For queer pop culture fanatics, Netflix’s “Glamorous” is the gift that keeps on giving.
Beyond the homages to everything from “9 to 5” and “Clue” (including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to Jade’s infamous Cover Girl commercial on “America’s Next Top Model”) and an early aughts party so dead-on it will induce vertigo in viewers of a certain age, there’s also Miss Benny’s wardrobe as assistant Marco, newly hired at Glamorous by Madolyn as Madolyn Addison’s assistant. (Even the name of Kim Cattrall’s character feels like a reference to Meryl Streep’s Madeline Ashton in gay cult classic “Death Becomes Her.”)
A gender-nonconforming queer man, Marco begins as a struggling makeup vlogger and ends in full glam, complete with a twinkling pantsuit straight from the Nicole Kidman for AMC collection. For a show that lives up to its name and for a non-binary character, the fits and the beat had to be just right. And the hair and makeup and costume teams didn’t disappoint.
Costume designer Nancy Gould started working directly with Miss Benny early in the process, sharing mood boards heavily inspired by ’80s office comedies like “9 to 5” and “Working Girl.” And from the four racks of clothes in the two days of fittings, 99 percent made it to the screen.
“Miss Benny brings a real fun and playfulness,” Gould told IndieWire. “We just always vibed really well together. There was one point I got a necklace that had little pompoms, and she ended up wearing it as a belt, which was really fun. We wanted it to be really unique.”
Marco begins the series with a strong sense of fashion identity that also plays into what the character could realistically afford (“realistic” being relative considering the show is as much about outré fashion as “Ugly Betty” was).
“Glamorous”COURTESY OF NETFLIX
“We played into men’s wear in the beginning, but what I would do is crop men’s pants and then it became like capri pants,” Gould said. “When I was that age, I would bring things home and cut ’em up and just sort of make them my own. We needed somewhere to go. I loved the capri men’s pants with the heels. The sweater vest with no shirt underneath. The tank top under the suit jacket. We had a lot of fun, and it gave us room to grow throughout the 10 episodes.”
The hair and makeup teams had equally collaborative experiences on “Glamorous” as they traced Marco’s journey of growth over the course of the series. Marco begins the season with what makeup head Rose-Mary Holosko dubbed “selfie” makeup and ends in full glamour goddess mode, looking like Ava Gardner playing the world’s most beautiful assistant. The hair, too, played a role, becoming softer and more chic as Marco’s confidence grows.
“Where do you start?” hair department head Nathan Rival said. “You have a crescendo at the end, right? You can’t be fabulous at the beginning; it doesn’t leave you anywhere to ascend to. So that was something that Rose-Mary and I had to put our heads around.”
“Glamorous”Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
“[It’s] the story of a non-binary person, newly out of college, trying to discover themselves and come within their own,” Holosko added. “When we were sitting in the trailer, we explored with color and technique. Watching the first season, the hair, the makeup, the costumes, I was like, ‘Wow, we did that.’ We had like five, 10 looks in a day. So we were running off to a washroom somewhere to take off some makeup, put on some glitter, and more was more, more, more, more, and more. It was opulent.”
Rival agreed with the sheer amount of work everyone threw themselves into. “It’s good to see the work portrayed so beautifully, ” he said, adding with a laugh, “but there’s some parts where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that day nearly killed me.’ That’s the reality behind when you’re making something: You get to see the payoff, but you do have flashbacks to the hard work.”
Embedded in Marco’s journey in the second half of the season is a trip to Provincetown with their Ken doll-esque boyfriend, where Marco undergoes a make-under to better fit in. Gone are belts with pompoms and even so much as gloss on the lips. In their place are cargo shorts, flip-flops, and a wispy mustache. The effect is intentionally jarring after six episodes of high glam and here, again, Miss Benny was instrumental in configuring Marco’s look, fighting for, among other things, the shudder-inducing cargo shorts.
“You’re choosing to not be yourself in this moment. You’re kind of giving yourself away a little bit to be what you perceive they want you to be,” Gould said. Likewise, the hair and makeup served to reveal how uncomfortable Marco is while assuming a new persona.
“The makeup was almost non-existent,” Holosko said. “The five o’clock shadow was showing through. Miss Benny wanted to be raw, wanted to be exposed, and that’s exactly what we gave them.” Rival added, “The hair was kind of a surfy vibe. We were constantly making, ‘Hey dude, gnarly man’ jokes throughout, language we would never normally say, but that was the vibe through that episode.”
All is restored by episode’s end (thanks to an elaborate lip sync performance to “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago”), allowing Marco to continue upping the glamour quotient at work and at home while learning the value of not altering oneself to accommodate a man. And what could be more glamorous than self-love (in a glittering pantsuit)?
