No One Wears Clothes Like Catherine O’Hara
‘The Last of Us’ + ‘The Studio’ costume designers keep the icon stylish, in literal and figurative apocalyptic situations
Hey WNVM-ers,
We’re out a day early in observance of the Juneteenth holiday tomorrow.
It's Fawnia here again (Cheryl will be on double duty soon!) with a timely edition celebrating the inimitable Catherine O’Hara. The big and small-screen icon has graced us with two very different, equally impactful, and impeccably outfitted turns in some of our favorite shows of the year, “The Last of Us” and “The Studio.” I talked to Ann Foley and Kameron Lennox, the costume designers of both series, respectively, about collaborating with O’Hara and keeping her beloved characters exceptionally dressed, even as they face a hostile takeover by fungal-infected undead armies … and Amazon.
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It’s the End of the World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine
Catherine O’Hara’s costumes in ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘The Studio’ continue her on- and off-screen fashion icon status
By Fawnia
National treasure1 Catherine O’Hara has effortlessly embodied iconic characters since our formative years — from 1988’s Beetlejuice to my favorite, 1996’s theater-mockumentary improv-fest, Waiting for Guffman. Just hearing O’Hara’s name conjures her sharp, on-point delivery, inventive pronunciations, and images of her celebrated characters — like artist Delia Deetz in her Daphne Guinness-inspired goth-glam and small-town theater doyenne Sheila Albertson riffing “Midnight at the Oasis” in a Versace-wannabe windbreaker tracksuit with a coordinating Fred Willard, respectively.2
We’ve been extra blessed with a double-dose of O’Hara on the small-screen this season — and in shows that could not be more different. In Seth Rogen’s spoofy love letter to Hollywood, “The Studio,” she steals scenes as formidable studio head-turned-producer Patty Leigh. Then, in a dramatic turn as therapist Gail in “The Last of Us,” she grapples with grief and offers counseling and hard truths in a dystopian near future. O’Hara, again, flawlessly inhabits both characters — and their distinctive wardrobes — in her one-of-a-kind way.
“I've never met anyone in my life who wears clothes like Catherine O'Hara,” says “The Last of Us” season two costume designer Ann Foley.
Five years after the end of season one, smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and his surrogate daughter Ellie (Bella Ramsey) have settled in the fortified and protected community of Jackson, Wyoming. A traumatized Joel visits Gail’s house for a therapy session. Her lovingly kept home, filled with cozy furniture and knick knacks, looks straight out of a non-apocalyptic, early-aughts-set family drama.
Gail’s lilac Club Monaco cashmere sweater and gray patterned lemlem wide-leg Desta pants are just as plush and pristine — in contrast to the functional, weather-worn, and probably scavenged clothing of the other Jackson denizens. I found myself pondering the backstory of her super nice wardrobe almost more than the mystery of what happened between Joel and her late husband Eugene (Joe Pantoliano).
“Gail's living in denial about the state of the world that they're all in, and we wanted her clothes to reflect that,” says Foley. “I also felt — and Catherine backed me up on this — that maybe this is the house that she and Eugene lived in even before the apocalypse happened in 2003. So these are pieces in her closet that she's always taken care of. This is just Gail. This is who she is.”
Jackson is also a fully-functioning town with electricity and running water (and dry cleaning?). So, Gail can wash, maintain, and even iron her treasured pieces, like a crisp Frank & Eileen Relaxed Button-Up Shirt and Foley’s own Nili Lotan denim blazer for her dystopian reading session over breakfast that Joel interrupts. Gail’s clip earrings are even more cherished — because they’re O’Hara’s.
Foley emphasized a “timeless, classic vibe, so [Gail’s wardrobe] could have looked like it came from before 2003.” Reflecting the timeline, she mostly used brands that existed in the pre-fungal pandemic times of 2003, like Banana Republic, Loeffler Randall for shoes, and Eileen Fisher.
Months later to watch a children’s baseball game, Gail dresses for a sunny, carefree spring day — as opposed to the aftermath of a deadly siege on Jackson and brutal losses. She self-soothes/day-drinks in a whimsical floral-print Sandro shirt dress, the same denim blazer, and Rothy’s Point II ballet flats.
“Again, it's Gail in complete denial about what's going on,” says Foley, who added the Hat Attack straw sunhat to protect O’Hara filming in the blazing Vancouver sun. “I knew she needed a hat out there. The sun was incredibly bright, and I didn't want to do that to Catherine.”
Foley considers working with O’Hara a “career highlight,” and values the chance to collaborate with the legend. “She wanted [Gail] to stand out from the rest of the Jackson townsfolk,” says Foley. “I agreed with that 100% and it gave us an opportunity to have a little bit more fun with Gail than with your typical Jackson resident.”
