Crafting Costumes for Quills

Jaqueline West radiates with love of her craft. Her distinguished career in cinematic costume design has taken her from 1930s Parisian pleasures in Henry & June to modern political scandals in Rising Sun. The movie Quills gave her a chance to delve into one of the most glamorous fashion eras in history: post-Revolutionary France. West immersed herself in the time period with extensive research of paintings and museums and travels to the area. She explains, "The Marquis de Sade's era was an interesting time with many fashion changes taking place. Wigs were on the way out, because too many of them wound up in decapitation baskets covered in blood. The dresses, which had been very ornate, became very free flowing. It was said that they became so skimpy, women started dying of pneumonia because they were wearing too little!"

West was so enraptured by her mission that she challenged herself to make "the most perfect corset ever created." She beautifully accomplished her mission with an exquisite corset for Kate Winslet's character, Madeleine. The corset, featuring more boning than any in existence, was so fantastic that an English historical costume society purchased it and put it on display. To create Madeleine's main dress, West used 100-year-old linen sheets from where the Marquis actually lived in a village in La Coste, France. It is impossible to find such a fine thread count as these sheets have.

West reads the script over and over before she even begins the costume design process. "Living with the characters day in and day out makes them come alive. I start feeling their personalities and liking them. They begin to dress themselves, and I start to imagine what would be in their closet." For Quills, she began to think about how each character would approach dressing in the morning.

West fell into fashion after graduating from UC Berkeley in art history and romance languages. Her mother was a clothing designer in San Francisco in the 1940s. West continued tradition by launching her own successful design business. One of West's very best design assistants was a FIDM alumna. "She was so talented and learned so quickly because of her FIDM education!" From then on, West was so impressed that she decided to only hire FIDM grads.

While she attests to the value of an education in the arts, West encourages students to also focus on getting specialized skills. "In this competitive day and age, the more technical tools you have, the more confidence you will have in the industry." For West, FIDM is the ideal place to get the best of both worlds: creative and technical. Her advice to anyone dreaming of a career in fashion and costume design? "Get thee to FIDM!"