By Antony Teofilo
They say the clothes make the man. Like it or not, appearance is a powerful indicator of who we are, and how people will react to us on a first meeting. Movie stars rely heavily on their ability to make themselves visible to the public. Every time they catch the collective eye of the populace, you can bet your bippie they will have spent many thousands of dollars to ensure that every eyelash properly placed, that their wardrobe is tragically hip, and their smile glows like a string of pirate's pearls.
That's all fine and good when one is out for a night on the town, aiming to snare the snaps of the paparazzi...but it doesn't end there. There are rumors in Hollywood that young actors are coached by their agents to save their best performances for their close-ups, that they are instructed to argue about makeup schemes and clothing choices, even when they don't have a huge problem with the things they're going to wear. Supposedly, this nasty behavior makes them look more like a "star." (This philosophy has also contributed to the early death of more than one promising career.) And then, of course, there are the true, micro-managing prima donnas who contractually demand that they have say-so over the ennui of their performance. Costume is one of the very important details that contributes to a complicated whole.
Juliet Polcsa has been in the costume industry for over a decade. In that time, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, George Clooney, Matthew Lillard, William H. Macy, Freddy Prince, Ian Holm, and Stanley Tucci have all found themselves tailored under her capable needle. She will tell you, in the parlance of the stars, that from the first moment a character makes his or her entrance on screen, viewers begin to judge. Because audiences are such avid spectators, every detail of a character must be in place, and a character's story beings with appearance. Is he wearing a boring gray suit? He's a banker. Is her dress low-cut? She must be a vamp. As we see, so they are. With movie stars...
You Are What You Wear
An Interview With JERSEY GIRL Costume Designer Juliet Polcsa
By Antony Teofilo
Antony Teofilo: How long have you been business of costume design?
JulietPolcsa: I've been in the costume business for about twelve years, and the film business for about eleven years.
AT: How did you get your start in the industry?
JP: I originally started in fashion, and hated that, and ran away and did summer stock theater, where the bells went off in my head. I realized I needed to do this costume stuff. I kind of worked on that, and then met somebody who worked on a film, and ended up with film being my home.
AT: It's often said that people must work for free for quite awhile to get anywhere in the film industry. When you were just getting started, how did you survive with no money?
JP: Ramen noodles. And I still love them. When I was first getting started, I was working at a costume shop where we made costumes for Broadway shows. Then I quit that and decided to freelance, and worked with an assistant costume designer, and then worked with a designer in a small off- off- Broadway theater. It's pretty big when you make the decision to freelance because you don't have that regular paycheck any more...I'm trying to remember how the hell I ate. I remember my girlfriends and I would go to happy hour, because we knew that for the cost of one drink they would have some sort of buffet thing and we could eat there. I didn't eat well at all. [Laughs]
AT: What are your major duties as the costume designer on a movie like JERSEY GIRL?
JP: As the costume designer, everything that goes on the actors goes through me. Nothing goes on camera until it passes through my hands, or in front of my eyes.
AT: When you're putting together a show like JERSEY GIRL, which is a period piece, but a fairly recent period, is it more difficult to get your hands on clothes from the late eighties / early nineties, than, say, the fifties or sixties?
JP: It's easier in a way. Things that are modern are in the stores. In costume design, you either buy it, rent it, or make it. Every script and every budget tells you what percentage of which of those your show is going to be. JERSEY GIRL is a fairly big buy. The characters aren't the types of characters that would have custom-made things. The clothing isn't too integral to who the characters are. They're not about fashion. You are what you wear. The costume designer administers the first impressions. How you dress somebody has to give the audience a quick visual that tells a little more about who [the characters] are.
AT: In terms of pre-production, when does the process begin for you?
JP: Every show is different. This one was actually a little behind the eight ball. I had about six weeks before we started shooting.
AT: When you're prepping for a movie, what are the hours like?
JP: It starts off reasonably, like eight hours a day. As you get closer to shooting, depending on what chaos is ensuing, and what you don't have, you can work twelve hours a day and upward. There are times that it seems like you're working twenty-four hours a day, because I'll have a dream about something, or I'll wake up thinking, "Oh my God! We didn't think about her underwear!" It all stays in my brain until the end of the project.
AT: You have a few assistants working with you on this movie...
JP: I have an assistant costume designer named Frankie Ritacco, and Cheryl Kilbourne-Climpton is my wardrobe supervisor.
AT: Where do Frankie's duties begin, and yours end?
JP: When we're shooting, Frankie takes over the background, and I'm in charge of the principle actors and what they wear. Sometimes I have veto power, but most of the time, I don't get involved with the background actors. We both do the shopping. Frankie organizes fittings and calls the actors and finds out what size they are because we can't do anything until we know that information. I'm very old-school, and she's very technological, so we make a great pairing.
