Voice Of Costume - Creating Character through Costume Design Catherine Baumgardner - Costume Designer and Educator

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. An behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Loulou Bontemps and Catherine Baumgardner.
Please Welcome Loulou - Costume Designer for The Covenant, Operation Fortune, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill and Carry Elwes), and Netflix series The Gentlemen (created by Guy Ritchie)
Topics Include:
Mom running an antique shop and making her clothes
Dad encouraging her to sketch daily
Entry into costume design
First few jobs as a designer
First working with Guy Ritchie
Hard to transition from assistant to lead designer
PROCESS: creating with Guy Ritchie
The Gentlemen Netflix Series
Creating the silhouettes
The costumes reflecting the characters
American version of show idea!
The British ditto suit
PROCESS: The most expensive outfit - the “chicken suit” story
Elevating a scene into an iconic moment
An emotional moment enhanced w/costume
PROCESS: Creating the character in the first fitting
“How do you want to feel in it?”
The emotion of a look
PROCESS: How to read the script and research
Learning Sustainability
When your costumes impact brands
*Father’s words of wisdom*
Being Brave
Favorite Films to Rewatch
Favorite Places to Visit
Design Hacks
*Restyle your own closet
Accept your body shape

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. An behind-the-scenes podcast to showcase the voices of Costume Designers around the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Ann Foley and Catherine Baumgardner.
Please Welcome Ann - Costume Designer of The Spiderwick Chronicles, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Godzilla vs Kong, The Last of Us, Skyscraper, and Altered Carbon and the first four seasons of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
Topics Include:
Moving around as a child
First time on set in Georgia
Inspired by Julie Weiss
Moving to LA with $500
Personality as a child
Motivated by being scared
Altered Carbon
World Building
 
Talking Spiderwick (min 9)
Getting attached
The design team chemistry
Inspiration for design work
Working with the book authors
The color Red
Easter egg design finds in
Thimbletack Costume Design
Agents of Shield fanbase reaction to Costumes
Learning how to pivot
Just keep moving
Inspired by Michael Wilkinson for a solution
Spiderwick creature design
The pedal dress origins
Proud moment(s)
A real Thimbletack for fittings
Favorite Movies
Favorite places to visit
Pirates House
Chasing your dreams
 
 

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. Please comment and leave a 5-star review to help get the voices of these Costume Designers into the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Michael Wilkinson and Catherine Baumgardner.
Please Welcome Michael - Costume Designer of Garden State, American Hustle, and Babel, Man of Steel, 300, Tron Legacy, Watchmen, Terminator Salvation, Twilight’s Breaking Dawn, Andor and sci-fi series 3 Body Problem
Topics Include:
Growing up in Sydney
A Dresser at the Opera
Going to a theatre school NIDA
A designer that has powerful impact on him
Constant communication of ideas
The actor - costume designer collaboration
A good challenge with lighting clothes on Tron
3 Body Problem - starting at zero
Mindset needed
3 Body Problem (min 16)
Diving In with “Science Realism”
Where do you begin?
The Magnitude of multiple worlds
The end product reaction
Panama Canal buzz
Creating a completely unique character
Going from small scale designer to large scale designer
Zack Snyder giving Michael that opportunity
300 experience
Working on American Hustle
David ORussell’s process
“Humanity”
How to choose projects
Being an influence 
Favorite pair of shoes
Favorite movie to rewatch
Favorite place to visit

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. Please comment and leave a 5-star review to help get the voices of these Costume Designers into the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Allyson Fanger and Catherine Baumgardner.
Welcome Allyson - This fabulous costume designer is well known for her design work on Shrinking starring Harrison Ford, the Netflix series: Grace and Frankie starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, and Apples Never Fall
TOPICS INCLUDE: 
STARTING OUT:
Growing up in Minnesota
Aunt Molly and her bag of jewelry
Mom and her Vogue Magazines
Dad outfit
Travel influences
Undirected and exploring
Anthropology Degree influence
The beauty of India
Not knowing what to do with her life
The moment she knew what she should do with her life
Her first film
Her first mentor in costume design
Moving to LA
Learning all the positions
 
COMING BACK (min 13):
Taking a 7 year break to be a mom
Being very directed and purposeful
 Doing a favor that propelled her back
Being a mom as a priority while working
 
GRACE & FRANKIE (min 19)
Grace inspired by her mom
Grace color palette and visual arc
Frankie as the converse to Grace
Frankie as colorful and chaotic
“What would Sharon Davis do?”
Taking more than one fitting to find it
Finding it with Lily Tomlin
 
SHRINKING (min 33)
Contrast colors for character mood
 
APPLES NEVER FALL (min 35)
Contrast color to create a focal point
Love designing families
Using Brands to define characters
Shop where the characters shop
Characters “closet shopping”
SPOILER - character arc reveal
Many brands of tennis capsule looks
Pickleball vs Tennis looks
‘Shapes of tennis looks’
Breakdown of the Final Scene Looks
Pajamas as a Final Look
Relating to being a mom
Fitting room with Sam Neill
 
PROCESS (min 56)
Finding real people
Staying goal oriented
Working in LA
Happiness as a costume designer
 
RAPID FIRE (min 68)

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. Please comment and leave a 5-star review to help get the voices of these Costume Designers into the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Fernaz Khaki-Sadigh and Catherine Baumgardner.
Welcome Fernaz - Costume Designer for television series including Upload, Marvel’s Helstrom, The 100 and No Tomorrow, Van Helsing, and Avatar: The Last Airbender
Topics Include:
Growing up in TV in Iran
MBA degree mixed with the BFA Design degree
Marketing yourself as a designer
Avatar: Last Airbender TV Show
Getting the dream job
Interview process
Getting the “phone call”
Actual design changes
Example costume in a character arc
Mixing time period, culture, and fantasy
Preproduction testing
90 person costume crew
Overcoming self-doubt
Importance of Stepping away
Inspired by female samurai warriors
Advice for beginning designers
Personal wardrobe story
Bucket list jobs
Favorite movie to rewatch
and more!

The “Voice of Costume” is the first podcast created between working costume designers sharing stories, inspiration, struggles, and insights into the creative career of costume design. Please comment and leave a 5-star review to help get the voices of these Costume Designers into the world.
Listen in on this inspirational, one-on-one conversation between Heather Pain and Catherine Baumgardner.
Welcome Heather Pain -  Costume Designer for film, television, theater and commercials. She has designed for tv shows such as: TED, Ghosts, Single Parents, and Melissa and Joey.
Topics Include:
What is success
Growing up
Exploring design at a competitive college 
Fashion Design vs Fashion Merchandising
Her mentors
Training Program
Advice for aspiring designers
Difficulty of period design
Difficulty of contemporary design
Designing TED
Finding the ‘missing piece’
Problem solving having Covid
Challenges of Ghosts
Reaching out to Jac West
Going towards your fears
Learning from failure
Stages of Enjoying the Design
Remembering 1990’s fashion
“Jean jacket queen”
Rapid fire questions!