Netflix’s Ratched features some of the most breathtaking costumes of the entire season. It mixes glamour, glitz, history, and horror the only way Ryan Murphy knows how. Working with legendary, five-time Emmy Award winner, Lou Eyrich, costumer designer Rebecca Guzzi was eager to dive into a post-World War II era where fashion was re-emerging.
Guzzi and Eyrich first met with Murphy to get inspiration on where to start. He always has a clear vision and wants to pay homage to the period, but he also wanted to hint at one of Hitchcock’s most celebrated (and recently remade) films.
“It always starts with Ryan [Murphy] first. It’s always about what inspires him and sometimes he will talk about color. This is one of the most restrictive color palettes we’ve had. There were to be no purples and no reds except for blood when we are at the hospital. Ryan liked the idea of Hitchcock’s Rebecca with this coastal theme. Lou [Eyrich] and I break it down from there and start with research and put boards together.”
Audiences will notice how much the bluish-green palette comes through. It’s in the nurse’s uniforms and it’s the color of Mildred Ratched’s car. I joked with Guzzi that she must not hate the color green. “I didn’t use up my green energy on that,” the costumer says with a laugh .So much of Ratched is aesthetically pleasing from the clean lines of the production design to the fabrics Guzzi put on her actors. At any moment’s notice, however, an act of violence could send blood splashing across the scene.
“The composition could be harmonious or disharmonious depending on what was going on in the scene. Logistically, we needed to make sure we had enough bolts of fabric even when we didn’t know what was going to come through to the end of the season. Judy Becker had started a little bit before us and we saw her boards and researched Dorothy Draper and Ryan wanted a luxurious spa retreat for the hospital. The green-blue is something we picked for multiple reasons. It’s not too yellow and it can look too severe when you mix it with a yellow. It can make someone look sallow or sickly. This green had a blue undertone that played into that water theme. We used a lot of green elsewhere with emerald and lime greens.”
One of the season’s most stunning looks comes in the first episode when Sarah Paulson’s Mildred arrives at Lucia in search of the job she so desperately wants. She dons a new yellow dress that sticks out amongst the nurse’s uniforms and it’s one of the only yellow outfits we see all season. Everything from the shape to the cut is incredible, and it’s topped with a statement hat.
“That came from the idea of our show takes place in 1947 and it is a strange cusp year with Dior coming out with a new look and we are a few years out of World War II. There is some sense of coming back to luxury goods and the end of rationing and haute couture on the rise again. Ryan called that out in the first meeting and when we were mapping out Sarah Paulson’s looks for the first episode, we wanted her to stand out as a force. Like how Mildred deserves to be there and have good intentions. We thought it was a good place for a new look and it’s structured and tailored so well. It’s an armor for her to come in so self-assured.”
When you have a character like Lenore Osgood arrive on screen, you have a one of a kind persona to dress, and when she is embodied by Sharon Stone, you know you have to deliver. Stone is the kind of actress who knows how to wear clothes and she knows how to use those clothes as a building block to her character. Guzzi and Eyrich knew Murphy was going to introduce a singular character, so they did some research and then returned when they knew who was going to play her. They were able to dive into fabrics that no other character would be wearing, and they could add some serious Hollywood glamour.
“Ryan gave us the the hint that Sharon Stone was going to come in and play a wealthy heiress and she needed to look different than everyone else. She would be the only character who we would see the embellishments of the period. No one is uber-glamorized. Doctor Hanover is sharply dressed, but not like Lenore. She had sequins and we would do other shoes and handbags that we had been putting to the side until then. We looked at more film references for World War II since film was such an escape for people at the time. We would use lamé and reference someone like Hedy Lamarr and we allowed Sharon to play to see what she felt good in. We could, for instance, get a directive of her dripping with diamonds in one scene. Lenore never shows up in the same thing every time.”
The opposite of Lenore would have to be Cynthia Nixon’s Gwendolyn Briggs, a woman fascinated and enamored with Paulson’s Mildred. She is married to a gay man to cover up both of their sexualities, and when she goes to work she has to endure misogynistic comments and interludes from her boss. At times, Nixon is playing a woman who uses her clothes to hide herself and it’s only at the end that she wears her hair down and more colorful threads.
“A lot of her initial research was Katharine Hepburn and more free-spirited for her non-work looks. Where we got to play with her was with color. She is a high-powered woman, as the Press Secretary to the Governor, all of her work looks are muted. The only time we see vibrancy at the beginning is during the off hours and bring Mildred into her world.”
Costumes have to covet some of their own work, yes? Brandon Flynn’s Henry Osgood wears some bright colors that reflect his spoiled, boyish character that I would swipe for myself. With so much to choose from, Guzzi easily answered when I asked her what piece she would steal for her own closet.
“In my real life world, I am very much a pants person. I would either take Gwendolyn’s pleated, wide-legged pants or I would take this black jumpsuit that Sharon wears with a coral sleeve. It has a belted waist and shoulder pads.”
Ratched is streaming on Netflix.
