Chatting with William Ivey Long About ‘Dream’ Fashion

Wrote a blog post for SFGate.com’s fashion blog, SF Unzipped — wanna hear it? Hear it goes…

William Ivey Long has an impressive track record when it comes to designing costumes for the divas and divos of the musical stage. He’s won Tony Awards for creating the costumes for “The Producers,” “Hairspray,” “Nine,” “Crazy for You,” “Grey Gardens” and “Young Frankenstein” — and even though the characters’ outfits may be outrageous, he’s as humble as they come.

Adrienne Warren, Syesha Mercado & Moya Angela in “Dreamgirls.” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

“I write a lot of fan letters to my peers,” Long said in a recent phone interview. “I have been sending fan letters to Colleen Atwood!” (Atwood has won Academy Awards for movies like “Chicago” — and it jst so happens that Long designed for the stage revival of the classic musical.

Long has a knack for modernizing the costuming for theatrical chestnuts. Case in point: “Dreamgirls” (at the Curran Theatre through Sept. 26). The Supremes-inspired musical that tells the saga of girl group diva-ology may have broadened its Broadway reach via the movie version with Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson, but its the stage version that has resonated with theater geeks and pop culture.

The stage musical is definitely a different creature than the movie adaptation — and the fashion is a character in itself. With 465 costumes and 205 wigs that travel with the show, the wardrobe gives nods to some signature designer styles within the story’s timeline. At one point, the ultimate diva character of Effie wears a Missoni-esque print that echoes the ’70s and the girls also sport an “Aladdin goes to the disco” look. But the ultimate costume transformation comes when the girls don voluminous coats that look like vintage Balenciaga and then shed them to reveal glitzy qipaos and then shed those to reveal something that looks like a full body stocking with tons and tons of crystals — much like Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did it Again” bedazzled nude bikini at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000.

We had the chance to chat with William Ivey Long about the glamorous costumes and why it was good idea that the ’80s were not included in the musical.

Do you think there is a difference between fashion and costume design?

Well, the way I see it — fashion is dreamed up by designers — of what they think they people should wear in a particular moment in time. Costume design is a recreation of different periods. It’s kind of the opposite. It’s very much story-driven — and it’s a service industry (laughs).

How do you correlate costumes with the characters of “Dreamgirls”?

It starts at the beginning. If you look at the period of time, it’s 1964-1978 — that’s 14 years! It’s a rags-to-riches story. When we first see the girls, they take a bus to the Apollo Theater and we see them in the clothes they slept in right off the bus. Then they start to shimmer and shine.

It seems that the character of Effie has the most interesting story arc. How does that translate in her clothes?

The Dreams keep on going “up” with their success. As for Effie, there are many changes in the arc. When you start to follow her story, Effie is really involved in The Dreams. Then her downturn is played off the success of the others. We see them in Motown and then on the up and up in Vegas. You see how all that grows. Effie is the parallel. You see less shine in Effie. When she hits bottom, you see her in earth tones — she’s in street clothes that are in downer colors and are in cotton. You see the beads again when she starts recording — she starts to shimmer and shine.

How do you go about designing for all these memorable eras of fashion?

When you design a period you lived through, you have to research again – memory isn’t good as a source. You were not telling a story through the big picture. I was able to choose my favorite looks from the ’70s as opposed to
stressing the leisure suit. There’s a march of the lapels told through the men’s clothing.

March of the lapels?

Yeah — they are a story in itself. The men’s pants width and size of the (jacket) lapels — by the end of the show they reach vertically. Heel heights are another thing. The ’70s are one of the few periods to do that since Beau Brummel brought the peacock back! They are accentuated to see how it changed.

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