Material girl: Costume designer’s ‘27’ frocks plays starring role

There was plenty of material, literally, for costume designer Cat Thomas to work with for the frocks featured in “27 Dresses.”

Thomas and her design team spun yards and yards of sherbet taffeta, silk shantung and cheap cotton Swiss dot into so many bridesmaid dresses that she hoped the director might rename the movie.

“We wished it was called ‘37 Dresses,’ ” said the New York-based Thomas. “We had so many options.”

Such is the dream dilemma for a costumer when clothing becomes a character. Much like center-stage ensembles worn in HBO’s “Sex and the City,” the 27 dresses Katherine Heigl’s character, Jane, must sport as a constant bridesmaid in this romantic comedy are as spirited as the actress herself.

“It’s memorable when it has personality,” said Thomas in a telephone interview earlier this week. “They were really like another character. Or like 27 other characters.”

The film was shot almost entirely in Rhode Island, and Thomas’ favorite scene is the last when - spoiler alert! - all 27 brides are lined up on the pier at Jane’s nuptials in the bridesmaid dresses she wore at their weddings.

Alongside the goth girl, there’s the Japanese friend in a kimono, the “Gone With the Wind” getup from the plantation-themed wedding (“There’s nothing more fun than creating 10 hoop skirts”), and the hot pink zip-front L.A. minidress, to name a few.

“The reality is that there are people who have theme weddings and who do it over the top. It’s true,” said Thomas, whose other work includes “A Prairie Home Companion” and both “Kill Bill” films.

Inspiration came from thrift stores and eBay and online bridal industry outlets.

“We could have just gone on and on,” she said.

The choices were limitless because, let’s face it, the rarely worn-again bridesmaid dress is an Everywoman’s lament. Thomas said its status will change only when bridesmaids can shop for - and wear - what they want without a hovering bride offering her opinions. Until then the dress’ bad reputation is all sewn up.

“It is very much the bride’s aesthetic,” she said. “It is her day.”

How big is the bridal business?

Conde Nast Bridal Media did an American Wedding Study in 2006. Here are The Big Day’s big numbers:
# There are 2.2 million weddings per year in the United States, or 44,230 weddings every weekend.
# The average wedding has five bridesmaids, which works out to 11 million each year.


http://news.bostonherald.com

Typical date movie with overused rom-com theme

MANILA, Philippines—Talented and gorgeous Katherine Heigl follows up her praiseworthy turn in the oddball comedy “Knocked Up” with yet another lovable pushover role in “27 Dresses.” The rom-com benefits from her involvement, adding sheen to an otherwise rehashed romance yarn. The “Grey’s Anatomy” actress has lit up practically everything she’s appeared in, and “27 Dresses” is especially graced by her “smart babe” presence.

She plays Jane, an eternal bridesmaid who’s helped many of her friends organize their perfect weddings. She’s accumulated 27 bridesmaid dresses in a short span, the diverse and colorful collection easily filling up one big closet. She inevitably attracts the attention of wedding section reporter Kevin (James Marsden), an efficient but creatively unsatisfied writer. He sees her as an interesting conundrum that just may be his ticket out of the wedding beat.

Jane has harbored a longtime attraction to her activist-vegetarian boss, George (Edward Burns), but as fate would have it, he notices—and pursues—her clueless visiting sister Tess (Malin Akerman) instead.

Standard plot

You just know how “27 Dresses” unfolds, given those pretty standard circumstances. Plot-wise, there really aren’t a lot of routes to explore; the story’s accessible but it follows overused romantic comedy axioms and themes. When Tess lies to George at the start of their relationship, you can bet that the deception will cost them eventually.

Jealousy turns sweet, martyr-like Jane into a spiteful saboteur, too, someone who’s not beyond ruining her sister’s happiness. It’s just full of rote dilemmas, and more than a few lovesick characters find themselves betrayed at exactly the expected moment.

But it’s still a funny script by “Devil Wears Prada” screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. Jane is written as an amiable, daydreaming 20-something whose love for weddings is made clear early on. Her sweetness and sentimentality are made more obvious and defined by the presence of the token best friend character, Casey (the gifted Judy Greer), who’s hilariously frank. The dialogue is witty; Jane’s and Kevin’s alternating combative and trusting bond further fleshes out Jane’s personality and intentions, too.
Smart but dense

Most of the characters are written as smart, but strangely, each of them becomes glaringly dense at the wrong time. George fails to pick up on hints that Tess is a liar; Tess doesn’t sense Jane’s obvious, overwhelming feelings for George; Jane chooses to prolong her agony by not telling her sister how she really feels about her boss. Well, if they were perfect, there’d be no story to tell. But in this case, those scenarios could’ve been told more creatively.

It’s hard not to roll your eyes at the lengthy charades, or even at Jane’s and Kevin’s drunken karaoke session scene. Well, that’s cute and a bit cringe-worthy. Marsden and Heigl look good together and have chemistry, so that’s forgivable. There’s cuteness overload guaranteed by the attractive cast, all good actors who do well in these sure, safe roles.

Yes, “27 Dresses” is a typical date movie that espouses the common thought that happy endings do come, but not necessarily how people might expect them. And Heigl is believable and very much worth watching in it, story missteps and familiarity aside.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net