WHAT A WAY TO GO!
A Conversation With Shirley MacLaine
hirley MacLaine’s career is marked by collaborations with legendary directors, actors and Costume Designers. I had the opportunity to talk with Shirley about certain choices and inspirations that helped build the characters she portrayed. What I find so impressive is not only the caliber of her performances or the remarkable people she’s worked with, but her enthusiasm and clarity in recalling her extraordinary career, and her humility in describing her partnerships with so many talented Costume Designers.
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What do you remember about working with Orry-Kelly on Irma la Douce? A particular shade of green was so effectively used in your entire wardrobe. Where did the idea originate? I met Orry-Kelly on the movie The Apartment so we already had a working relationship. Orry and head cutter/fitter Lilly Fonda would bring the costumes to my trailer. Elizabeth Courtney was also working at Western Costume then, and she helped make some of my costumes. The green tights were actually the idea of Audrey Wilder (director Billy Wilder’s wife). The color was to symbolize money and since I was playing a prostitute, it made sense. There was a lot of discussion around the color of my wedding dress at the end of the film. Since I was playing a prostitute, the choice to use white was controversial at the time. The other “street” girls wore baby blue and pink to be the bridesmaids. Orry loved sashaying around with the girls. He was a master at accentuating the bust. He taught me how to raise my bust for effect and to put a 7½ millimeter pearl into my bra to enhance my nipples. Orry said he could make Jimmy Stewart look like he had boobs! I would like to talk about an early collaboration, Some Came Running, with director Vincente Minnelli (a former Costume Designer himself) and Oscar-winning Costume Designer Walter Plunkett. Were the costumes built or were they pulled from costume houses and purchased from stores? No matter how often I watch your performance, I find it emotional and wrenching when your character and Frank Sinatra’s are murdered. I was so sure of who my character was that I used some pieces of my personal wardrobe in the film. I don’t know why I had sandals like that, but I did and used them. Vincente Minnelli trusted Walter Plunkett and me with the character so we shopped for Ginnie Moorehead’s clothes at stores in the Valley. Walter then took those clothes and trashed them up a bit more, which was the right thing to do.
Irma la Douce Some Came Running 12
The Costume Designer Summer 2010