Colleen Atwood is no stranger to creating dazzling costumes for musicals, and counts spectacles like;
Her credits include “Nine” and “Chicago.”
Now she can add Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” to that list. In Condon’s adaptation of the Broadway musical, Atwood created the wardrobe for the dual characters of Ingrid Luna and Aurora/Spider-Woman, played by Jennifer Lopez. Its wardrobe ranges from an elite working woman’s wardrobe (Aurora is a top fashion gloss brand) to movie star looks, harking back to the golden age of MGM musicals.
Atwood was familiar with Manuel Puig’s 1976 book and later saw Hector Babenco’s 1985 film adaptation and Broadway musical.
Atwood’s design references previous iterations. In one sequence, Lopez wears a cream-colored suit and a hat. “That costume was really an homage to Chita in the musical, because she was wearing a white suit,” she said, referring to Chita Rivera, who won a Tony Award for playing the role on Broadway and in the West End and died just as Condon began filming. “I started with a white suit like[Marlene]Dietrich, then it became white shorts, then just a jacket,” Atwood says. The costume designer notes that the look evolved because once choreography was “incorporated into the equation,” it became easier for Lopez to dance in just a chic jacket. Atwood added, “It was easy to focus on the look of the legs and jacket. It was classic Broadway.”
A navy blue suit consists of a skirt and a jacket and is reminiscent of a working girl. Atwood added chiffon to the hem for movement. “It runs up the back, but when she starts moving in it, you can see it swirling around her.” The jacket was loosely inspired by a photograph of star Rosalind Russell.
In the beginning, Ingrid is wearing a golden dress. Atwood points out that the beads are all sewn by hand and made of glass. “It shines like glass,” she says. “It’s like her armor.”
Regarding the look for the Aurora/Spider-Woman finale, Atwood said that for years he had fabric swatches for the character to play with. “You could pull it, it was like a spider web, but it wasn’t very stiff, so I was just waiting for an opportunity to use it.” When Atwood got the job on “Kiss of the Spider-Woman,” she knew she had to make a costume out of it. She ordered the fabric, but added touches to make the black pop off the screen. “I didn’t want it to be black and invisible, so I built a silver base in the back to reflect the light in the room, but still allow light to come through it rather than just a black shade,” says Atwood.
