Badgley and Mischka: For (Glamorous) Women Only

DC: Can actresses in their teens carry off a truly glamorous look without looking like they're wearing a costume?

MB: I think there's something very charming about putting a really young girl in a diaphanous beaded slip dress that's very '20s. I think that's the most amazing look if she can carry it off before her body is even totally developed. She has to be sophisticated, though. We had Liv Tyler in one of our shows when she was very young and still a model, and she was great.

DC: Is there a particular decade of Hollywood you find particularly inspirational?

MB: Our clothes touch on the '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s.

DC: What was the best wardrobe ever created for a film?

JM: All the Givenchy dresses in Breakfast at Tiffany's were incredible.

MB: Audrey Hepburn's little black dress after she was having trouble finding her shoes was perfect. In contemporary movies, I thought the little off-the-shoulder cocktail dress Julia Robert wore in Pretty Woman was amazing.

DC: What would you do with Audrey if she were 20 today?

JM: We would keep her in vintage Givenchy because it doesn't get any better than her in those clothes.

DC: What's been the worst era for clothes in film?

JM: The worst for us is all those '80s movies, except for The Hunger. We just can't get with that "Dynasty" look: the huge shoulders, the excess of jewelry. You look back at that and think, What in the world happened?

DC: What movie has the best evening clothes?

JM: The Women. Absolutely.

MB: I think there are a few movies. White Mischief is one that always comes to mind. When Greta Scacchi dresses up in those dinner clothes to go out to that nightclub, that was high style at its most chic.

JM: That whole atmosphere of having just nothing to do except get dressed up is so fascinating and decadent. Also Dance With a Stranger, when Miranda Richardson threw on those tarty black cocktail dresses every night. Also among the best is Butterfield 8. To show up at three nightclubs every night and get paid to model clothes is just such a fun idea.

DC: You just introduced your first bridal collection. If Gwyneth Paltrow asked you to design her dress what would you come up with?

JM: If Calvin Klein doesn't dress her, we would love to put her in a glass beaded chiffon fishtail gown.

DC: Have your clothes ever appeared in any films?

JM: Kyra Sedgwick is going to wear an iridescent evening suit of ours in Critical Care.

DC: What film would you most like to design the wardrobe for?

MB & JM [together]: The Women.

JM: We're dying for that. I love all the girls who are going to be in the movie. Marisa Tomei is going to play Chrystal Allen, the Joan Crawford part, which would be the plum one to dress.

DC: If you could be any actor from a previous Hollywood era, who would it be?

MB: Gregory Peck.

JM: Montgomery Clift.

DC: What about now?

MB: Jeremy Irons.

JM: Ralph Fiennes.

DC: What's the hardest thing about working with celebrities?

MB: No matter how sure you are about their deciding on a dress, until they step out onstage you still have no idea if they're wearing your outfit. We have bent over backwards, flown people back and forth, had couriers take dresses to India to do the beading, and then they don't wear it. That's heartbreaking.

DC: What's your favorite period costume movie?

JM: Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence.

DC: If Joan Crawford were alive today and going to the Oscar ceremony, what would you put her in?

JM: A drop-dead black tuxedo.

DC: Sharon Stone became the first lady of the U.S. how would you dress her?

JM: Only in incredibly glamorous clothes. She could add style to the White House a la Jackie Kennedy.

DC: It would seem that looking glamorous but not overdone in Hollywood is something that is especially tricky for older women. What is something fortysomething actresses should never do when dressing for a big night out?

MB: They have to realize they're not 20, and I think it's important that they dress for their audience. And they have to dress appropriately for the occasion. To me it's a bit strange when you see someone who hasn't done anything for 20 years show up at some big event styled to the nines like it's their moment. [Grimaces] I just cringe.

DC: I'm sure there are quite a few actresses that you guys could work wonders on. How about Susan Sarandon?

MB: She's one of the classic actresses you connect fashion with. She goes in the Jessica Lange category--she doesn't dwell on what she wears. She doesn't take it all too seriously.

JM: She's come a long way in her fashion.

DC: Cher's in much need of a makeover. What would you do for her?

JM: We don't want to suggest how to change her, but we'd put her in a remake of Now, Voyager.

DC: Has there ever been a time when you were appalled to see what an actress had done to one of your dresses?

MB: Our clothes are very embellished and we don't see a lot of things going with them. There've been a few times when a celebrity accessorized too much and it destroyed the look.

JM: Actually, there was one time when we were horrified. We had a gown, one of our favorite dresses, that had cages of chiffon that hung from the front. We heard a star was going to be presenting an award on MTV in it. Of course we turned on the television that night and there was this woman with a big chiffon bow tied around her head. We realized that she had picked up all the chiffon from the front of the dress and tied it in a bow.

DC: Is there one thing that sends you running when an actress approaches you to dress her?

JM: It's usually their personality. They're always nice to us, but it's how they treat their staff and ours.

DC: Why, except for Unzipped, can't Hollywood make a good movie about fashion?

JM: Maybe the real world of fashion is too boring for Hollywood. There's so much work involved, and the glamour is in such controlled doses. They always try to make fashion look glamorous, and in doing so, they camp it up. Look at Ready to Wear.

MB: I think it would be tough for a big movie studio to get their arms around fashion, and if they really did, I don't know if it would appeal to the masses.

DC: OK, so you're dressing some of the most glamorous women in Hollywood and you're waiting for Hollywood to come calling when they remake The Women. Is there anything else you'd love to have happen? How about Sharon Stone accepting an Academy Award in a made-to-order Badgley Mischka gown?

MB: I was going to try and not be so obvious but, oh, we would die and go to heaven if that were to happen.

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Diane Clehane interviewed Gianni Versace for the March issue of Movieline.

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