MCTV Exclusive – Inside the Fitting Room with Greg Lavoi – “Off the Wagon”

By M. Shape



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Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi with actor Brian Boarello as he fits the Gold Storm coat for the first time. Photo Credit: Mike Zara

As part of our weekly series “Inside the Fitting Room” we spoke to Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi to get an inside look at the fashion and costumes behind this week’s episode, “Off the Wagon.”

MajorCrimesTV: This episode was so fun and different, with the faux-trailer for the Gold Storm TV show, and the show-within-a-show you created. Tell us about how you designed “Gold Storm.”

Greg LaVoi: Mike Zara wrote this episode, and Stacey K. Black directed. And it seems like every time Stacey directs, it turns out to be an episode where I get to do a fun costume design. This one, when I read it, I was so excited, because we got to do a superhero!

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LaVoi’s concept sketch for Gold Storm, and the final product

Once I had an idea in mind, and did a few sketches of what I wanted to do, then it was a matter of deciding if we were going to go with pieces that already existed and turn them into one outfit, or make our own, especially with the gold leather coat. So we sourced swatches of fabrics, and compared them to what was available for actual gold leather raincoats. Ultimately we decided to make it ourselves because it would both be easier to construct, and much more fun. So once we had the fabric swatch of what we wanted to do, and the sketch, I took that to the show-and-tell with the creative team for the episode, and they loved it, so it was created from there. And once the actor was cast he had some ideas about wanting it to flow and be more like a cape, so then it became a little bit more designed by committee. But the actual end result was just so cool, and to see it shot in the rain at the Paramount Studios backlot was just amazing. I loved it.

MCTV: And the mask?

GLV: That was bought on-line. My shopper on this episode googled “masks” and found it. It’s custom-made for us by a mask-maker, but we had no idea what it was going to be like. We had instructions from James about what it should and shouldn’t cover on his face, so to find all those things in one was hard, Terry on my team found it and delivered it and it was amazing. It had an ominous but also powerful look to it.

The rest of the outfit came together great as well. We found the lightning bolt buckle on line, and the sneakers were shiny gold leather with white soles and studs on them. All the pieces just came together so well on the end product. I love it.

MCTV: The trailer they released for the Gold Storm opening was great, and such a departure for the show. What went into creating the look for the rest of the characters in that?

GLV: To dress those folks in the trailer in the very retro Clark Kent-Lois Lane type stuff was amazing because they enhanced the colors for those shots. Stacey wanted us to play up some of the red and pop some of those colors because then when the girl was shot with the little white sundress on, the red would pop out of there. The other patron had a polka-dot sweater which was a J. Crew, that we shortened and totally re-made. So I think the sweater was white with navy blue dots and her purse was navy with white dots. The purse was my mom’s, a vintage Kate Spade that I put into stock.

508- sykes compositeMCTV: Another character who had a bit of a departure in their regular clothing this episode was Sykes. How did her undercover look come together?

GLV: Well, it was written as she was going undercover as an actress, so in the show and tell, we showed them a black leather jacket. And Stacey thought that since we had showcased red in the beginning of the episode, it would be great to put Sykes in red as well. Kearran originally wasn’t so happy about the red as it isn’t her favorite color, but once I let her know that the director had requested it, she was more willing. So we found this great IRO red leather biker jacket with silver-studded trim, then I put her in a tight little Bebe skirt and a Chanel bag and Christian Louboutin heels, so she looked the part of a Beverly Hills actress that’s coming in for what the doctor can give her (laughs).

MCTV: I love seeing these glimpse of Sykes all dolled up, and letting Kearran shine. This season has been great for that. Now, lets talk about Sharon’s outfit. To me, it seemed like her look was a bit different than what we usually see from her.

508- raydor2 lrGLV: Yes. For her first home look, we had a beautiful emerald green Stella McCartney sweater in the opening, which was so beautiful with her coloring. It’s the first time we’ve used this sweater, but I just love it.

Then for her second look, she wore a tan chiffon, light gray and pink striped Theory blouse, and the jacket was a Rag & Bone denim blue that we’ve seen before, with the Alexander McQueen pants we’ve seen a few times this season. I wanted her to be a little more colorful, a little more “up” in this comedy episode, and I think it did the trick.

MCTV: It was interesting, because the only shots of her that came out ahead of the episode were the ones at home with Rusty without the jacket, and from those, it was surprising because it looks so different without the jacket.

508 - raydor compositeGLV: Exactly. On its own it’s kind of causal but then you dress it up with a jacket and it’s great in the workplace. It’s fun to put Mary in blouses because we get to see them both ways often, with and without the jackets.

MCTV: And it seems like this time, instead of a color matching, she had a bit of stripe-matching going on with Andy Flynn?

GLV: Yes, indeed. The Shandy match!

MCTV: Then towards the end we had another totally different look for her.

GLV: Yes, back to the classic Raydor look. A navy The Row, three-quarter sleeved single button sport coat, and then just an Armani lavender scoop t-shirt and her Armani pants.

