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[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"40368","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"250","height":"375","title":"True Grit Costume","alt":"True Grit Costume"}}]]Costume designer Mary Zophres has worked on many films with Joel and Ethan Coen, including their 2010 remake of the classic John Wayne film, True Grit. Mary was even nominated for an academy award for her designs on this movie!
You might think that designing costumes for a historical film is easy--after all, you can find old clothes at thrift shops and in people's attics, right? But clothes from the late 1800s are pretty hard to find. People back then wore their clothes until they wore right out! The few genuine clothes from that era that are still around are often in fragile shape--no good for the harsh treatment they'd get on a movie set. So designers like Mary Zophres have to research what real historic clothes looked like, but then each costume is created brand new, and "distressed" to look as if it's been worn for a while.
Mattie's dress, on display in our Incredible Costumes From Film and TV exhibit, appears at the start of the film before Mattie has decided to wear her father's clothes in her search for his killer.
"The idea is that she’s come to town, she thinks she’s going to take care of her business in about a day, she figures she’d go home in the same dress. She has one going-to-town dress. She doesn’t wear a hoop, she has petticoats underneath. But when she decides to go on the trail, she takes her dad’s pants, she takes her dad’s overcoat, she takes her dad’s hat, and she puts those on. " --Mary Zophres, Designer
If you are looking for unique things to do in indianapolis with your family this spring break, come see this and many other costumes at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis! The Incredible Costumes from Film and TV exhibit is at the museum March 12–May 8.
