danny glicker on milk

Alas OSCAR season is well and truly behind us, and shit films are once again "showing at a cinema near you". For me, Gus Van Sant's Milk was one of the best of the academy bunch and for those of you who look to the cinema to inspire your style, I recommend grabbing it on DVD when it's out. Though the film focuses mainly on men's style, as there are no central female characters, you can't help but absorb the highwaist denims and brown cord jackets. The whole 1970s essence of the Castro district is also fascinating; with an atmosphere of excitement and sweat.

Interview Magazine spoke to Milk's costume designer Danny Glicker, who has worked in the business for 18 years about his part in shaping the visual elements of the film.

1. What were your main sources of inspiration for the film's looks?The real life of Harvey Milk and culture of 1970s San Francisco. I poured over countless documents, stacks and stacks of images depicting the real people and events, and did everything within my power to meticulously organize them into their proper timeline and recreate the people and the thriving San Francisco scene.

2. Who would you love to dress for this year's Oscars and how would you dress them?
Harvey Milk! Were he still with us, he would have LOVED all the attention. He would have completely embraced the theatricality of the most photographed event of the year to publicize every issue important to him. I see his rented tux covered in "OVERTURN PROP 8" pins.

6. Levi's are so omnipresent in the film that they almost become their own character. How do Levi's encapsulate the sensibilities of Milk and San Francisco? Levi's are so iconic to both San Francisco, and especially to the mystique of the "Castro Clone." It was really fun to play with all the authentic denim of the 70s. We squeezed, and I mean squeezed those guys into their 501's, and when they're that tight, nothing is left to the imagination. There's a reason the look was so popular.

7. I imagine you did a lot of vintage shopping while dressing the cast. What were some your best finds? I was responsible for dressing literally thousands of people, and I really wanted to recreate the grunge and filth of the early 70's, so I visited a lot of untapped dumps. Filthy, nameless warehouses, but gold-mines of amazing vintage stuff that hasn't seen the light of day since the 70's. When the nominations were announced, I called my dear friend Audrey Fisher, who worked as my assistant designer for prep, and said "Could you believe this all started with garbage bags full of crap in the back of a U-Haul?

pics; advocate.com, interview from interviewmagazine.com