bleeding we purposefully went away from an editorial Olivia Newton John, “let’s get physical” kind of look we still got to play in that world. So this was such a treat.
With your extensive experience, including notable projects like Hereditary and First Reformed, how do you approach the task of using costumes to convey deeper themes and messages in a film?
I’m usually generally more interested in the deeper themes than the clothes. The actual clothing comes secondary. When talking to a director, actors, production designers the conventions are rarely around actual clothing pieces and fashion. It’s much more about what we are trying to say, what we want it to feel like. Then I go away and translate how those ideas can be communicated through clothing. I think a big part of a costume designer’s job is to be able to decode how clothing is perceived so that you can use it to manipulate the audience’s perception of a character. It’s really helpful to have a few simple and clear metaphors that you are working with so that when you are faced with a million small decisions you can always go back to those points and ask yourself what best serves this one idea.
Love Lies Bleeding explores a diverse range of themes. How did you ensure that the costumes not only complemented the characters but also contributed to the overall storytelling and atmosphere of the film?
Early on in prep we all got together to talk about color. I had everyone over on a Saturday at the house I was renting in Albuquerque. We just sat around looking at photographs and color palettes. Having those kinds of conceptual conversations especially outside of an office and with plenty of snacks I think helps break the ice. So collectively you narrow in on a color palette and an overall mood for the world. I think about it like the characters are all standing under one umbrella but you still need to distinguish who each person is under there.
Having premiered Eileen at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023 and now returning with Love Lies Bleeding, can you share your experiences showcasing your work at Sundance and any insights into how audience reception has influenced your approach to costume design?
In both cases the first time I saw the final cut of the film was at Sundance. It’s such a charged atmosphere. To be honest, usually the first time seeing a film I’m too absorbed in processing my own work to really take in the film as a whole. I get really granular about the details. But seeing it with such an engaged audience really helps. Especially for Love Lies Bleeding the film has such a strong current that I really got swept away. Also I’m a sucker for seeing people achieve something they’ve worked so hard for. As soon as a director comes up to introduce their film, it doesn’t matter if I’ve worked on it, I start to cry. Maybe it’s the altitude but I find it so moving.
In your career, you’ve challenged traditional expectations of how women should dress. Could you discuss instances in your films where you placed emphasis on comfort or deliberately rejected conventional norms through costume design, and the impact it had on the narrative?
Well I really like to consider the actors’ own physical and emotional comfort. I want them to feel prepared to do this incredibly vulnerable scary thing. So that’s just a general approach I take into consideration. As for the characters themselves and their clothing choices, it’s very case-by-case. I think about how this character wants to be perceived in their world. Someone like Lou doesn’t want to present in a traditionally feminine way. Her idols, the people I imagined she admired, have a different aesthetic. While Jackie has to use her sex appeal to men in order to survive out in the world.
