It’s great fun that my grandkids get to see the costumes in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ or a doll with grandma’s dress, but then they also let me know they’re bummed I didn’t do any of...

I grew up in the age of polyester. When I got to touch real silk, cotton and velvet, the feel of nonsynthetic fabrics blew me away. I know it’s important how clothing looks, but it’s...

I get more distracted by hair or a really bad wig than I do costumes any day of the week.

For contemporary fashion, I’m a huge fan of so many of the people out there. I think Azzedine Alaia holds up through three generations of very specific, beautiful design. I think Jean Paul Gaultier also...

I like the architecture of lingerie.

Each simian had a much different body suit, so besides trying to define class across species, there was a definite attempt to dress each group in different styles.

The exposure I have had to beautiful materials across the world, from Japan to Italy, enables me to pull design ideas together. This, combined with years of historical research, has created a great fountain of...

I have watched ‘Project Runway,’ but I’m not a devout watcher of it. But I think it’s a great show, what I’ve seen of it, and I think Tim Gunn is a very positive, amazing...

I had to work out that it was something that could move, without having everybody in spray painted leotards.

I worked in fashion, but I worked more in the sales side of fashion than in design. I was an assistant buyer for a department store back in the ’70s and the early years of...

The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.

I always have a moment when I know I’m designing the last costume that gets made for a movie, and it’s always been floating up there, but it’s kind of the last one. That’s always...

Every story is different, so what is a detail in one might not be in something else. Diversity is something I embrace and love about my work.

I wanted to be a painter when I was a kid. And then, I had to make a living. I had a child when I was in high school, so I kind of had that...

I have always loved beautiful leather objects, especially the detail that goes into designing them both inside and out.

I think the silhouette of the kimono costume will become engraved in people’s minds. I do think there’ll be lots of red accents in the near future. For me personally, I can’t see myself flaunting...

Sleepy Hollow had a lot of action in it, even though it was a fairy-tale movie.

I design for the movie and the character as well as the person wearing the costume. I show the ideas to the actor, then do fittings for shape and technical things such as movement in...

I choose colors I like and will photograph well. I don’t do color theory!

I’d say probably the most expensive costumes I’ve ever made were the costumes in ‘The Planet of the Apes,’ because of the research and development that went into them and the amount of layers.

I really don’t over-theorize about design. I’d rather feel it than talk it to death. A lot happens as you unroll the design.

It is such a pretty type of clothing. I can imagine people liking it and it’s very wearable.

I am always looking for ideas, whether it is in art on the street or in my world travels. It comes to me randomly and unexpectedly.

I think that sometimes people don’t understand that a costume that has to be worn every day and doesn’t change the whole movie becomes iconic. It’s very important because it requires a different design process,...

I’ve always loved movies, art and clothes.

I’d seen the current stage production and the 1975 production of Chicago. I liked them both very much, but I didn’t use them necessarily as inspiration.

It actually is as fun to make men’s costumes, especially if they are as good-looking as Chris Hemsworth.

What we wanted to create for the film was a sensual feeling using the traditional Japanese kimono as our key starting point. We took the creation of the kimono and changed it to make it...

I love designing costumes that I can actually construct, working to create an environment that people want to be in.

My work space is so visually crammed. It’s like an insane candy store. The number of textiles I’m surrounded with is mind boggling. It’s a treat to come home to a nice negative space.

In Chicago, I walked in knowing what the dancers were going to need.

It’s fun conjuring what people will be wearing in the future. We exist in this world today, and yet there are people walking around who still look like they’re in the ’60s.

It’s true that I’m not cozy. I’m more reserved.

Chicago is partly a fairy tale because it’s inside one person’s head, so that part of it’s made up and the rest of it is reality.

I think a lot of young girls go through that period in their life of finding who they are, and at that point, looking good matters the most.

On Planet of the Apes, I had a very knowledgeable team who knew good materials, but I had one main source person who worked online and on the street continually looking for the proper materials.

In real life, a lot of people at that level will have their kimonos made especially for them.

Knowing who the actors were as you were designing them helped, with Catherine’s beauty and Renee’s frailty, they directed me visually just by who they were.

My own style is pretty classic; I much prefer to design for others.

I really like the original Apes costumes. The colors were great, and the use of heavy materials was something that influenced me for this film.

It’s often said that costume designers are a faceless group of people. But we can contribute to fashion in a way that might be new and different.

One thing about costume design – and I think design in general – but especially costume design, is people have a misconception that it’s very glamorous work.

Inspiration comes from everywhere: books, art, people on the street. It is an interior process for me.

One of the challenges with period costumes is, on a technical level, making the scale of different periods work on contemporary bodies. We’re much bigger than what people were in older times.

The costumes had to serve the choreography.

I’ve been lucky in the things I’ve got to work on. I’ve been able to keep it fresh, always getting to do different kinds of things.

Some of the kimonos took as long as four to five months to make, with all the layers that go into it.

Planet of the Apes was a gigantic challenge, making the clothes work so people could do stunts and action in the clothes. I really learned a lot about that in that movie.

The reward is that you can actually create a world separate from reality with a story, actors, music, and camera design. When it works it can entertain, move people and teach us all.

People like to stir up the fashion vs. costume world, and I think what they mean by ‘too costumey’ is that it’s too much, or not real enough for everyday wear. You couldn’t say that...