Actress Glenn Close visited Oct. 21 at the Eskenazi Museum of Art to tour the “Art of the Character” exhibit, which features a fraction of Close’s 800-plus costumes during her film career, including pieces from “101 Dalmatians,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Close is the co-founder of the non-profit Bring Change to Mind, an organization founded to reduce stigma around mental health discussions. IU professor Bernice Pescosolido and U Bring Change to Mind on campus have worked with Close.
In 2017, Close donated her costume collection to the Sage Collection at IU. “Art of the Character” will remain on display until Nov. 14 and is free to the public.
IDS: What were your initial thoughts after walking through the exhibit?
Close: I am incredibly grateful that they are still intact. I started collecting because I heard that usually costumes are sold by the production to a costume house and rented out, redone and remade. I did not want that to happen to my costumes, so I started collecting.
I look at them and I think, “Oh my gosh, I’m just so grateful that they are here,” because they represent not only the characters that I have played personally, but they represent the art of some of the great costume designers that have existed, ever. That is priceless, and I am very, very lucky to have found IU.
It is not only a great educational institution, but it has these two archival buildings that are unbelievable — it is like going into science fiction when you go into those buildings.
IDS: In building your collection, did you have to purchase your own costumes?
Close: No, I never had to purchase. I early on had it put in my contract and now I am kind of known for that. Basically, the deal is that, if they buy them or make them for me, I have the choice of what I want to take. If they rent them, then that is a different thing. Though there are some costumes in here that were rented that ended up here.
IDS: What pieces were not able to make it into your collection from early in your career?
Close: There is one dress that I wore on stage, actually, that Annie Roth designed, who has many pieces in here, and I was not collecting at the time. But it was this amazing — she called it “the baby doe dress” — 1890s dress that was nipped in the waist. It was made out of crimson silk velvet, off the shoulder. And when I would come on stage in it, you could literally hear someone going “Aah” cause it was so beautiful.
IDS: Of the pieces on display today, do you have a favorite?
Close: It is like choosing your children. I kind of like that one (Dragon Suit from “102 Dalmatians”), that was really fun to wear. I love veils, I haven’t worn very many veils in my career. But that has a veil, and I love the tail that you never see in the movie actually.
They all have a story — some of them were harder to wear, very heavy aspects to them. That gold solid beaded dress that I wore to the Oscars in 2019 is at least over 40 pounds, so that was a challenge. In fact, there were two guys on either side of me and they were like my little army if I had to get up. But luckily I didn’t, for their sake. One was going to haul me up and the other was going to help organize the train. It was funny.
And that light pink dress from the “Sarah, Plain and Tall” trilogy was one of my favorite moments ever. It was dancing with Chris Walken in the middle of the prairie to a beautiful piece of music.
IDS: How has the process of working with IU been?
Close: They have been amazing. It is a big undertaking for them — this collection is over 800 pieces. What you don’t see with all of these, well, you see a lot of them with the Cruella, is that every single outfit has accessories and that is a lot of storage space. So, I am so grateful that they have accepted this collection and are taking such beautiful care of it.
IDS: Is it weird for you to see these costumes on display?
Close: The only thing weird is how small I used to be, how small my waist was. But for Cruella, I had a corset that made my waist 21 inches around. You had to learn how to put it on correctly, or else you would literally faint.
IDS: What made you choose IU for the exhibit?
Close: Well, I looked all over the country for a place that had the storage facilities and the correct kind of facilities. Because it is tricky taking care of fabric, you have to make sure there are no moths in it, that it is not mildewed and that it is stored in such a way that the fabrics don’t deteriorate. Already the white dress from “Fatal Attraction” is much yellower, because it is wool jersey, which will age and change color if it is white. It means it is kept at 50 degrees and when they bring a costume in, you freeze it to make sure there are no moths. And they have all that.
I was just lucky that they accepted it because it couldn’t be in a better place, and I love the campus. I love the fact that this collection is right in the middle of the country.
It just seems the right place for it. I think my profession is thought of as New York and LA. But you know what, that is not America, right? I like it to be embraced right in the middle of the country.