“The Studio” costume designer Kameron Lennox also leaned into storytelling — but ultra-high-end — fashion to distinguish O’Hara’s Patty, who’s fired as the head of Continental Studios and replaced by her mentee Matt Remick (Seth Rogen).
“Catherine is such a classy lady,” says Lennox, who assigned each Continental exec, from CEO to assistant, a color palette within the cinematic, earthy ‘70s tones of “The Studio” world.
“Patty’s were very rich golds and bronzes, with a little bit of a rust and very rich, saturated colors,” says Lennox. “I wanted to create this very unique, very sophisticated professional character.”
Greeting director Ron Howard in “The Note,” Patty — who quickly bounced back as a power-playing producer — telegraphs her industry bonafides in a chestnut brown pantsuit by Max Mara and silky rose gold blouse by Vince. Her ensemble further denotes the mentor-mentee hierarchy — threading (sorry) to Matt’s tan wide-lapel suit to his former assistant-turned-creative executive Quinn’s (Chase Sui Wonders) natty gray and navy wardrobe.
“Patty dresses like the movie mogul she is,” says Lennox.
The costume designer also wanted to differentiate Patty from O’Hara’s long list of very recognizable and often monochrome black-clad characters, like the aforementioned Delia Deetz and Rick Owens-stan, Moira Rose, of “Schitt’s Creek.”
“I don't want to repeat anything,” says Lennox. “[O’Hara] plays avant garde a lot, and she is avant garde in her real life. So it was important to bring in something [different].”
While Patty and Moira Rose do share a penchant for wearing luxury designer labels, Patty’s are decidedly more quiet luxury. “I did pull a lot of Max Mara for her. She wears some vintage Issey Miyake,” says Lennox, also name-dropping Armani, Brunello Cucinelli, and Prada.
The final two Las Vegas-set episodes are filled with A-lister cameos, stellar physical comedy, and more absolute buffoonery, thanks to psychedelics novice, Matt. Patty, commandingly resplendent and polished in a gold wrap-top blouse and wide-leg silk trousers by Zimmermann, remains the sole — and sober — voice of reason throughout. Countering an increasingly disheveled Continental team, pulling a “Weekend at Bernies” with the barely-conscious CEO Griffin Mills (Bryan Cranston), Patty maintains her composure — spiritually and sartorially.
“The sun is starting to come up and he's just a mess. She's still pulled together. Just to end on that note with her, [shows] that strength that she has to get herself through this business for so long,” says Lennox. “She just always needs to be perfectly pulled together.”
Speaking of, I still can’t get the stunning bronze-sequined gown that Patty wears to the Golden Globes outta my head. You know, when she tries to contain a thirsty Matt from badgering Zoë Kravitz, playing herself, to thank him in her acceptance speech.
“Obviously a ball gown is not going to be right for [O’Hara],” says Lennox, who pinpointed Jenny Packham for the London-based designer’s signature streamlined silhouettes and intricate embellishments. “I wanted Patty to own the carpet when she came in.”
While on-set shooting the Greta Lee-cameo episode, Lennox presented the dress to O’Hara for a quick fitting. “Just the look on her face, like her cheeks [flushed]... she was so happy,” says Lennox. “She slipped right into it — no alterations, nothing.”
In fact, O’Hara was so delighted that she wore the dress right out of the fitting and onto the set packed with the crew and actors. “She just kept walking around and showing everybody,” says Lennox, about the pretty meta moment for a statement-making star playing a statement-making character — and on a set, on a set. OK so my brain just broke, but we can all agree…
“It doesn't matter if you're putting [O’Hara] in a designer gown, like they did on ‘The Studio,’ or if she's in just a Banana Republic sweater and Gap jeans, like New Year's Eve, on ‘The Last of Us,” says Foley. “She still looks like a fashion icon.”
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Canadian and American national treasure, to be clear.
Costume designer credits: Aggie Guerard Rodgers for Beetlejuice, Colleen Atwood for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Julie Carnahan for Waiting for Guffman.
Catherine O'Hara is a goddess!! I have loved her before I knew it was her, singing as Sally in "A Nightmare Before Christmas." What a fabulous dive into her costuming on those two shows (I watch LOU but refuse to pay Apple). I had scrutinized her outfits in Last of Us, and I'd probably be like her in that scenario. I often rant about "end-times" shows (I was a longtime watcher of The Walking Dead) that characters have way more options for clothes than what characters wear constantly. Like, wouldn't they be raiding homes/closets for really awesome things?? I know I would be!
Pshaw, that is barely an Easter egg! Walking down the street in NYC? Where are the shoulder pads? Where are the white Reeboks? Where is the feathered hair? (can you tell I love Working Girl?).
Cheryl and Fawnia, you are goddesses yourselves! Thank you for the always entertaining and enlightening article!
Catherine!!! She is the ultimate. Will pretty much watch anything she's in. Love this deep dive <3