MEMOIRS of a GEISHA
Colleen Atwood has won an Oscar and a BAFTA for her work in costume design for Memoirs of a Geisha. The book and the story line for the movie was fictitious. However; Geisha's were a real part of Japanese culture. Atwood researched both Pre-War 1930's Geisha fashions as well as Japanese impressionist art. While in Japan she came across the work of artist Yumeji Takehisa which dated from the beginning of the Taisho Period and Keiko Period, she knew this was going to be her inspiration for the film.
Atwood's designs didn't follow traditional Geisha design, while kimonos don't normally accentuate the body, Atwood decided to show that the women had a figure underneath the kimono in order to appeal to a more modern audience. She said, “We wanted to see a shoulder, have the illusion of a waist and have a sense of breasts beneath the kimono.
As far as fabrics went she customized her own fabrics to make the kimonos rather than using more traditional silks and cottons for her designs. Also a traditional high end kimono takes about a year to make in which Colleen and her crew were getting a kimono done about every 2-3 weeks.
Every character had their own color pallet for their costumes. Mameha symbolized an accomplished and perfect Geisha had more soft and luxurious colored silks to represent her kind nature.
Hatsumomo had bright shocking colors to show her rebelliousness as well as her bad and jealous attitude.
Colleen's costumes to work on were Hatsumomo's chinchilla fur collared winter coat as well as Sayuri's dance performance kimono. Sayuri's dance number told the story of a women who got dumped by a man and rapidly goes insane. Traditional kimonos didn't have red on the underside of kimono sleeves, However; Atwood stuck by her decision and does not regret it.
Atwood's designs didn't follow traditional Geisha design, while kimonos don't normally accentuate the body, Atwood decided to show that the women had a figure underneath the kimono in order to appeal to a more modern audience. She said, “We wanted to see a shoulder, have the illusion of a waist and have a sense of breasts beneath the kimono.
As far as fabrics went she customized her own fabrics to make the kimonos rather than using more traditional silks and cottons for her designs. Also a traditional high end kimono takes about a year to make in which Colleen and her crew were getting a kimono done about every 2-3 weeks.
Every character had their own color pallet for their costumes. Mameha symbolized an accomplished and perfect Geisha had more soft and luxurious colored silks to represent her kind nature.
Sayuri's kimonos changed as she became a more successful and well known Geisha, transitioning from basic to cotton to elegant Silk kimonos.
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