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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 44 SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
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AGES.Costumes‘Nudity Was a Tool’
on the Set of
J.Lo’s Hustlers
For the aspirational stripper movie that’s ‘Wolf of Wall Street
from a woman’s point of view,’ costume and production design
were ‘calibrated to dance’ By Cathy WhitlockI
n lieu of a lap dance,
costume designer Mitchell
Tr ave r s found himself
in the champagne room of a
Manhattan strip club, inquir-
ing where strippers bought their
shoes. It was all in a day’s work
for the STXfilm feature Hustlers,
directed by Lorene Scafaria, about
exotic dancers who con their
Wall Street clients. Star-producer
Jennifer Lopez also gave input.
“J.Lo. [was] so specific about what
she needed for her character,”
Travers says of the actress, who
visited strip clubs with fiance Alex
Rodriguez for research: “She sent
pictures of things that caught her
eye and wanted to know [about]
the jewelry and when to scale
back.” The result was a dizzying
85 costume changes in the film.
Travers also took cues from
castmember and onetime strip-
per Cardi B, who advised the use
of garters and wristbands to
stash cash. “I didn’t understand1 A sketch for
Jennifer Lopez’s
character
by costume
designer
Mitchell Travers.
2 Travers used
logo-branded
clothing from
Bebe, BCBG
and Guess, plus
Louis Vuitton and
Coach handbags,
to outfit Lopez
and Wu (front
row) and crew.
3 Lizzo as exotic
dancer Liz.
2at first that the costumes are all
about performance and built for
athletes,” admits the designer.
Stretch fabrics and strategically
placed hooks, clasps and straps
were the order of the day. “Nudity
was a tool in the
movie, and every-
thing was calibrated
to dance,” he says.
Meanwhile, pro-
duction designer
Jane Musky looked to her previ-
ous period-appropriate films
(such as Joel and Ethan Coen’s
1984 classic Blood Simple) for
background. “Back in the ’80s
and ’90s, I did those gutsier films
that always had strip scenes,”
she says of her inspiration for
Hustlers, which is set during
the 2008 recession. Explains
producer Elaine Goldsmith-
Thomas: “It’s Wolf of Wall Street
from a woman’s point of view, the
slippery slope of what happens
when people reach for their ownHEELS
Designer Mitchell
Travers says finding
period platforms
was a challenge: “If
you weren’t in 6-inch
heels, you were
a nobody!”Tr ave r s13COLORED FUR
Constance Wu (left)
with Lopez, who
wore a lavender fur in
the film. Furs, boas and
stretch bodysuits
were found in bargain
bins and Bergdorf
Goodman.