HBO Chats with True Blood Costume Genius Audrey Fisher

To accompany the episode Night of the Sun, HBO sat down with costume designer Audrey Fisher to discuss the fantastic costumes that she makes for True Blood. In this episode, Audrey was charged with dressing actress Brit Morgan (Debbie Pelt) for her girl fight with Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse). Her first instinct when designing the costume was to go sexy, glamourous and edgy. But after remembering that Debbie is a V-addict, she made it super trashy but still cool. It also had to be something that could last through shooting a fight scene which is why she Debbie’s red jacket made out of red vinyl with elbow pads sewn in for safety.

Of course being on True Blood, nudity is a significant part of the show. But when asked about designing for a show that features lots of nudity, Audrey points out that the characters aren’t really naked all that often and that they still need clothes.Speaking of clothes, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is one of the characters who has very memorable outfits. When Lafayette gets his new car, he’s wearing this Chinese silk shirt, which actually started out as a dress Audrey found in LA’s Chinatown. These kinds of outfits are partially inspired Nelsan who doesn’t hold anything back, even in fittings!

Another character who has memorable outfits is Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten). According to Fisher, since Pam has been alive for so long, she almost uses her fashion as a weapon and as a game. If she’s at Fangtasia, Pam might dress like a dominatrix. But on her down time, she might go for a more refined Park Avenue look. When she goes to Merlotte’s to make Lafayette sell V, Pam wears hot pink because Audrey knew she’d be more lady like. But since she threatens him too, it had to be hot pink.

And what about all the blood? What kind of tricks does Audrey have for getting blood out of clothes? There are six or seven types of blood used on set. But Audrey says that after all the tests they’ve done trying to remove it, the blood never really comes out. So that’s why they have more than one of each outfit because it’s just easier that way.

To read more of Audrey’s interview, click here,

Source: HBO.com- “Season 3, Episode 8 Interview with Audrey Fisher.”

Image Credit: HBO, Inc