Coffee and Kill Bill
It all started with getting a coffee. I was in the West Village in a Starbucks, chatting with a clerk I knew about the actor Samuel Jackson. A fellow in the line interrupted me and said he had discovered him. I followed with, “You don’t look like Spike Lee.” This was followed by silence and some incredulous blinking. I said what I said, folks.
This fellow was Quentin Tarantino. Immediately we became friends and spent a few weeks looking at martial arts movies and discussing various comic books. It was a surreal whirlwind nerd fest.
At the time, he was finishing “Kill Bill” and a draft of “Inglorious Bastards.” Quentin acts out his dialogue after he writes it on a yellow pad. At one point, he was wearing a vintage black leather Nazi-style trench coat, walking across his living room. I particularly remember him reading the Superman monologue from “Kill Bill.” (This monologue has come up in my work frequently as a stylist, which I will discuss in another article.)
After that, I didn’t see or contact him again, but I received a call a year later asking me to contribute to the film. I had to say yes to that!
“Kill Bill” 1 and 2 are interesting films to reflect upon in 2022, as a lyrical metaphysical journey of the killing of the personae to find one’s inner child. It’s still a man’s vision of a woman’s hero story. As a member of the “weaker” sex, female violence, in my opinion, and experience, “hits” differently. It is more deeply nuanced and personal. These “characters” in media can be one-dimensional. I am not saying that about this movie. But I will say reviewing this film and many like it has me rethinking the genre.
The film “She-Devil” by Susan Seidelman presents an interesting counternarrative to “Kill Bill.” The hero is not pretty, and there are no “special costumes.” In some way, it is human: they suffer and reconcile. Something dies, just not people. That counternarrative gives me balance and allows me to create with thoughtfulness and humanity as I progress as a designer.
Concept designing can be like a relay race. You hand off the baton to others better suited to take the idea to the finish line. Catherine Marie Thomas and the often-overlooked designer Kumiko Ogawa with wardrobe supervisor Helen Monahan ultimately executed the “Kill Bill” costumes.
There are comic book references strewn throughout these renderings.
They are:
1. Sade, written by Kevin Hill and Artist Scott Prentzer
2. Kabuki, by David Mack
All characters are seeking violent revenge with superior battle skills. In their stories, they are conflicted by their humanity and what they feel they need to do to reclaim it.
I understood The Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo’s costumes in “Kill Bill,” based partly on my own living while female and navigating the world of men. Hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Urban warfare 101 — a great pair of jeans and a leather jacket. Clothing that you could move quickly and make your appearance known if necessary.
Writer Kevin Hill and Artist Scott Penzter
The Bride is wearing APC jeans in my illustration. In real life, the jeans feature a button with a guitar and a samurai sword. I have never figured out what is behind that, but it worked with the creative.
The TCB belt was an Elvis reference ( Taking Care of Business ), and the Harley-Davidson T-shirt would have been hard to get clearance for. In hindsight, too obvious. If asked to do it again, I wouldn’t take this route.
I did want The Bride to dye her hair black, like Elvis. In western culture, Blondes are precious, and the color is often not natural and hard to maintain. Essentially, The Bride character would go through a transformation, making her more feral, less pretty, and less recognizable.
This beauty queen has gone thru some shit, and the beauty parlor was not high on her priorities. Killing people doesn’t give you time for touchups. But again, it was Uma Thurman, and I knew it would be immediately “nixed.”
Sidebar: Quentin Tarantino’s acting gig as an Elvis impersonator on the television show The Golden Girls helped him do his first film, “Reservoir Dogs.” I didn’t know that then, but it’s a nice link.
The Pussy Wagon in this image is a yellow pickup truck I saw in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood in Capetown, South Africa. I always thought of the Pussy Wagon as that and the 1951 Ford pickup truck from “Sanford and Son.”
The Bruce Lee yellow suit is from the film “Game of Death.” I didn’t work on this piece, but Quentin was particular about it in the script. Mark Zunino designed it. It is a variation of the original; it did the job.
The sneaker is where my interest lies. The Asics Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, in black and yellow. This was a pivotal battle scene, and I wanted to stamp their faces with a message, a signature from The Bride. I envision it as giving the finger, a martial arts style.
I tore up an excellent comic book to include it in the concept presentation. I regret that, but the nerd in me got a new copy and a scanner. The main character in Kabuki comic books by David Mack inspired the Asics sneaker tread. If you look closely at the movie, you will see the sole says, “FUCK U.” In the comic book version, it says, “Screw You.”
Dealing with sneaker companies is hard and getting them to do custom treads is harder. I wasn’t getting the green light from Asics. I kept getting a polite no. The Man, the OG Tony Arcabascio, co-founder of Alife, made the connection. If you don’t know Tony, go to @tonyarcabascio because he is the OG’s of OG’s!!!
I went to their California office and convinced them this would be a good idea. It was a multi-million-dollar great idea. But I had to do the song and dance, believe it or not.
Sidebar: I wanted the Crazy 88 to dress like the Japanese motorcycle gang culture called Bosozoku, but it was nixed
Till the next post…
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