22 December, 2009
First look at Legally Blonde costumes on West End
31 July, 2009
Legally Blonde: Elle Woods' Costume Directory
Gregg Barnes, costume designer, talks about Legally Blonde:
Legally Blonde Costume Directory
Omigod! dress. Elle is trying this strapless, empire-waisted dress on in the store when we first meet her. It is a white satin dress with pink accents and bows.
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Serious dress. Elle eventually settles upon this spaghetti-strap, empire-waisted dress. It is a pink floral knit.
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"Shame Spiral" robe. She wears this after being dumped by Warner. It's a fluffy white robe with whimsical appliques.
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Pink Tracksuit. She wears this under her robe, and during the What You Want sequence where she begins her application to Harvard. It's a two-piece medium pink velour tracksuit. The sleeve length varies from production to production.
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Cheer Outfit. She wears this in her final bid to get into Harvard, when she performs a song and dance number for the admissions committee. It's a heavily beaded jacket, shirt, and shorts combo which she wears over white heeled boots.
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First Day At Harvard. Elle wears this ensemble for Harvard Variations / Positive. It is composed of a pink jacket/blazer, a pink tank with "HARVARD" across the front, jeans, and a phenomenal pair of go-go boots. In the West End production, Sheridan Smith wears a white blouse under the tank, making it more of a preppy vest look.
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Playboy Bunny. Elle wears this costume to what she thinks is a costume party. (Spoiler: it's not!) It's a pink heavily boned bodice with a collar, cuffs, and bunny ears.
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Chip On Your Shoulder. Elle changes into a casual outfit after Emmett walks her home. Varying with nearly every actress, it's a pink top, jeans, and heels, with a jacket she throws on (and then takes off) midscene.
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So Much Better. Elle wears a denim jacket, lavender cami, and an awesome pink houndstooth skirt for the closing number of Act I. My personal favourite!
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Pink & Navy Suit. Elle wears this pink & navy pinstriped suit over a white blouse and heels to visit Brooke Windham in jail. Later, she takes Emmett shopping.
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Bend & Snap. Elle wears a black short sleeve sweater over a white blouse & black skirt while getting her nails done at Paulette's.
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Legally Blonde Suit. Elle wears this basic belted navy suit & skirt when Callahan hits on her. It's very simple, significant in showing how much Elle has had to change herself to "fit in".
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Remix Coat. Elle wears this long flared coat over her Remix dress before Vivienne convinces her to stay.
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Remix Dress. Elle wears this pink dress to the final trial. In the US, this is a long sleeved, a-line pink knit dress. In the UK, Sheridan Smith wears a a close-fitting, short sleeved dress.
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Graduation Robe. Elle, the Harvard valedictorian, throws this robe on over her Remix dress for her address, and then to propose to Emmett.
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Curtain Call. Elle wears this bedazzled version of the Remix dress for her curtain call. It's so pretty and sparkly!
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Other outfits:
SF Photoshoot. Laura Bell Bundy wears this two piece magenta wool suit for some early promos. It's very Laura Bush, IMO.
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Album Cover. LBB wears this pink houndstooth dress on the cover of the LBTM album.
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MTV Photoshoot. The top five contestants on The Next Elle Woods did an Elle-inspired photoshoot.
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West End Promo. Sheridan Smith wears this ornate foofy dress in some Legally Blonde promo stuff.
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More to come later, of that I am certain. ;)
26 May, 2009
Legally Blonde: Positive
Outfit Overview:
- Pink newsboy cap
- Pink jacket
- Pink capped-sleeve t-shirt (in the sketch, but in some pictures, you can see it's a tank) with HARVARD in purple glitter across the front
- Purple capri jeans, belted with snakeskin belt, with flowery embroidery up the sides
- Snakeskin high-heeled boots that come just below the knee
- She carries her signature Schmancy bag (which she later hands off to Becky during the dance break) and wears her signature Tiffany's necklace and bracelet set.
THE HAT:
Pink plaid newsboy cap. You can see green, yellow, and purple in the stripes.
JACKET
The jacket/blazer appears to have evolved a lot over the course of the show.
