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Cynthia Bergstrom - Interviewed at the Buffy soundstage February 2002
Starting out
Could you tell us how you became costume designer for Buffy?
I started costume design about 15 years ago. I did a small, tiny film - a USC project - and just fell in love with costume design. From there I went on from film to film to film.
I think what led to me being with Buffy was a movie I did called Scream – it was Scream One, and I believe Joss and the producer saw the film and then investigated to see if I was available. I just happened to be looking for a TV project as well, so I interviewed and got the job.
Setting the style
Do you consider yourself to be a trend-setter because of the high profile of Buffy and the fashions in the show?
People tell me that I am a trend-setter. I don't consider myself a trend-setter, I consider myself a costume designer, and that's really an honour to me when people say that.
It's certainly nothing that I set out to do. I am given so much freedom and so much creativity here, and I think dressing somebody like Sarah Michelle Geller helps as well. I have been told that and it's a great compliment.
Do you find that Sarah or Joss try to influence your designs, or do you have free reign to develop looks for the characters?
In the beginning Joss definitely told me what he was looking for and what he wanted. As time has gone on - I've been on the show for five seasons now and I know the characters like the back of my hand - it's become my decision as to what I put them in. Fortunately everybody loves it, so it works.
Dressing up
Who do you find is the most fun to dress, and why?
I really think they're all fun, in different ways.
I love all the actors. All of them are great people and I enjoy working with them and also dressing their characters. I don't have a favourite, there are just different elements and I love all of it.
If you had the choice to put James Marsters in something different, what might you change his look to?
I've actually started changing his look. James never actually came to me and said "Cynthia, I can't wear this coat any more."
Within the story line, within the context, I've seen the opportunity for change and so I have changed just ever so subtly - a different shirt here, a different pant here - and then when I need to reign it back in and have him dress the old Spike way, I do.
Ripping times
Do you have to make a lot of extra copies of costumes for stunts and the like?
It depends. I get the script and I break it down and I see what's necessary for each scene for each episode, and if I know I have to have five of an item I'm not going to buy a really expensive item.
If I can fit it in my budget and it's, say, a great coat and in the pivotal piece, then I'll try and make it work. But I do have parameters and I have to be careful of budgets.
What do you think is the most expensive thing you've ever had to buy as one single outfit?
I don't know if it would be one single outfit or maybe one single garment. Without giving too much away, I think I spent up to about 750 [dollars] on a blouse. And I can't tell you which one, but that's a lot of money for a blouse.
Fashion capital
Do you consider LA to be a fashionable place? Where do you think are the most fashionable places in the world?
I do consider LA to be a fashionable place. I think LA's fashion is a lot more casual and relaxed. I know that a lot of the LA-based designers are copied in other areas, and people do look to LA.
I think it's mostly because of the sense of celebrity and because of Hollywood that people look to California, to Los Angeles, to see how they're dressing. Also, of course, New York is a Mecca for fashion, [as are] Paris, Milan, London.
Whenever I'm in London I love to just run around and see what people are wearing and go to Harvey Nicks and see what they have, and I get a lot of influence from European fashions as well.
Buffy on a budget
What would you say to a teenage female Buffy fan who wants to look like her heroine?
Buffy on a budget is easy these days, because the look is so prevalent. Especially now that I'm doing a very simple Buffy look.
She's basically in feminine blouses, jeans, and leather jackets. You can grab a leather jacket now for about 50 bucks at a discount store, or even a vintage clothing store, put a pair of high heeled boots on, and there you go.
De-tweeding the Watcher
Were you responsible for getting Giles out of tweed?
Tony came to me and said that he wanted to try some other things, so I went to Joss and I said, "Can we try some other things? Can we get him out of a tweed?"
At the time Joss said he wanted to keep Giles in tweed, but as Giles's character changed and pulled away from being the school librarian Watcher, I was able to incorporate a few sweaters with jeans, and then shirts.
Then, when he became the owner of the Magic Box, it made perfect sense to change him and have him start wearing more fashionable suits. So it was really Tony who started it and then it evolved from there.
Shorter cut
Has Sarah's new, shorter, hairstyle influenced the way you dressed her for the second half of season six?
Well, her new hair style did influence me when she first got her hair cut. I started to look at styles differently and now it's like she can pretty much just wear anything.
Sarah has one of those bodies that looks good in everything, so taking into consideration her hair, I worry more about whether her hair is going to be up in a ponytail or a bun than just down and straight. She still has length and I think she just has more sun highlights through her hair now, so I can play with more colour than I could in the past.
Kiss and make-up
How much liaison is there between you and them make-up and special effects people for outfits that have to work in an effects context, or things that would go with prosthetics?
If we're doing effects I definitely need to work with the make-up people. Do I need to cover up a certainly part of the body? Is it all going to be special effects?
Working with hair and make-up on certain outfits is important to make sure that it all coincides and coordinates together. So I like to work closely with them, as well as with the production designer, Carey Meyer.
Halloween chic
Which outfit are you most proud of?
[Buffy's] Halloween costume from season two episode six [Halloween]. That was my first season on Buffy, and they came to me and said that Buffy was going to be a Southern Belle.
I realised that we needed three or four of the same costume and that I had to build it, and I was terribly intimidated. That was the first time that I really had to build something huge like this, that was actually period.
I sat down and started sketching, and it was just there. Then, when I showed Sarah the sketch, she fell in love with the dress. Since then I've designed and sketched numerous costumes, but that one I'm the most proud of because that was my first and it turned out really well, And it was gorgeous and people still talk about it.
If you were given the chance to do a big ´óÏó´«Ã½ costume drama or a Merchant Ivory, would you really enjoy that?
If I was offered something like that I would do it in a second. I would absolutely love it. The times that I've been able to do period work, it's been so fulfilling to me.
Looking dated
Do you ever look back at some of the fashions on the earlier series and think, "Oh my god what was I thinking? That's so out of fashion now"?
Yes, yes I do, I do. In fact a lot of re-runs are on the networks right now and I look back at some of the past episodes and think, 'Did I have a colour meltdown? Was there a colour explosion?'
There was a time, primarily the second and the third season, and it was very fashionable at the time, but I had so much colour in each episode. It was what we were going after to sort of counteract the darkness and the heaviness and the monsters and the demons, but some of the pieces that I chose, I think, "Oh my Lord, what was I thinking?"
Quick change
How much notice do you actually get from the time you get a script to the time you have to deliver the finished costumes?
We have eight days to prep an episode and we shoot an episode in eight days. I get a script or beat sheet to work off, which is like an outline of the script, and I can start there.
Sometimes I have maybe a day's notice. Usually if they know that something's going to be working, they do come to me and say, 'This is what we're thinking,' but until I have a script it's really hard for me know what is going to happen. But I have an excellent staff and we can pretty much do anything that they ask.
Fashion guru
Do the casting and crew ever come to you for fashion advice?
Yeah, sometimes they do. If the cast has a public appearance and they don't have anything to wear they'll definitely come in and ask if I'll pull something together for them. And the crew, they've come in and they've asked.
Have you ever worn one of your own outfits?
Now if I was a size two (size six in UK sizing) I would definitely wear them but I'm not a size two. So it's not going to happen.