Summer 2020 The Costume Designer 23 STAR WARS STAR TREK A Conversation Between Shawna Trpcic and Gersha Phillips The landscape of sci-fi would be very different were it not for Star Trek and Star Wars. What was once considered fodder for nerds has become the nucleus of the triumphant rise of geek culture. These two intellectual properties have permeated society so thoroughly that words and terms from them have entered the public lexicon, and symbols they originated are as familiar as traffic lights.

Like no other article of clothing, the hat is an embodiment of its wearer. It has functioned historically as a social signifier, revealing characteristics as diverse as class, occupation, and personal style.

Fantasy and fetish formed on a foot, the shoe has never been more important. Sex and the City ushered in a renaissance of Manolos, Louboutins, and Jimmy Choos to Middle America…

Beads and embellishments were perhaps mankind’s first indulgent luxury…

Costumes are usually contained by their frames. Hundreds of hours are poured into their conception and creation, yet they exist in the fleeting moment to describe a person at the specific time of action in a television show or film.

WWD: “Wednesday,” “White Lotus,” “Euphoria,” and “Stranger Things” made costume designers the influencers of 2022.
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Among Debra McGuire’s many accomplishments as a FINE ARTIST, FASHION DESIGNER, and COSTUME DESIGNER, she has been best known for her 10-year run on the hit show FRIENDS and for designing many of David Mamet’s film and theatre projects including PHIL SPECTOR (starring Al Pacino and Helen Mirren), nominated for 11 Emmy’s and in which she was nominated for BEST COSTUME DESIGN. Debra has also designed many of Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan’s film and Television projects. Learn More

Dorothy Gaspar is hell-bent on reviving gloves as a mainstream accessory. “This is my passion—to get gloves ‘back.’..

There was a handful of women so far ahead of the times that fashion didn’t catch up to them for fifty years. What ground breaking diva wore the man’s tailcoat first? Was it Josephine Baker, Louise Brooks, or Marlene Dietrich? No matter who wore it first, or who wore it best, it was costume designer Travis Banton, Dietrich and Swarovski crystals that minted an icon.

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Adella Farmar worked on some of the most influential television projects of the mid-20th century, and she did it when her mere presence was ground-breaking. When she was five years old Farmar learned to sew from her mother, and making clothes became her lifelong passion. She made her own dance costumes as well as clothes for her family and friends. She graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles and after attended Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

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