San Francisco: In this early picture from the original SF debut, you can see it's a denim blazer with two buttons (only the top one, right under the bust, is fastened). Also, the sleeve (look at the left hand holding the leash) is pointed. It has one flap-breast pocket on the left side, and one at the waist on the left. I can't see if there's a waist-pocket on the right side, and as this is the only photo I can find of this jacket...
San Francisco II: In later pictures from the SF run, you see an entirely different jacket, still technically a blazer. (Note it's the same hat, shirt, and jeans, by the way). This very unique collarless jacket has a scoop-neck that closes with what I'm assuming is an eye-hook just below the lettering on the t-shirt. The fabric is the most interesting part of it, I think: it looks like a shades-of-pink paisley jacquard.
The sleeves are open (I think: look at the right hand) and trimmed with a matching pink braid—I think it's probably some combination of the fabric, because you can see bits of red and purple mixed in with the trim.
Where the shirt is open, you can see it's self-lined. I think it must be boned because of the stiffness of the blazer when she's moving around. For example, the dance-break (plus also, an instance where the "t-shirt's" true tanky colours are revealed!)
Broadway (LBB): Prolly my favourite incarnation, this one looks more like a windbreaker or a jacket than a blazer.
The fabric is shiny, probably some kind of vinyl leatherette. (if this is the case... it must be horrible for dancing) You can see the lining on the inside is crumpled (so probably some kind of china silk or substitute). There is a collar at the neck. The closures look like dark coloured (brown, black, magenta) snaps, and I can see two at the neck, but no others, and since she always wears it undone, I would assume there aren't any others. It also fastens at the sleeves. There is a cord (probably for adjusting) at the waist.
I can't tell if there are pockets. She doesn't hold any small props, so probably not.
[Analysis later, pending better images]
Broadway (Bailey): I don't like this one, and I don't know if it's because I dislike Bailey, or because it doesn't fit my idea of "Elle", but yeah.
This one is basically a jacket, and it reminds me of puffy jackets skiers wear. Also, the fabric is crumpled, and I think it looks like she just got out of bed.
The collar folds over, and is so wide it reaches over her shoulders. There is a pocket on her right shoulder, and other than that I can't see any other pockets. There's a zipper closure, and it looks like the waist is elasticised to be more form fitted. I don't see any closures on the sleeves.
Tour (Becky): Happy medium! Becky's jacket is very much like Bailey's, but it lacks the poufy and monstrous look hers has. This may have to do with the fact that Bailey is much more full-figured than Becky (IMO).
Note the differences between Becky's and previous outfits: Bruiser's leash is now pink, the jacket collar is folded over.
Other than its increased form-fittedness and the collar, the jacket itself is about the same as Bailey's. (note the consistency of the folded-over collar: I wonder if Becky thinks it's annoying? I think I would...)
Oh, and here's one I can't find any other pictures of:
Becky on Broadway: This is the same fabric as the jacquard SF coat, but the neckline is different (though it has the trim from the SF coat on the neckline). I can't find any other pictures of it on LBB or Bailey, though...
HARVARD TANK TOP
Very basic knit tank (not ribbed "beater"). Scoop neck. Body of the tank is a medium pink; edged in a darker pink on the neckline and sleeves (not at the waist). The lettering is pink surrounded by large silver glitter. For a while, a copy of this was available on eBay, but I haven't seen it for a while.
JEANS
These along with the blazer changed the most over the course of the show.
San Francisco: Purple wash capri jeans (cuffed over the boots); flowery embroidery. Fairly standard model: low cut, front and back pockets, etc. Close-ups of the embroidery below.
Broadway (LBB): Somewhere between SF and Broadway, changes occurred (because they are in some later promo shots, but not the first ones). The jeans look the same, except that the embroidery is gone and instead of being cuffed, the jeans are tucked into the boots. Whether they're still capris or are now regular length, I can't tell.
Broadway (Bailey) & Tour (Becky) : Major change!
Well, colourwise, anyways. The pants are now either a hot pink or a red, depending on what photos you're looking at.
(L-R: Bailey, Becky, Becky, Bailey)
LATER: the boots, the bag(s)
XOXO!