Clothing and Costumes in Alien Trespass

Authentic 1950s Recreated in Comedy Science Fiction Thriller

Mar 26, 2009

In order to pay homage to the sci-fi horror thrillers of the 1950s, costume designer Jenni Gullett performed extensive research.

In Alien Trespass, a new film designed to pay tribute to the B-movies of the post-war boom, director R.W. Goodwin aimed for authenticity over caricature in his depiction of an earlier, more innocent generation. While much of the humor is based on the unnatural acting style from that period – which current actors attempt to recreate – the costumes and other cinematic features strive to reproduce the look and feel of a “space alien” B-movie from the 1950s.

The film is set in 1957 when an alien spacecraft crash-lands on Earth near a small California town. A waitress (Jenni Baird), an astronomer (Eric McCormack) and two teenagers (Sarah Smyth and Andrew Dunbar) are the only witnesses. An alien named Urp takes over the body of the astronomer in order to recapture his escaped prisoner, a man-eating monster called a Ghota.

One humorous scene involves Urp (in the body of the astronomer) wearing mismatched clothing as he heads out to fight the Ghota. Without firmly establishing the proper period costumes to begin with, this scene never would have worked.

Costume designer Jenni Gullett, who collaborated with Goodwin previously on The X Files television series, researched the 1950s by studying period movies, history, books, catalogues, and online photo references regarding clothing from that time and place. In keeping with the overall color scheme of the production design, she used shades of green, pink, rust, mustard yellow, light blue, and other earth tones when creating the costumes.

Although some of the vintage outfits were rented from costume houses, other costumes were retro creations that Gullett managed to find in good condition. Most of the costumes for McCormack and Baird were designed and constructed to conform to specific period guidelines.

“It was easy to find present-day fabrics that we cheated for 1957,” Gullett said in the film’s production notes. “Women’s foundation garments were paramount in creating the feminine shape of the period. We found an online store that sold all the items we needed, including seamed stockings and bullet bras. Many of the accessories were rented, but as we became more familiar with the era, we found some contemporary pieces that followed the same design sensibility and principals.”

Designing a Costume for the Spaceman Urp

Gullett also collaborated with Goodwin in devising the alien Urp’s shiny silver suit. With an otherworldly look that amazes without intimidating, the costume captures the simplistic style of 1950s sci-fi alien movies.

“Bob [Goodwin] had definite ideas and guidelines he wanted to incorporate and I had some suggestions as well,” Gullett said. “After presenting him with a few sketches, we finally decided on one and, once we had an actor, we started building. There were some alterations and modifications but the final design is what you see in the film.”

The copyright of the article Clothing and Costumes in Alien Trespass in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Clothing and Costumes in Alien Trespass in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.