‘Elvis’: Austin Butler’s ‘Aha Moment’ With the Costume Designer ‘Changed Everything’
It’s no secret that Baz Luhrmann is the kind of maximalist director to go all out with costume design for his movies. And his latest feature Elvis, starring Austin Butler, is certainly no exception. The musical biopic features several reproductions of Elvis Presley‘s signature high-collared jumpsuits, pleated trousers, and show-stopping all-leather suit.
Although costume designers certainly had a lot of source material to pull inspiration from, it turns out that one small detail sparked an “aha moment” that ended up changing everything about Butler’s imitation of Elvis.
What is ‘Elvis’ about? Austin Butler’s role, story details, and other cast members
Elvis follows the true story of Elvis Presley’s rise to rock ‘n’ roll superstardom through the lens of his covetous manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
The film spans over the course of 20 years. It details major events throughout Elvis’ lifetime, including his humble beginnings, relationship with Priscilla Presley, and famous Las Vegas residency.
In Elvis, Butler stars as the titular singer alongside Tom Hanks, who plays Colonel Tom Parker. Other supporting cast members include Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla, Helen Thomson as Gladys Presley, Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King.
Butler and the ‘Elvis’ costume designer have an ‘aha moment’
Elvis costume designer Catherine Martin recently opened up about the process of recreating Elvis’ signature style for the movie. And Martin explained how one specific detail inspired an “aha moment” between her and Butler.
“We started experimenting with all of these jackets that were kind of cardigan-like, hung off shoulder pads, very soft,” Martin told Vanity Fair. “Elvis, very interestingly, always did up the second button. And what it meant was there’s more room to move your shoulders. And so through the process of moving and putting the jackets on, we discovered by studying photos how to integrate the jacket and the movement together.”
“It was like an aha moment for Austin and I,” she continued. “We went, ‘Hang on a minute.’ We can’t get the shapes to feel what the clothes would be like. Just button the second button and it changed everything, and he could move, the jackets looked different.”
Moreover, because an Elvis nickname was “Elvis the Pelvis,” getting the pants right for the film was also crucial to accurately reflecting The King’s look.
“Obviously his pants were important, and it was a lot about the drape, how the fabric worked. In these pants that we coined the squirrel pants, because that’s one of the insults that was leveled at Elvis, it’s really about the balance of the back and the front,” Martin explained. “Our pants were quite bun-hugging at the back. That’s one of the specialties of our tailor Gloria Bava. She likes a nice bottom.”
Finding the right fabric also was a challenge for costumes
Outside of “bun-hugging” tailoring and “squirrel pants,” the costume team got creative with materials for Elvis’ outfits.
“You have to buy the right fabric,” Martin said of finding the perfect materials for Butler’s costumes. “So it was a combination of all those things put together. You spend a lot of time trying to emulate fabrics that existed in the time.”
The costume team had problems finding the right kinds of fabric for Elvis after the pandemic disrupted supply chains. So this meant there were lots of restrictions on what the designers could buy. But luckily, the team came up with a creative solution using a little movie magic: digitally printing on textures.
“So going and having natural fabrics digitally printed to replicate the texture or the print on a jacket, this is one of the tricks we use,” Martin revealed. “We get a base cloth that has some kind of texture. And then digitally we reproduce the texture and then we print it on the fabric. So photographically it looks like it matches, but the texture is actually printed on to some extent.”
