Intimate Apparel: A Conversation with Nancy Steiner
Over the last thirty years, costume designer Nancy Steiner has been behind some of the most iconic sartorial moments in the worlds of film, music, and fashion. Beginning her career in Los Angeles, during the heyday of MTV in the early nineties, Steiner cut her teeth as a designer by styling music videos: she was responsible for the striped midcentury suits worn by the members of Nirvana in their video for “In Bloom” and Gwen Stefani’s vintage polka-dot dress in the video for No Doubt’s breakout single, “Don’t Speak.” Steiner landed her first big break in the film industry when Todd Haynes hired her to design the costumes for his disquieting melodrama Safe (1995). Tasked with assembling a wardrobe for Julianne Moore’s Carol White, Steiner created looks that mirror the character’s downward spiral from well-groomed housewife to a woman ravaged by a mysterious illness. Then, Sofia Coppola brought Steiner on board for her directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides (1999), a film whose costumes now feel integral to our understanding of the director’s visual aesthetic.
Set in 1970s suburban Michigan, The Virgin Suicides allowed Steiner to bring together her talents as a designer and her love for scouring through vintage stores. At the center of Coppola’s melancholic coming-of-age film are the Lisbon sisters, whom Steiner outfits in clothes inspired by fashion trends of the era and imbued with an air of ethereal femininity: crocheted halter tops, linen A-line skirts, flannel nightgowns, and modest prom dresses reminiscent of the vintage label Gunne Sax. Part of what makes Steiner’s work so remarkable is how lived-in and full of personality the girls’ clothing feels, enriching Coppola’s portrait of these young women and their unique inner lives.
Steiner has since left her mark on the projects of other distinctive writers and directors, designing the costumes for films by Wim Wenders, Cameron Crowe, and Yorgos Lanthimos. She also collaborated again with Coppola, on Lost in Translation. In addition, she has turned her efforts to the small screen, outfitting the eccentric characters of cult-favorite television series like Mike White’s Enlightened and, most recently, David Lynch’s eighteen-part sensation Twin Peaks: The Return.
To celebrate our new 4K edition of The Virgin Suicides, I spoke with Steiner about her early influences and her psychological approach to costume design.
