To re-create iconic looks for Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect,” which opens in theaters Aug. 13, Tony award-winning costume designer Clint Ramos immersed himself in books about the Queen of Soul. T…
immersed himself in books about the Queen of Soul. There were very few photos of Franklin in her early years, but he read how singing in church shaped her life.
“It was custom-printed silk Georgette with my own paisley design. There’s a dress underneath with sleeves, and we attached a cape. We looked at the scale in terms of the cape and her Afro. What a lot of people don’t know is that Jennifer is tall, and Aretha isn’t. I didn’t want the dress to swallow her up. I adjusted the color so it played with Jennifer’s skin tone.
“This was a wackadoo moment in the film. There is nothing more exciting to me than the contrast of something being couture and pretty while the person is behaving ugly. [She comes on stage drunk.] That contrast to me is great because it’s so theatrical. “We call this the ‘Amsterdam dress,’ and it’s my version of one of her favorite dresses. I believe it’s off the rack because it’s a gold metallic dress, and a vintage dealer contacted me, post-filming, saying, ‘I have another of those dresses.’ I asked her where she got it and she mentioned it was from a department store.
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