From "UnREAL" To "Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce": Costume Designer Cynthia Ann Summers

People frequently look at the portrayal of women on screen with a very critical eye.  Consider two contemporary TV series featuring female leads: “Girlfriends” Guide to Divorce” and “UnREAL.”   The women in “Girlfriends”” are wealthy forty-somethings who, living recently singled lives, are embracing a new love of live.  The women in “UnREAL” are mired in the male-dominated television industry, dealing with success and jealous in the reality television world.  After completing its second season, “UnREAL” was heralded by critics and earned Emmy nods for writing and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Constance Zimmer.  After five seasons and many dishy viewing parties put on by loyal fans, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” will conclude after season five.  It kicks off its third season early in 2017.

Cynthia Ann Summers, the costume designer for both shows, loves the portrayal of women each series presents.  In fact, she thrives on projects that “have something fresh and different to offer” – as well as those projects that have strong scripts as well as projects which present unique challenge that pull her outside of her comfort zone.  For instance, the socialites who populate “Girlfriends” live in a reality outside Summers more modest lifestyle.  Despite their Beverly Hills lifestyles and fashions, Summers notes the women in “Girlfriends” are dealing with very human circumstances.

“It has levity, but ‘Girlfriends’ also gets to hard and real issues, like death, loss of kids in divorce, trying to find oneself,” said Summers.  “It’s about struggles; making one bad choice causes everything to fall apart.”

In addition to enjoying the intentions of the show, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” places costumes front and center, allowing Summers and her team to have a great time exposing the character traits of each woman through their high-end wardrobe.   Abby McCarthy (Lisa Edelstein) is a successful self-help book writer who’s dealing with an existential crisis after she gets divorced.  With each season, the costume design team has exemplified the character’s self confidence in utilizing clothing that is less confined and rigid, opting for more feminine and flowy casual ware.  The California-based story line also allows for great creativity.  A character living in Silverlake, for example, has clothing that represents the hipster vibe of the area.  Another character that is a successful model has high end clothing that represents top fashion found the world over – indicative of her many international photo shoots.

Summers and her team also have the ability, through the character’s costumes, to stretch the reality of their situations.  For instance, a character would go to an interview wearing a tight pink dress to emphasize the fantasy and comedy of the situation; outright winking at the absurdity of the scenario.

“The show is for women and about women.  It’s a fantastic world with heightened visuals,” said Summers.

Creating and sourcing the fanciful costumes in “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” has a very tricky challenge. Although the show is set in Los Angeles, it is shot in Vancouver.   Due to the back and forth of material or sourced goods, she works with an experienced crew that knows exactly what needs to be taken care of to keep the department running on a tight timeline.  Most of what she needs cannot be obtained in Vancouver, so she has a full time assistant based in LA who remotely works hand-in-hand with her.

The ability to work closely with a team aided in her landing the costume designer spot on “UnREAL”.  She joined the series during its second season through the recommendation of crew members whom she worked with on “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.”   She loved the series exploration of women working in a male dominated field and the traits they take with (or against) each other to flourish.  Coming on in the second season, she was able to explore the rise of power female producers Quinn (Constance Zimmer) and Rachel (Shiri Appleby) as their reality series climbs in the ratings.

“(Coming into season two) the characters were away for six months, so we had tome come back (displaying their newfound wealth),” said Summers.  “Quinn is taking more meetings, wearing figure flattering outfits, basically wearing her money.  Rachel is now in Quinn’s job and is a vollitile character.  We had her dressed in Helmut Lange from head to toe.”

In addition to the main characters, Summers and her team have to dress day players and background actors.  Noting the series’ reality theme, she created a backstory for every character to help define the necessary costume.  Her selections begin as soon as she receives the script:  the production team figures out what extras will be pulled forward. She then communicates with the background casting agent exactly what traits they are looking for, and reviews the reference photos they send.  With cast in mind, she reaches out to background actors a few days in advance with a list of three variations of an outfit to bring.  These actors arrive two hours prior to call, allowing Summers and her team to review the outfits and pull items from their wardrobe to enhance or complete the looks. Additionally, the crew members shooting “UnREAL” often end up on camera.  Summers works with the crew members, defining outfits composed of blacks and greys and assists them when they may require multiple costume changes in a day.

“It’s a giant juggle,” said Summers.  “It’s amazing team in every department and I rely on them heavily.  It looks effortless – as a viewer you see it just as it should be and it feels normal.  An amazing team does a lot of leg work to put it together.”