MCTV: We got our first look at Sharon Beck being noticeably pregnant in this episode. How was that accomplished?

GLV: They made a prosthetic belly for that, to do the ultrasound. That wasn’t us, but then we had to worry about what clothes to put over it. But that was an actual prosthetic belly that was made for her pregnancy.

508 - fenn compositeMCTV: This episode had some wonderful guest stars, and very memorable characters sprinkled throughout. How did you design those different looks?

GLV: For Sherilyn Fenn, that was an amazing outfit on her. She was in a sleeveless blouse, red and black polka dot blouse, and then a Theory black skirt with black jacket that she just adored. It was so fun to work with somebody iconic like Sherilyn Fenn.

And Missi Pile, that was a fantastic 508 - pyle compositelook too, and getting to design that whole pool party scene was a blast. The bathing suit was an Emilio Pucci bathing suit, and the shoes were Rene Caovilla that were amazing, and so fun to have that kind of look poolside. For her other scene, she was dressed in a Marie France Van Damme tank, silver lame, J brand jeans, and a Kooples jacket. I’m really loving Kooples this year for a lot of the different characters.

508 - courtney compositeAnd Stephanie Courtney, who we all know as Flo from the Progressive commercials. She was a hoot to meet, and so iconic. I had her in a Bebe blouse and a Bebe skirt and a Calvin Klein jacket, and I love her because she’s curvy and she’s fun, and she was playing a great character.

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LaVoi’s initial sketch for the design of the pool scene in the episode.

This really was just a fun episode to design, and the guest cast was wonderful. So many big personalities, and they all got along great, and were lovely to work with.

 

 

 


We’ll be back next week with more from the costume department, and a discussion of the fashion from the next new episode of Major Crimes. For more information about Greg LaVoi’s career, check out our in-depth 2013 interview here, and follow him on twitter @GregLaVoi.

Special thanks to TNT, Warner Bros, Greg LaVoi and the Major Crimes costume department for making this segment possible.

MCTV Exclusive – Inside the Fitting Room with Greg LaVoi – “Moral Hazard”

By M. Sharpe


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Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi

As part of our new weekly series “Inside the Fitting Room” we spoke to Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi to get an inside look at the fashion and costumes behind last week’s episode, “Moral Hazard.”

MajorCrimesTV: The last few episodes have each taken place over several different days, and thus each character has had several different costume changes. In contrast, this episode took place all over one day, and as such, everyone (with the exception of the Jere Burns character) had just one costume all episode. It very much helped make it clear that the episode was in the same day, and it really contributed to the intensity of that.

Greg LaVoi: Exactly. In something like this, it’s such a real episode, very reality based, so you have to believe that that it’s real, and that the clothes are part of the story, but not in an obvious way. I love going to a film or watching a TV show where you don’t even notice the clothes because then I think that truly is a successful designer, having success with the clothes, and making them very real to the story.

MCTV: Sharon Raydor and the rest of the team just had the one costume throughout the episode. What was she wearing for this?

GLV: Sharon wore a pin-striped charcoal-grey Armani that we got last spring at Saks. It’s just beautiful, it’s grey flannel, and who doesn’t look good in grey flannel?

The dress is a wool crepe shift dress, and it’s actually “turtle green”, not black, and it’s by Akris Punto. In the store it looked black, and then when we got it to the office it’s actually this beautiful turtle green…it’s just wonderful.507- armani

MCTV: Patrice’s sundresses were such a breath of fresh air in this episode – bright and summery. How did you decide on them? Continue reading

MCTV Exclusive: Inside the Fitting Room with Greg LaVoi – “Cashed Out”

By M. Sharpe


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Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi in the “Edith Head Memorial Fitting Room” at Raleigh Studios

As part of our new weekly series “Inside the Fitting Room” we spoke to Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi to get an inside look at the fashion and costumes behind this weeks episode, “Cashed Out.”

MajorCrimesTV: This episode spent a lot of time jumping back and forth in time. Did that affect how you designed the costumes for the episode?

Greg LaVoi: It was so much fun doing this episode, because of how it was structured. I loved going into and out of the real story and then cutting between those with Cynthia’s interviews with the team. There were no titles on the screen that showed the changing of time like there often are in movies, so the only way we could tell what was happening on which day was with our character’s clothing. The day we filmed with Cynthia (actress Sonya Leslie) was such an important day, and it was fun to be able to film it like that in one day. I wanted the costume changes to be important, and also got to play with some of the looks a little bit since the team wasn’t solving any crime that day, they were just giving interviews.

505- cynthiaIt was most important that Cynthia’s clothing stayed the same and was recognizable to help with the time shifts, so I put her in an ALC print blouse from Neiman Marcus, and a great Tahari flannel suit from Saks.

MCTV: I feel like this episode we saw a glimpse of Sykes more put together than we’ve ever seen her before, with the beautiful tailored suit.

