Interview with a Hollywood Costumer

The Right Hat The Winter Color Archetype: Striking ...

Interview with a Hollywood Costumer

Downton Abbey

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to shop for and dress television and film stars? Well today you’re going to find out.

My video guest is Hollywood costumer Terra Brody. Terra has worked as a designer’s assistant on a number of pilots, sitcoms and films including: Shameless, Animal Kingdom, American Horror Story, Charlie’s Angels, Kirstie, and the upcoming TV series Almost Famous with Bella Thorne. She is currently the shopping assistant for Ray Romano’s new series, Get Shorty, based on the feature film.

Reece Witherspoon pretty in pink for Legally Blonde

Terra understands very well that we are judged instantly by our “costume” that what we wear communicates a great deal about what kind of person we are. “When you see someone in soft warm colors, in knits that are very flowy and without shape you think, that’s someone who is very relaxed, no high anxiety or tension. If you see someone wearing all black with very sharp edges you immediately think, OK – this person is very powerful – not to be messed with.”

American Horror Story costume

Sometimes she has very little screen time to convey who, exactly, a character is. For last season’s finale of Shameless she had only ten seconds to demonstrate that a woman was extremely wealthy and the camera shot was only from the shoulders up. How did she do that? “With diamonds…big ones,” she says.

I was already living pretty vicariously through her stories about her work. And then I learned that travel is one of the perks of her job! “International airports are great places for studying people. I can see someone and think, Oh! that’s good for the next time we get a Turkish look. You can draw inspiration from everywhere.” Maybe the reason she got hired was that she speaks five languages fluently (English, French, Spanish, Italian and German) and can communicate in three more (Portuguese, Japanese and Hebrew.) “I learned Italian and French in college specifically so I could communicate with the French and Italian couture design houses,” she says.

And guess what!? She’s invited me to do a studio tour with her next time I’m in LA! Wheee! Stay tuned…(and btw – Shopping for the Real You is now 20% off on Amazon.)

Enjoy my interview with the delightful Terra Brody: https://youtu.be/5dle-sGu8NE

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