With my extreme love for the 1970’s aesthetic, going to see “Battle of the Sexes,” was a must. The movie, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, focuses on the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and how it became the most watched televised sports event of all time. Since viewing the film’s screening at the 2017 SCAD Savannah Film Festival, I will dive into what makes this movie’s costumes come to life.
During her Q-and-A, actress Andrea Riseborough, who played Marilyn Barnett, summed it up best when talking about achieving the right look for the movie: “Lots and lots of polyester.”
Even though a hint of those awful 70’s patterns and earth tones are shown during parts of the film, a lot of attention was given to a primary color pallette. From the main characters to extras, everyone stuck out in the crowd in their own way. Each tennis player had their own unique dresses designed by Alan Cumming’s character of fashion designer Cuthbert “Ted” Tinling. Tinling was known for transforming the standard of women’s tennis dresses, making them more form-fitted and especially unique to the player’s personality.
An interesting wardrobe to follow was that of Steve Carell as “male chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs and his many jumpsuits. Think of any color and he had one waiting in his closet. The film does a great job mentioning brands such as Lacoste and Adidas, which remain big names today. For the scene of the final match, Adidas studied its archives and custom-replicated Billie’s monogrammed blue suede sneakers as well as the remaining white tennis shoes for the rest of King’s teammates.
Gold was a terrific highlighted touch to the cast’s outfits. Emma Stone wore Billie Jean King’s iconic gold glasses, which, when given a closer shot, cast beautiful rose-gold and blue tone across her face. Alongside other accessories such as watches, earrings and chains were also worn, their sparks of light reflecting in the sunlight as a great standout element to complete the outfits. The movie was shot on a 35mm camera, a secret component to help support that 70’s aesthetic, while incorporating actual footage from the “Battle of the Sexes” televised event. This pushed costume designer Mary Zophres even more to replicate “BJK’s” blue rhinestone match dress stitch by stitch to accurately match.
Written by Brittany Perrone
Cover image courtesy of Savannah Film Festival