Makeover Montage: A Fashion in Film Podcast · Marie Lodi and Blaire Bercy

"Costume Designers are Like Novelists" With Meagan McLaughlin Luster

November 8, 2024·1 hr 20 min·5 clips

Megan says she rendered the Pabst Blue Ribbon dress immediately after reading the script and got hired 30 to 45 minutes later.

Marie Lodi and Blair Bursey open with genuine excitement about having Megan McLaughlin Lester on the show. The hosts describe costume designers as novelists, and Megan leans into that idea by talking about the job as getting into the nitty gritty of a character and trying to feel what they're feeling. She explains how moving through the ranks changes the way a designer sees a production. That experience brings a calmer sense of what each department is doing, and it makes it easier to spot work that can feel invisible from the outside. The episode stays anchored in the projects listeners already know. Lisa Frankenstein, Happy Death Day, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Claws all come up naturally. The tone stays loose and quick, like three people remembering things as they go. One of the strongest stories centers on antlers used in a project. Those antlers belonged to her uncle in Baton Rouge, and the production made a mold of them. That detail captures the show's fondness for objects with a real-life backstory. The conversation keeps finding ways to connect costume work to personal history. Megan talks about holding onto things forever, and about liking to find the original and the first version. That instinct shows up again in her habit of slipping in personal touches from her own world. A Dumpster Funk T-shirt becomes one of those recurring bits of lived-in design. The hosts also confirm that a concert poster date was real. By the end, the episode has become a fond tour through craft, memory, proof, and the small choices that make a costume feel specific instead of generic.

As heard by us

Costume design as character work, with practical craft and a few gentle detours.

The conversation treats costume design as character work, and Megan McLaughlin Lester keeps pulling it back to the practical side of the job. She talks through projects like Lisa Frankenstein, Happy Death Day, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and Claws, but the best moments are the ones…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you love movie costumes with the receipts, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Makeover Montage: A Fashion in Film Podcast