Tales From A Costume Designer

Tales From A Costume Designer

Join professional costume designer Whitney Anne Adams as she interviews fellow costume designers, costume department members and filmmakers from across the industry. Questions for future guests can be submitted at the TFACD Patreon page.

Episodes

September 22, 2025 75 mins

This week's guest is Intimacy Coordinator & Costumer Annie Spong! We had a fantastic discussion all about Intimacy Coordination: the origins, the nuance of the job, the process, the intersection with costumes, intimacy riders, different types of modesty garments, and so much more! Annie also co-hosts a fantastic Intimacy Coordination podcast called Romancing the Screen - check it out through the link below. There's a LOT of great l...

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This week episode is a special Book Club episode digging into the brand new book The Costumes of Hollywood with co-authors Coleen Scott & Larry McQueen! We cover Larry's extensive collection, the creation of the book, the importance of preserving Hollywood history and maintaing the legacy of Costume Designers and their teams, advice for Costume Designers on archiving their own pieces and so much more! Read more

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August 25, 2025 61 mins

This week's episode features the fantastic costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager. We dig into her start in the world of costumes on the epic film Waterworld, the love for our costume teams, using her grandmother as one of her inspirations for Jean Smart's Deborah Vance in Hacks, the unexpected logistical issues that come with cross-boarding, the joy of contemporary research, what we look for when we're hiring new staff members, and...

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This week episode is a special Book Club episode digging into the brand new book Breaking Into New Hollywood: A Career Guide to a Changing Industry with Co-Author Ada Tseng. Come listen as we highlight the special features in this book and what went into bringing it to life. I'm honored to be featured in the Costume Design section of this book (along with this very podcast!) and it was a blast to turn the tables on Ada who intervie...

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This week's episode features the incredible designer Tony Gardner! I was lucky enough to work with Tony on Freaky and we overlapped on the Happy Death Day series. We dig into his illustrious career from his professional start on Michael Jackson's Thriller music video through his most recent projects like Heart Eyes. We talk about collaborating with costume designers on Hocus Pocus, designing the helmets for Daft Punk, and finding p...

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July 23, 2025 11 mins

Hello everyone! It's hard to fathom how quickly time has passed and now how long it's been since my last episode. This quick little episode talks about what's been going on in my life and the industry in the time since. I hope you all do the homework I assign to you! Sending much love to all of you out there.  

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If you want to support the work that I do or you want to be a part of my l...

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November 15, 2024 73 mins

This week's episode features my talented friend and colleague, Costume Designer Katie Irish.  We dig into her roots in theatre (she also started off college pre-med just like myself!) and her transition into film and tv which included taking over designing The Americans. We talk about our union work in United Scenic Artists Local 829 - especially as she and I have been two of the co-chair...

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October 25, 2024 124 mins

This week's episode features the incredible Director, Writer, Producer Tina Mabry, who I was lucky enough to work with on our film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat from Searchlight Pictures which just premiered on Hulu in August. Not only do we dig into our work together on The Supremes, we also cover a wide array of topics from cultivating a kindness and respect on set, jumping into directing episodes of television on establ...

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September 27, 2024 63 mins

Today's episode features Production Designer Kara Lindstrom, who I was lucky enough to work with on our film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat from Searchlight Pictures which just premiered on Hulu in August. Her impressive and varied career has seen her work as a Set Decorator, Art Director, Screenwriter & Novelist in addition to Production Design. Not only do we dig into our work together on The Supremes, we also cover her b...

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September 13, 2024 71 mins

Today's episode features Costume Designer and Fashion Stylist Lisa Smedley-Calderon. We talk about her start in the entertainment industry as a fashion stylist for many musical artists including Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Boyz II Men. We dig into how styling and costume design are two very different jobs that sometimes intersect. Lisa shares what it was like when she had to leave the industry for a decade to take care of her...

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August 30, 2024 97 mins

Today's episode features the Costume Designer Michelle A. Green. We first met through our advocacy work as members of Costume Designers Guild Pay Equity Committee. We cover many topics including the joy of finding the character in the fitting room, the importance of safety, staying true to yourself, as well as making sure our actors in period projects have those trousers pulled up fully to their actual waists! If you head on over t...

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Hello everyone! Today's episode features the Visual Effects Supervisor and Visual Effects Producer Robert Stadd. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with Robert on our Netflix film We Have A Ghost. We get into some fascinating discussions about his work in VFX including the intersection of VFX and Costumes (especially on We Have A Ghost!) as well as covering his extensive film career, and the reasons he turned down Titanic and Th...

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August 2, 2024 112 mins

We are BACK! 

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Hello everyone, hope you are all having a wonderful summer so far. It has been such busy and overwhelming year for me, so I unfortunately haven't been able to get a new episode out til now despite my best efforts. Still a one-woman operation over here! Thrilled to be releasing this fantastic conversation with my dear friend and colleague, the phenomenal Costume Designer ...

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May 24, 2024 85 mins

This week's episode features the imaginative and talented Costume Designer Vera Chow! We had so much fun talking about how we first met, the difference between working in NYC and then working outside of NYC, AAPI representation in filmed media, dealing with tough situations on set, and so much more! I really hope you enjoy this one. 

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Costume Designer Vera Chow

Credits include: The Brot...

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April 5, 2024 87 mins

I am so excited to welcome wonderful Production Designer Cheyenne Ford to the show today. We've worked together on multiple projects including Story Ave, The Caretaker, and The Eyes of My Mother. Cheyenne is also the founder and program director of Art Craft NYC, a program that provides knowledge and training to those interested in becoming entry level in the art department. Applications for the inaugural class are currently open u...

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March 22, 2024 70 mins

Today's episode features a fantastic Costumer, Alesha D. Mitchell! Alesha and I met when she was my key/truck costumer on our film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat. We had a great conversation of wide ranging topics from physically demanding days on set, taking care of ourselves in this industry, money smarts, the difference between and Costumer and a Costume Designer and so much more. We also talked about her YourTube channe...

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March 15, 2024 71 mins
Today's episode features the brilliant and talented Costume Designer Trayce Gigi Field! We talk about so many wonderful things from her roots at Western Costume to th...
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March 1, 2024 67 mins

I am so thrilled to have my friend, the fantastic Cinematographer Zachary Galler, on the show this week! Zack and I worked together on our film Piercing! We talk about the working relationship of a DP and a Costume Designer, his process on set with his team, working digitally vs working with film, post-production, our work in Piercing, his work on Lessons in Chemistry, the state of artistry in the industry and making sure to stretc...

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February 23, 2024 85 mins

This week, Whitney is so excited to be hosting one of her previous collaborators on the show, the talented Makeup Department Head Jenny Lin! We talk about transforming Jennifer Coolidge into the "West Bay Medium" for We Have A Ghost, her amazing times she's spent working with Robert Rodriguez, creating a safe space in her trailer, working with the costume department, staying organized during filming and continuity work, protecting ...

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February 16, 2024 68 mins

This week, TFACD is excited to be hosting the lovely and talented costume designer Joseph La Corte to the show! We talk about starting in theatre and his first jobs in New York (working nearly 24 hours a day on two projects at once!), his family history of sewing and tailoring, the love for The Wizard of Oz, his homemade Grease 2 costume made out of unusual materials, and much more. We do a deep dive on his process for Fellow Trave...

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