Fans of the dimension-defying sci-fi series Westworld have been transported into the Roaring ’20s for season four. In episode two, which aired on July 3rd, main characters Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) and Caleb (Aaron Paul) touch down in Temperance, a new theme park town for the rich that’s set during the Jazz Age. Its Butterfly Club is as glamorous as you’d expect a man-made “utopia” to be, not least because of the “hosts” (artificial humans) dressed in flapper dresses and dapper suits. “The 1920s was really fun to work with,” says Westworld costume designer Debra Beebe, one of many responsible for the stylish new season. “We were going for authentic 1920s, but because it is a theme park, it’s not dead-on—there’s a little bit of play with it.”
If you’re not a religious Westworld watcher, the crux of Temperance is this: It’s a theme park fabricated by the evil corporation Delos, where the extremely rich can engage in all their sins and debauchery. The “hosts” are there to serve them—under the guise that they don’t have feelings or memories. You can kill them or physically harm them with no repercussions. (At least in theory. As revealed in season one, the hosts are conscious after all). In season one, the rich got to “play” in Sweetwater, an old western town costume designed by Trish Summerville. This season, Beebe was able to bring forward a new fashion energy to the show.
To begin the costuming process, Beebe and her team began by researching the 1920s and pulling up fashion images from the decade. In her research, she found it was an especially dressy decade, thanks to a surging economy at the time. “That time period was much more formal than we dress today,” says Beebe, “Everyone was in a suit, jacket, and tie with a hat. The flapper girls were the partiers of the bunch.” Since much of the episodes thus far have taken place within the art deco Butterfly Club, she put emphasis on party wear and flapper dresses in particular. “We were very authentic with the silhouettes and the styles,” says Beebe, who dressed actors in boyish-cut shift dresses with beaded embroidery, often finished off with headpieces, hats, and gloves (more is more!). The men, meanwhile, wore the sharp suiting, overcoats, and fedoras that were popular during the era.
Beebe had to keep in mind that the 1920s town was in fact a theme park run by a corporation that would spare no cost when it came to verisimilitude. “We absolutely did not want it to look costume-y,” says Beebe. “Nothing looked brand-spanking new. We did go to the trouble of aging things down a little.” To give it that authentic look, she sourced many vintage 1920s pieces from various rental companies in L.A. “We brought back racks and racks of pieces,” she says. “We were pretty fortunate that there were quite a bit of 1920s to be found locally.”
A few select pieces were also made custom for the show for practical reasons. The beaded, burgundy flapper dress that Maeve wears, for instance, was made in the studio’s workshop, as was Caleb’s spiffy suit. The main characters required custom, given their stunt doubles also needed the same exact look. “One thing that we did that wasn’t authentic [to the 1920s] was the underdress,” Beebe says of Maeve’s look. “The slip was a more modern fabric with a little stretch, so she and her stunt person could move. Usually, it’s bias-cut silk or satin.”
Looking back on the show’s fashion has made Beebe realize it’s been one of her most fun projects to date. “With all the different directions, the show allows for so many new characters and new time periods—jumping into the future and back,” she says. As someone who not only had to costume the 1920s component of the show, but also the storylines taking place in the future—more of that to come as the season progresses—she definitely had her costuming work cut out for her this season. “You just figure out what the rules and boundaries are for each of these time periods,” she says of the challenge. “I’ve always enjoyed collaborating and coming up with new worlds.” What could be a better match than Westworld?Read more at:formal dresses australia online | short formal dress