Colleen Atwood is no stranger to creating dazzling costumes for musicals, counting such spectacles as
“Nine” and “Chicago” among her credits.
Now, she can add Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” to that list. In Condon’s adaptation of the Broadway musical, Atwood crafted a wardrobe for Jennifer Lopez’s dual characters of Ingrid Luna and Aurora/Spider Woman that ranges from an elite working woman’s ward- robe (Aurora is head of a fashion glossy) to movie star looks, calling back to the Golden Age of MGM musicals.
Atwood was familiar with Manuel Puig’s 1976 book, and subsequently saw Héctor Babenco’s 1985 film adaptation and the Broadway musical.
Atwood’s designs reference those pre- vious iterations. In one sequence, Lopez wears a cream suit with a hat. “That outfit really is an homage to Chita from the musical because she wore a white suit,” she says, referring to Chita Rivera, who won a Tony playing the character on Broadway and the West End, and passed away just as Condon began filming. “We started with more of a white suit, like [Marlene] Dietrich, and then it became white shorts and then it became just the jacket,” Atwood says. The costume designer says the look evolved because once the choreography “came into the equation,” it was easier for Lopez to dance in just the chic jacket. Atwood adds, “It was simpler just to do, go for the legs and the jacket look. It was classic, Broadway.”
A navy-blue suit consisted of a skirt and jacket, and nods to the working girl. Atwood added chiffon to the hem for movement. “It runs up the back, but when she starts moving in it, you can see it swirl around her.” The jacket was loosely inspired by a photo of star Rosalind Russell.
Early on, Ingrid dons a gold dress. Atwood points out all the beads were sewn on by hand and made from glass. “It lights like glass,” she says. “It’s like her armor.”
As for Aurora’s/Spider Woman’s finale look, Atwood says that, for years, she had a swatch of fabric that the character would play with. “You could pull it and it was like a web. But it was less rigid, and I was waiting for the opportunity to use it.” When she got the job on “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Atwood knew she had to make a costume with it. She ordered the fabric but added touches to make the black pop off the screen. “I didn’t want it to also be black and not be able to be seen,” Atwood says, “so I did a silver base behind it to reflect the light in the room. But you could still get light coming off it, rather than just a black shade.”
