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They say one of the toughest jobs in Hollywood is that of the director. Sure, there are responsibilities in being a director but perhaps the most difficult job in Hollywood could be that of the costume designer. It seems like a cut and dry labor job of simply stitching clothes for actors and actresses, but it’s anything but. Being the costume designer is a full time job and one that requires great insight and understanding and one that can really make the difference on a movie set.
The costume and stylist have the job of finding the feel for the movie as well as the characters. Take they stylist on the hit movie Ocean’s Eleven. It was a highly stylized movie about a casino robbery. The characters in there, played by notable actors such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon, needed to have their own personal sense of style and they needed to be fit into the overall style of the movie. Sounds like an easy task but when you make a mistake on how a character looks you can really screw up the overall visual value of the movie, thus making it feel less believable.
The decision to make George Clooney’s character, Danny Ocean, in monochromatic colors and muted tones presented him as slick without being flashy. He was understated which means something to th type of person he is to try and pull off a bank heist.
The other main character, Rusty played by Brad Pitt, was someone who was very stylized. He wore loud colors and very expensive suits. His character was serious about flash. It was important to the idea that he was the type of character that really moved plans into action. These kinds of decisions were important and were essential to the overall look and feel of the movie. Being a costume designer is not nearly as easy as it looks.
