…Once Upon A Costume

…Once Upon A Costume

Saturday 5 January 2013

Red Riding Hood...



I found an interesting article on the costumes for Red Riding Hood including some great illustrations, you will find it below...

Like the name of the film suggests, the key sartorial piece was the storied red cloak that the lead character Valerie, played by Amanda Seyfried, dons when hiking through the snow to her grandmother's house and coming face-to-face with the werewolf that's been terrorizing the town.


To achieve the perfect rendition of the garment, Hardwicke worked with illustrator Kit Stolen on a series of illustrations before adding Evans (with whom Hardwicke worked on "The Lords of Dogtown" and "Thirteen") into the mix.


"Cindy began working on the cloak design, researching styles and fabrics from around the world," says Hardwicke. "We did a broad fabric search and even contemplated weaving our own cloth until I happened upon a heavy-woven, two-tone silk matka -- better known as raw silk -- which was perfect. I had a whimsical swirling pattern silk-screened about ten inches around the border and then had the pattern hand-embroidered over it using six different tones of red. It all turned out quite lovely."

In the end, the team decided on two cloaks: a shorter version worn in several scenes, and a longer and much more dramatic 20-foot cloak made entirely of velvet, which is beautifully displayed in a dream-like overhead shot showing Seyfried's character walking across the snow-covered mountains with the billowing cloak trailing behind her and whipping around in the wind.
Personally, Seyfried couldn't get enough of the crimson garment.
"It was beautiful," she says. "Wearing it did make me feel like a fair maiden in a storybook."

Of course, it's not just Seyfried's costumes (which also included a pale blue corset dress with removable leather sleeves) that made her perfect for the role.

"The way she looks is straight out of a fairy tale. She has an ethereal quality, with the most amazing eyes that just draw you in," says Hardwicke. "She had everything we needed for the character, especially because Valerie is not a classic damsel in distress. Amanda is tough, she's sexy, she's funny, she's vulnerable -- she has it all."
To add to the above, the costumes of not just Valerie but the entire population of Daggerhorn have the essence of fariytale, in the colour combinations and textures. But they are mixed in with a sense of practicality in the layering and choice of fabrics, something that makes the characters lives true, believable. 

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