“Each production makes you look at a specific part of a world through a magnifying glass” | An interview with costume designer Suzie Harman
Costume design is arguably at its most apparent in a period drama, where whimsical patterns, plush fabrics and staggering details come to the fore.
With this in mind, we were delighted to speak with costume designer Suzie Harman about her recent work on the Film4-backed adaptation of The Personal History of David Copperfield.
Starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw, Rosalind Eleazar and Anthony Welsh, Armando Iannucci’s dazzlingly madcap take on a Dickensian classic is at once colourful and chaotic.
We spoke with Suzie, whose credits include Film4-backed productions Frank, Hyena, 45 Years, as well as Iannucci’s previous film The Death of Stalin about bold colour choices, her love of research and why they avoided ‘drab lace’.
Can you describe your path to costume design?
I was taught to sew at an early age by my Mum, and would always be hunting through charity shops for interesting clothes, curtains and fabrics to make myself clothes using Mum’s collection of 1970s Butternick patterns. My brother used to say ‘pin the curtains down in the house otherwise she’ll turn them into a dress!’
I earned a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration as I loved using printing and photography to create a balanced image. I interned for a bit in a Soho graphic design consultancy but realised straight away that the industry was becoming more computerised and I needed something ‘hands-on’ as a career.
I then worked for couture designer Sassi Holdford who taught me everything about pattern cutting, fit and fabrics. I always knew I needed to design but didn’t want to do fashion so as I’ve always loved movies, books and photography I decided one day I was going to be a costume designer…
20 years later after working my up doing no budget freebie movies, low budget, and now bigger budgets I think I might be getting there…
The film is a contemporary take on a literary classic. How did those two aspects come together in the costume design?
My co-designer Robert Worley and myself decided very early on not to do the usual academic approach to Dickens but to start by looking at the illustrations by Phiz and Cruickshank, which give a rich sense of the characters Dickens’ created.
We researched daguerreotypes of the 1840’s and specifically loved the American ones, as the way they would dress in the photographs would be a lot more eccentric and bolder than the British ones which suited our characters perfectly. With this we were able to give the clothes a richer look and a heightened sense of reality which matched the feel of the film and the visuals.
It’s a rags to riches (and back again) story and one of the key indicators of status is costume; how did you reflect the nuances of class between characters?
For the lower classes we made the costumes more dirty and practical, less colourful — Little Emily and her fellow herring gutters we covered in salt; Peggotty, Mr. Peggotty and Ham wore costumes to suit their work — Ham and Mr. Peggotty we made Gansey jumpers which fisherman in the 1840s wore. The costumes were practical and not chosen to be fashionable.
We made Steerforth and Mrs. Steerforth look as fashionable as possible — sharp tailoring, brighter colours, more accessories, and fantastic hats. We gave Steerforth rich-looking waistcoats and made them a feature to mark a difference between his and David’s status. David in turn starts wearing sharper waistcoats to try to keep up with his peers.
A lot of the characters, as you say, go from rags to riches and vice versa, but we decided not to change their looks but to keep the character the same so you feel for them when their change of circumstance happens. We made the Micawbers look dirtier when they are out on the streets, but still kept them in their main looks — we made two of each costume so we could make one set look more worn and dirty.
The film has a lot of physicality — running, fighting, kite-flying, donkey-shooing and I’m wondering how you catered the costumes to that, if at all?
No we didn’t really keep it in mind! Part of fun of the character comes from them doing the activities in period costume. We still had to corset the actresses but we would let the cast member wear the costume as they wanted to for each scene, so they could feel confident doing what they had to do. Luckily shoes for men and women were not too high in this period, and the ones we had made we allowed a bit more width for comfort.
The most challenging scene was on the pebble beach, which as we all know is a nightmare to walk on even in the best shoes, so for the actresses wearing corsets, layers of petticoats and bonnets in a storm was tricky. The actors definitely had it easier!
The colour palette is really vibrant; can you talk us through your selection / design process? I’m particularly enamoured with the burnt orange dress that Tilda Swinton wears.
It was important for Armando that the world of Copperfield should be colourful and fresh — ‘no drab lace’, so we knew we could be bolder with our choice of colours from the start.
We worked with the production designer and set dresser to build an individual palette for each character and those around them, but overall would work together as whole visual narrative. Armando would always like the stronger of the colour choices we gave him so we never felt we had gone too bold.
The Micawbers were in fuchsia pinks and emerald greens with lots of clashing patterns to show a witty, chaotic but fun family; for Betsey and Mr. Dick a soft and warm palette — as it needs to feel like a relief to David when he arrives at Betsey’s. We wanted a bolder colour for Betsey that showed her strength of character but that was also incredibly warm — she is Mr. Dick’s carer after all but has always been portrayed as a hard spinster in the past. The orange colour reminded me of ginger biscuits! Mr. Dick is in softer tones that compliment Betsey’s tones.
This is your second collaboration with Armando Iannucci after The Death of Stalin, what was it like working with him?
Armando knows what he wants but doesn’t he restrict or limit you in the design process. It’s creatively liberating. But because it’s Armando you also have to really do your research because he’s already done his! For The Death of Stalin my husband kept saying I was doing a PhD because of the amount of research I did!
We’ve just finished our third collaboration together Avenue 5 for HBO which is set on a space cruise ship, so we’ve gone from the Soviet Union to the 1840s to futuristic space travel — it’s never dull and he keeps you creative.
He’s also a really nice man.
You’ve worked on a variety of different projects, including contemporary films like Hyena and 45 Years; is there something particular satisfying in dressing a period drama, or do you enjoy all eras equally?
I love all periods — past, present and future — it’s about creating the visual world and the characters within it. Each production you work on makes you look at a specific part of a world through a magnifying glass, and when you start to create/visualise that world and the characters within it, it doesn’t matter what era its still the same excitement and challenges.
One of the many satisfying things about period dramas is I know my parents will watch them!
What did you enjoy most about the costume design process?
The research, you never stop learning…
The Personal History of David Copperfield will be released in UK cinemas on 24 January.
