On Monday afternoon, 1883 shared a clip of costume designer Janie Bryant talking about working with creator Taylor Sheridan and the importance of authenticity in the character’s costumes.
The Yellowstone spinoff has been a massive success since it premiered in December. It’s been a huge hit with Yellowstone fans since the prequel has helped fill the void since Season 4 came to an end last month. Country music superstars Tim McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, portray the ancestors of John Dutton (Kevin Costner). Add Hollywood A-listers Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton to the mix and the series has a star-studded cast indeed.
As always with Sheridan-led TV shows, 1883 goes out of its way to be as authentic as possible. While many of the outfits worn in Yellowstone can be purchased through various retail shops, that isn’t the case with 1883. Since the show takes place almost 140 years ago, Bryant created every outfit from scratch.
“Designing 1883 has been quite the journey. And I was totally captured by the beautiful character development,” Bryant explained. “My most important goal is to be authentic to these characters. It’s so important to develop a character through costume.”
Director Taylor Sheridan strives for authenticity whether it’s on the set of Yellowstone, 1883, or any of his other popular shows. He chimed in that every single piece of clothing on set was made by Bryant and her team. The costume designer custom-made every shirt, jacket, uniform, and dress worn on the Paramount series.
“My initial approach is that costume designing really starts with the script,” Bryant adds. “That really helps me visually, and then I’ll start doing research. Taylor and I talked a lot about these wild characters and interesting colors. We’ve just really gelled together so well. It’s been so nice.”
‘1883’ Star Isabel May Explains Why She Wasn’t Afraid To Ride Horses
Another key part of Taylor Sheridan bringing authenticity to the set of his shows is his now-famous Cowboy Camps. The writer, director, and creator grew up on a ranch in Texas and knows the western lifestyle well. For shows like Yellowstone and 1883, he thinks the best way to make his actors look authentic onscreen is to make them live the lifestyle.
Sheridan frequently hires actors who come from western backgrounds. However, some actors like 1883 star Isabel May have no western experience whatsoever. During a recent interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, May admitted she’s a city girl, but she loved every minute of Sheridan’s Cowboy Camp. She even showed up early for the required training.
“I flew in about a week and a half earlier than everyone and just rode horses,” the 1883 star explained to Clarkson.
Clarkson briefly interrupted May to ask if it was scary at all learning to ride horses and going through such intensive training.
“Oh, I mean, come on. You’re just staying at someone’s house and riding horses all day,” May said of her training experience. “To be honest, no. I got really lucky. I just really wanted to be good at it and I really wanted to learn. So, that kind of overcame any sort of fear that I may have had.”
