Styling The Sinister: How Ryan Murphy’s New Netflix Series Ratched Makes Being Bad Look Ever So Stylish
Bazaar chats with Sarah Paulson, Sharon Stone and Cynthia Nixon about how costume designers Lou Eyrich and Rebecca Guzzi helped to bring the characters to life from Ryan Murphy’s newest series, which will premiere on the streaming platform tomorrow
Exquisite tailoring and mental asylums don’t often go hand-in-hand.
But in the world of Ratched – Evan Romansky and Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix series premiering on September 18 – looking poised, chic and glamorous while executing a gruesome procedure (or worse) is as common as the plot twists the story hurdles at its audiences throughout the eight episodes.
Starring Sarah Paulson (who is also an executive producer on the project), Sharon Stone and Cynthia Nixon Ratched, a prequal to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, explores the backstory behind one of Hollywood’s most notorious villains: Nurse Mildred Ratched.
Best known for her passive-aggressive mannerisms and malicious control methods when it comes to keeping her patients in line throughout the 1975 film by Miloš Forman viewers of the new series will witness a whole other side to the character.
“Since the whole goal of the show is to reverse-engineer the story, to figure out where and how Mildred Ratched’s behaviour germinated from, it’s an opportunity for audiences to put away what they ‘know’ about her and be forced to reckon with another idea,” says Sarah Paulson in a video interview, who plays Mildred Ratched and has worked with Ryan Murphy on a number of series in the past, including the American Horror Story series and The People vs. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, where she won multiple awards for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark.
Sarah Paulson as Mildred Ratched with Alice Englert, playing the role of trainee nurse Dolly
Set in 1947 the Mildred Ratched Sarah Paulson depicts in the series is different from the character actress Louise Fletcher portrayed 45 years ago, although there are still notable similarities — some more obvious than others.
“Although Mildred behaves in ways that is subject to real investigation – both literally and figuratively – she is motivated by a pure intent and it’s just what she has to do in order to get [the result she wants],” Paulson says. “She’s willing to do anything – including things that are dangerous and against the law.”
And just about anything she does, all while being dressed to the nines of the era in some of the most stylish outfits we’ve ever seen in a period series.
Like all great cinematic works every action, sound and colour within a shot has been captured with intent, carefully placed to convey a message or set the mood, and the characters’ outfits in Ratched are certainly no exception. Costume designers Lou Eyrich and Rebecca Guzzi worked their magic incorporating various hues, silhouettes and period styling to add another element of storytelling to the personalities of each character.
When she’s not wearing her blue-green nurses’ uniform (which is a remarkably eerier shade of teal) Mildred sports structured hourglass silhouettes with nipped-in waists (reminiscent of catwalk looks created by the likes of Christian Dior, the epitome of style at the time), buttoned-up blouses and a variety of chapeaux.
Sarah Paulson as Mildred Ratched
Mildred’s ‘off-duty’ outfits throughout the series are very feminine, yet a bit rigid and (quite literally) buttoned-up; they reflect an armour-like quality of protection within her dressing, as she quietly executes her sinister plans of action throughout the series.
And while she is clearly the antiheroine, Mildred encounters and interacts with a number of equally strong female characters throughout the story, all exquisitely dressed in their own respective styles from the era.
“Lou Eyrich is one of the finest costume designers I’ve ever worked with in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever worked with anyone who was as devoted and dedicated to costume design,” Sharon Stone, who plays the mysterious icy blonde heiress, Lenore Osgood, says.
Sharon Stone as Lenore Osgood
Lenore’s costumes are, arguably, some of the opulent in Ratched – just like the character’s larger than life personality. She’s almost never seen without a bold statement lip, fur throws and numerous glitzy accessories, is always decadently dressed in wide-legged trousers and billowing silk blouses.
“Lou had lots and lots of period pieces, and she built pieces for the character. Just the colours, choosing the shape. How many head pieces? How many dead animals [Lenore] would wear? What eccentricities in her own dressing would she put forth? All this defined to me a lot of the character’s back story.”
Cynthia Nixon, who plays Gwendolyn Briggs, a campaign manager with political aspirations of her own, notes how the wardrobe and styling helped to reflect a period in history that was particular restrictive for American society.
Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs
“I would have thought that, in Sex and the City, we had a lot to deal with when it came to our high heels and bags, but then to be transported back to 1947 where – not only are you wearing heels – you’re wearing stockings, you’re wearing gloves, you’re wearing hats, and your hair has to be perfect. Everything has to be just so,” she says.
“The way all of the clothes are very constricting really speaks of the period in which everyone was very tightly wound, marching in step and trying to do what society was demanding of them.”
Fans of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest will likely be watching Mildred’s hair closely throughout the series, anticipating its evolution into the iconic hairstyle that Louise Fletcher had in the 1975 film, which was notorious for resembling devil horns in order to convey just how evil her character was within the film.
“If you look at the hairdo, it’s a real homage to what it becomes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ratched pre-dates when we first meet Mildred in the film; we had an opportunity to sort of build-up to that, as the series goes over the course of several years or over several iterations,” Sarah says. “By the time we get to the fourth season, we would be in the world of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’m sure my hair will find its way to that place.”
Ratched premieres on September 18 on Netflix in the UAE. For more information visit Netflix.com.
Images supplied.