Finding ‘Happiness and Nostalgia’ Through the ‘Licorice Pizza’ Costumes
“Happiness and nostalgia are what we need right now,” says Mark Bridges, the costume designer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s awards-bait ’70s romp “Licorice Pizza.” The film, which stars Alana Haim as Alana Kane and Cooper Hoffman as Gary Valentine (with Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn in supporting roles) stands out in the costume field for its effortlessly cool ’70s clothes that don’t feel costume-y at all but rather like impeccable vintage finds. For the film, which has been released slowly throughout the winter and opens wide Feb. 11, Anderson tapped Mark Bridges, who has been the costume designer for each of PTA’s movies. Bridges, a four-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner, says it was especially delightful to work on something so nostalgic as “Licorice Pizza” during the current state of the world.
“It is a great antidote right now for all that’s going on and whatever stresses we’re feeling. And it’s so clever of Paul to have somehow seen that in the timing,” Bridges says over a Zoom call. “It isn’t something heavy like ‘There Will be Blood.’ We’re running down the streets with Gary and Alana, and they’re having a great time. And I think that’s part of its charm and its success, certainly.”
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Below, WWD chats with Bridges about the project.
WWD: Obviously you’ve worked with Paul a lot. What was the initial conversation you had with him about this film?
Mark Bridges: It’s funny, I was working on “News of the World” with Tom Hanks, and I met Gary Goetzman, who’s a producer for Tom. And then I find out from Paul that that’s who he’s loosely basing [the character of Gary Valentine] on. I thought, “That’s very strange.” I didn’t even know they were friends. I got the script, and then started seeing some family photos from Gary, and just figuring out how to illustrate some of these interesting characters. And we always have a back and forth at his studio where we’ll listen to music, he’ll call me and say, “Put on Turner Classic Movies right now. Because that’s what we need to see.” And for better or for worse, I am usually right at the ready to be able to do that. And then I find out kind of what movie we’re making.
WWD: Did you source a lot of vintage pieces? Did you have things custom made?
M.B.: I think it’s about half and half. We were doing it the summer of 2020, so of course, everyone was still sort of learning their way around COVID[-19]. Vendors weren’t available or makers weren’t available. It really became difficult. Luckily, here in Los Angeles, we have a lot of rental houses that have, thank goodness, saved all of these clothes from the different periods. So you’re able to go to the section of women’s 1970s and pull through. You go through, literally, thousands of garments to try to glean what would work in your picture. And a lot of times, things hadn’t really survived. It’s a great, cool shape, but it has a big fade mark down the sleeves. Or the jeans or pants are particularly difficult because they’ve been washed for 50 or 60 years. And so you have to copy and remake. And then you’re finding fabrics, which I love doing.
We also dealt with some vintage dealers. We say what we want, they would send us a large carton of things that we could go through, and then send back what we didn’t need to keep. You try to get things from everywhere. I had an amazing cutter, Margarita Kalend. She made the bathing suits, the polka dot bathing suit that [Alana] walks around in. That haltertop piece, the two-piece, Margarita turned that from a vintage maxidress into that two-piece thing. She made the white skort at the beginning. I’m not going to find a white skort that’s going to fit this young girl. We have to make it. You’re not going to find the polka dot bikini because it’s sort of a gag. The polka dot bedspread at the teenage thing, you have to make this.
Melinda Sue Gordon
WWD: Is there a particular historical figure, celebrity, designer or someone who you modeled Alana’s style off of?
M.B.: Well, you look at a character and you try to think, “Seriously, where would they shop? Where do they have access to clothes?” And it always came back to the mall. I came back to Chess King and Lerner’s. And then of course, coming from a family with two sisters, you imagine that they might trade clothes or wear each other’s things. And then you go from there. But then you also think of their economic status. Sears catalogues, Montgomery Ward. They weren’t terribly wealthy, so it’s an average person’s accessibility to period clothes. And then of course, to me, they have to be interesting looking. I always talk about extraordinary ordinary clothes that I try to do. Going back to the old Hollywood philosophy of film costumes is, “if they can get it at their local store, it’s not extraordinary enough.” So I try to take people on a little bit of a ride or make something, also very specific to that moment in time.
WWD: That makes me think of the slogan T-shirt she wears.
M.B.: It is a cigarette slogan. Paul asked for a T-shirt that had some words on it. And he sent me one, it said something like, “I’ll try anything once.” So, we made one of those. We got the legal clearance with that. And then I also thought, “OK, what could be from that period?” And I remember that the cigarette ads, that slogan, it was a moment in time. I looked on eBay to see if they had any actual garments like that. And they did, but we couldn’t get legal clearance. So my wardrobe supervisor and I worked out the lettering, got that cleared, the silk screening, the size of the thing, and put it on a vintage T-shirt. And it was just to answer to Paul’s request for a T-shirt with words on it. And he liked it a lot because you couldn’t really read it. It didn’t take your eye away from Alana. And then who knew it would become such an iconic piece. I think it’s so fun when that happens and completely just because I was trying to answer Paul’s request.
WWD: Is that the piece that has gotten the most attention, from your perspective?
M.B.: Someone told me that there was a vendor on either eBay or Etsy, or I’m not sure where it was, that had a lot of that stuff. And after the film came out, he sold it all. So I would say, probably yes. I get a lot of comments about her brown minidress, too, with the long sleeves, that she wears so well. I mean, it’s that moment in time, too, for how long a skirt is.
WWD: What was it like working with Alana?
M.B.: Our very first fitting I had at her apartment for a camera test. And we hit it off right away. She’s a very accessible, funny person, very cool. And actually, some of the first things that we had in that first fitting actually ended up in the final product. But she was very open to things. She knew my history with Paul. And she adores Paul. There was a lot of trust, and I felt very protective of her because I knew it was her first film. I know Paul cherished her ability for this film so much. And I just wanted to do right by all of them. I definitely took a protective stance over her to make sure she was good. As well as with Cooper. I’ve known Cooper since he was very, very small. So, that was kind of fun, too.
Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc.
WWD: Speaking of Cooper, tell me a bit about the white suit he wears with the pink shirt underneath.
M.B.: We found that at a rental place, but it actually still had its tags on it. And the label inside was from some obscure shop in the Valley. So I knew it was gold. I knew it was just gold. The reason that that was there, if I recall correctly, I think Paul wanted it to feel like Gary’s “Casino” moment where he was opening his pinball place and wanted to have that imagery of Robert De Niro in “Casino.” That’s another piece that gets a lot of comments, too, because he wears it so well. And it’s such an interesting piece, too. The fabric, the stitching, the shape of things, it’s right from that moment.”
Melinda Sue Gordon
WWD: Did Alana’s background as a musician factor into how she wore the clothes or presented the clothes on camera?
M.B.: I think in respect to how she loved the ’70s, I think she expressed to me that she and her sisters love the ’70s. And it became obvious at our first fitting that it was really her era. Just the way she looked, her figure was really that moment in time. So if anything, it may have helped her that she loved the period and felt comfortable in those fabrics and those shapes. And was familiar with them from her musical days.
WWD: The entire look of the clothes feels like things people could wear right now in New York or L.A., which connects to what you said about “extraordinary ordinary.” How do you consciously achieve that?
M.B.: Thank you. That’s what we always try to do with Paul: We try to tell a story with the clothes, but never really get caught at it, so to speak. You don’t want to take people out of the moment by being distracted by those clothes. You want them to walk out, humming the story, not the clothes. But then maybe think back later on and think, “OK, that was kind of cute.” Or, “It added to my experience.” Just to leave them laughing.
Photo Credit: Paul Thomas Anders
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