GLV: I’ve had that Theory dress and jacket in Sykes’ closet for four years, and never had an opportunity to have her wear it because she’s always in the field solving crimes. And to me Sykes just wouldn’t wear a dress or skirt when she’s crime solving. So with a leap of faith I added it into the interview day, and I loved it. And that scene with Sykes and Cynthia was amazing. I thought both of them knocked it out of the park, and it was so wonderful to watch Sykes be so powerful in a dress and go toe to toe with Cynthia in pants.

505 - cynthia sykesOne thing that’s so interesting about that scene between Sykes and Cynthia was how their suits wound up looking on the HD camera, and what that can do to colors. The Tahari suit with Cynthia, and the Theory suit on Sykes were almost the same color to the naked eye. When I went onto set and saw how that looked together, I became concerned because I thought they were both going to look like they’re in the same shade of grey. But amazingly enough, with lighting and the HD camera we film with, Sykes’ suit had a lot of blue in the grey, and Cynthia’s was warmer. So Sykes’ suit came off as blue-grey, and Cynthia’s stayed that kind of warm grey. So I was very pleased it came out looking like two very different greys.

MCTV: In that same scene we also saw Amy in heels, which I feel like was also a new thing for her?

GLV:  Sykes had on Manalo pumps. Usually we see her in the stack heeled boots with her pants, which are perfectly correct and true to life for a real cop to wear. I loved being able to put her into a high heel for this episode – not super high, but a simple high heeled Manolo shoe.

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This Armani jacket features a Bakelite clasp (inset) that is so delicate, the costume department has to remove it anytime it comes off set, goes into storage or gets cleaned.

MCTV: This week we saw one of my personal favorite Raydor jackets, which we’ve seen before in the show, I believe?  Continue reading

MCTV Exclusive: Inside the Fitting Room with Greg LaVoi – “Skin Deep”

By M. Sharpe


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Major Crimes costume designer Greg LaVoi in his fitting room at Raleigh Studios, with his assistant, Vida.

Armani. St. John. Michael Kors. The labels behind the costumes on Major Crimes are as iconic as some of the looks themselves have proven to be. The man behind these iconic looks is costume designer Greg LaVoi, who, before designing for Major Crimes and The Closer, also put together ensembles for legends like Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton and worked for Bob Mackie.  LaVoi invited us into the storied halls of the Major Crimes costume department to take a look behind the scenes, and we are thrilled to announce a new weekly series “Inside the Fitting Room With Greg LaVoi” where we will take a closer look at the labels, looks and behind-the-scenes workings that bring Major Crimes to such vibrant visual life in each week’s episode.

MajorCrimesTV: The last time we spoke to you was in season two, when Major Crimes was just finding its footing. Now that we’re firmly in season five, we’ve seen a lot of evolution of many of the characters. Have their looks and your costume choices evolved?

Greg LaVoi: Really, you know, there has been no evolution per se from The Closer to the fifth season of Major Crimes. Only in the sense that these characters have lived in these clothes for twelve years now. Not the same clothes, but they’ve lived in these characters for twelve years. So short of, this season, with Provenza’s new wife, Patrice, kind of buying his clothes now (per the writers) he’s upped the game a little bit with better sports coats, better ties, and better pocket squares. I haven’t repeated any of his old ties this season at all. It’s all been new. So that’s fun and GW’s enjoyed that because it’s now his “wife” picking his clothes instead of him.

But as far as Flynn, and Sanchez and Sykes and all that, they’re everyday. The characters are not making tons of money, and they’re busy solving crimes, so they can’t go out and buy clothes every other day. We do repeat clothes, as I think the fans enjoy, but other than repeating a look in a different way every so often, I design it like a real person’s wardrobe. So maybe Sykes goes out and buys new Theory jackets and pants when the sales are, or maybe Raydor, when she has the day off, does go to Neiman Marcus and picks an Armani. I design it like a real person would shop and buy their own clothes.

MCTV: You talked about repeating some pieces of costume – how do you choose which ones to recycle and what goes into that decision of what becomes part of that rotation for that character?

GLV: Usually, on the rotation factor, it is what an actor likes. I do take them into account when I’m repeating clothes. Sometimes I might use a jacket for Sharon, and we’ve liked how it looks but it turns out to be uncomfortable to wear. Or on Sykes this year she’s gotten new Theory stretch pants, which look exactly like suit pants, but they’re easier to move in.

costume tease

The Major Crimes “gold” room features all the regular wardrobe of the main cast, which is often repeated in rotation throughout the season and over several seasons. Other rooms house an array of costume options for guest actors, and storage for pieces that are on hold from use in prior episodes.

Some things, like the purple jackets on Mary, which have become iconic, I’ve retired both of them now, just because they’re getting worn, and their time is gone. So now I’m looking for new iconic pieces for her, which is a challenge. We have an area in the costume closet called “Show Holds”, so I always look at that to see what episode I’ve put maybe the one purple jacket in, then I may not repeat it again until, you know, four episodes ahead, or whatever. It really is a game of numbers. Looking to see which ties I’ve used, and oftentimes I don’t repeat a tie each season, but I also don’t buy a lot of new ties for the guys because they’ve got huge stacks of ties from twelve years. Continue reading