Beyond the homages to everything from “9 to 5” and “Clue” (including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to Jade’s infamous Cover Girl commercial on “America’s Next Top Model”) and an early aughts party so dead-on it will induce vertigo in viewers of a certain age, there’s also Miss Benny’s wardrobe as assistant Marco, newly hired at Glamorous by Madolyn as Madolyn Addison’s assistant. (Even the name of Kim Cattrall’s character feels like a reference to Meryl Streep’s Madeline Ashton in gay cult classic “Death Becomes Her.”)
A gender-nonconforming queer man, Marco begins as a struggling makeup vlogger and ends in full glam, complete with a twinkling pantsuit straight from the Nicole Kidman for AMC collection. For a show that lives up to its name and for a non-binary character, the fits and the beat had to be just right. And the hair and makeup and costume teams didn’t disappoint.
Costume designer Nancy Gould started working directly with Miss Benny early in the process, sharing mood boards heavily inspired by ’80s office comedies like “9 to 5” and “Working Girl.” And from the four racks of clothes in the two days of fittings, 99 percent made it to the screen.
“Miss Benny brings a real fun and playfulness,” Gould told IndieWire. “We just always vibed really well together. There was one point I got a necklace that had little pompoms, and she ended up wearing it as a belt, which was really fun. We wanted it to be really unique.”
Marco begins the series with a strong sense of fashion identity that also plays into what the character could realistically afford (“realistic” being relative considering the show is as much about outré fashion as “Ugly Betty” was).
“Glamorous”COURTESY OF NETFLIX
“We played into men’s wear in the beginning, but what I would do is crop men’s pants and then it became like capri pants,” Gould said. “When I was that age, I would bring things home and cut ’em up and just sort of make them my own. We needed somewhere to go. I loved the capri men’s pants with the heels. The sweater vest with no shirt underneath. The tank top under the suit jacket. We had a lot of fun, and it gave us room to grow throughout the 10 episodes.”
The hair and makeup teams had equally collaborative experiences on “Glamorous” as they traced Marco’s journey of growth over the course of the series. Marco begins the season with what makeup head Rose-Mary Holosko dubbed “selfie” makeup and ends in full glamour goddess mode, looking like Ava Gardner playing the world’s most beautiful assistant. The hair, too, played a role, becoming softer and more chic as Marco’s confidence grows.
“Where do you start?” hair department head Nathan Rival said. “You have a crescendo at the end, right? You can’t be fabulous at the beginning; it doesn’t leave you anywhere to ascend to. So that was something that Rose-Mary and I had to put our heads around.”
“Glamorous”Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
“[It’s] the story of a non-binary person, newly out of college, trying to discover themselves and come within their own,” Holosko added. “When we were sitting in the trailer, we explored with color and technique. Watching the first season, the hair, the makeup, the costumes, I was like, ‘Wow, we did that.’ We had like five, 10 looks in a day. So we were running off to a washroom somewhere to take off some makeup, put on some glitter, and more was more, more, more, more, and more. It was opulent.”
Rival agreed with the sheer amount of work everyone threw themselves into. “It’s good to see the work portrayed so beautifully, ” he said, adding with a laugh, “but there’s some parts where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that day nearly killed me.’ That’s the reality behind when you’re making something: You get to see the payoff, but you do have flashbacks to the hard work.”
Embedded in Marco’s journey in the second half of the season is a trip to Provincetown with their Ken doll-esque boyfriend, where Marco undergoes a make-under to better fit in. Gone are belts with pompoms and even so much as gloss on the lips. In their place are cargo shorts, flip-flops, and a wispy mustache. The effect is intentionally jarring after six episodes of high glam and here, again, Miss Benny was instrumental in configuring Marco’s look, fighting for, among other things, the shudder-inducing cargo shorts.
“You’re choosing to not be yourself in this moment. You’re kind of giving yourself away a little bit to be what you perceive they want you to be,” Gould said. Likewise, the hair and makeup served to reveal how uncomfortable Marco is while assuming a new persona.
“The makeup was almost non-existent,” Holosko said. “The five o’clock shadow was showing through. Miss Benny wanted to be raw, wanted to be exposed, and that’s exactly what we gave them.” Rival added, “The hair was kind of a surfy vibe. We were constantly making, ‘Hey dude, gnarly man’ jokes throughout, language we would never normally say, but that was the vibe through that episode.”
All is restored by episode’s end (thanks to an elaborate lip sync performance to “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago”), allowing Marco to continue upping the glamour quotient at work and at home while learning the value of not altering oneself to accommodate a man. And what could be more glamorous than self-love (in a glittering pantsuit)?