Over time, however, Gaston comes to the realization that Gigi has grown up. For quite a while, the two see each other as nothing more than good friends. He finds refuge in his time with Madame Alvarez (Hermione Gingold) and her tomboyish granddaughter Gilberte, or 'Gigi' for short a sincere and happy teen being raised by her refined great-aunt and grandmother to be a wealthy man's courtesan. In Paris during The Gay '90s, Gaston Lachaille is a rich young playboy who wants to break free from the stultifying traditions of his family. note Not counting the latter's two special awards. Starring Leslie Caron as the eponymous Gigi, Louis Jourdan as Gaston, and Maurice Chevalier as the narrator Honoré, the film won all of its nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, breaking the record set by Gone with the Wind. Maria’s subsequent costumes are more tailored, “so you get this sense that here is a young woman who is bursting to realize herself as a mature woman.- Honoré Lachaille, singing the most famous numberĪ 1958 MGM musical film based on the 1944 novella by French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Gigi was directed by Vincente Minnelli and written by Lerner and Loewe, following their success with My Fair Lady. Anita now gives Maria the symbolic red belt, almost as a rite of passage. In a nostalgic homage, that white dress returns. “It’s reflective of the joy and hope of the Latinx community at that time,” Tazewell said, adding that he hopes Anita’s dress becomes as iconic as the virginal white dress Natalie Wood wore as Maria in 1961.

“Anita is the center of attention for that number,” said Tazewell, who dressed actor Ariana DeBose in an off-shoulder dress that’s as vividly yellow as her petticoats are red. Now set in the street instead of a compact rooftop, the scene is a kinetic swirl of vibrant colors, ruffles and petticoats that practically explode with the athletic choreography. Tazewell needed less clever costume engineering for the Sharks dance number “America,” which highlights the designer’s trademark use of color. The gymnasium dance scene divides visually but also psychologically. “The dynamic of those two worlds coming together and how they clash was important to the storyline,” Tazewell said.

For the Sharks, it’s warm golden tones of red, yellow, orange and brown and, often, tropical prints that reflect their Puerto Rican heritage. He assigned cool hues of blue, teal and gray for the Jets. He chose distinct color palettes to help audiences track the different groups whether they were dancing in the school gym or fighting in the street - a sort of ’50s version of the Crips and Bloods. Tazewell also enhanced the differences between the Jets and the Sharks. Davidson spent years photographing East Harlem, and his stark black-and-white imagery shares the film’s somber mood and exacting detail. He embedded himself within those gangs,” Tazewell said. “Some of my original inspiration visually was Bruce Davidson’s photos of gangs in the 1950s in New York and also in Brooklyn. Costumes are more often drenched in sweat and grime, their seams shredded from wear and, in Tazewell’s hands, conceived to capture immigrant pride and social strife. Virtually every element in this more ominous and visceral “West Side Story” is doing heavy lifting to correct the historical record that had, for example, cast white actors as Puerto Rican characters. The ramifications for those communities can be very dire.” It shows in the clothes. “Space needs to be made if you are going to have that kind of gentrification. “Steve was after an authentic and plausible version of ‘West Side Story’ and our reflection of 1957 New York City,” Tazewell said. That’s the first clue that this “West Side Story” is getting real, real quick. Mere minutes into the first act, the warring Jets and Sharks gangs are pelting one another with buckets of paint, cans of trash and a truckload of watermelons. In “West Side Story,” Tazewell builds a visual story that contrasts hope and hardship amid the physical and personal wreckage wrought when a section of Manhattan’s West Side was cleared to build Lincoln Center. He’s dressed Lin-Manuel Miranda, Oprah Winfrey and even Jesus Christ in a way, but Paul Tazewell took on his largest ever project when he signed on as costume designer for director Steven Spielberg’s massive movie remake of “West Side Story.”įor nearly 30 years, Tazewell has accumulated dozens of costume design credits and awards for theater, film and television, including a Tony for “Hamilton” and an Emmy for “The Wiz Live,” along with nominations for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” He’s not just a wiz at colorful musicals Tazewell also costumed Winfrey for HBO’s drama “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”

Gigi movie costumes