Welcome to our series Playing Dress Up, where we talk to the minds behind some of our favorite film and TV costumes. From fantasy looks that take our breath away to iconic outfits you can recreate from your own closet, these designers do it all.
There are some movie costumes that are instantly recognizable, and High School Musical is definitely one of them (Gabriela's red dress and Sharpay's entirely-pink wardrobe, to name a few). In the final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the new characters we've come to love put on a production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and we talked to costume designer María Aguilar about recreating the iconic costumes from the original film, working with actors like Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman, and her time working on Dawson's Creek.
Image via Natalie Cass/Disney
B+C: Congrats on such a great season, and on having so many amazing costumes! I love how colorful and how much personality is in all of these different looks. How did you approach highlighting every character's personality while also elevating them as they grow?
MA: I like to collaborate with people more. I'm not somebody that's like, "You have to do this," I like to go in and make everybody feel like they're having a great time. And then it just evolves, right? Because people are quirky, they bring their own personalities and they shape themselves, and then they're comfortable as an actor.
Everybody has fun with it, and in my department, I invite everybody to play in the game. It's like, "I might be the designer, but I don't want to lead this down the wrong road. So if you guys all want to jump in and you have confidence and you have fun with it, I don't care." I think it's a fun game...If you can't have fun with fashion, you're in trouble.
B+C: The fun definitely comes across. What was it like to work with actors like Sofa Wylie and Dara Reneé on such a behind-the-scenes, external process since they're so involved in the characters' internal life?
MA: [Dara's] such a great spirit. She loves fashion...she has an amazing eye. So I've taken her every year to the mall, and she's so amazing. She can pick an outfit from Forever 21, she can remember when she gets to Urban Outfitters, she can remember when she gets to all her stores, and she's created outfits. And I'm like, "How do you do that?" I pull stuff and I style, [but] she made all these outfits and I didn't even know she was doing it when we were shopping...And Sofia's amazing the other way in that she's completely hands off, she gives you incredible boards, incredible direction, [she's] very specific.
I really force people to interact with me that way — I want to know about what you think. And I also have a huge mirror behind me [in the fitting rooms], and when I shoot them with the camera, they're looking at the mirror, at themselves, the whole time when they're doing their fitting pictures or doing their thing. So I like you to give me feedback so I know that you're comfortable [and] you're happy.
Image via Fred Haynes/Disney
B+C: Doing a production of High School Musical 3 within the show allowed you to recreate some iconic looks from the original movies. How did you approach still making them recognizable while giving them a modern edge for new viewers?
MA: Well, you know, they had to have a modern edge because those things don't exist [anymore]...It was sort of like what you could find to buy and then what you could manipulate. But it was a lot of trying to remember where [an item] was, trying to find this, that, or the other...Dara [whose character Kourtney plays Sharpay] — she was ready for that moment, and then Julia [whose character Ashlyn plays Kesli], she definitely had a different idea where she wanted to take it...It just came together, and it was fast and furious.
B+C: Tell us about dressing some cast members from the original films like Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman! What was the energy like having them on set?
MA: They were all great in their different way. They were all so happy to be there, and they were having a little reunion. [They got to] bring all that emotion to a show, and then you see it bounce around the room. It was a big number, that opening number is pretty sensational, and they're all so talented.
Image via Fred Haynes/Disney
B+C: Shifting a little bit, you also worked on a few other productions with The WB, and I can't pass up the opportunity to ask you about working with shows like Dawson's Creek!
MA: You know what I did for years? Their campaigns, their upfronts. So I worked with them all, I'd be meeting them over the weekend and dressing 55 actors from shows...And that's how I got Dawson's Creek because I was dressing Busy Philipps [and] she fell in love with me...So I got to go to Dawson's Creek and dress Michelle Williams.
The last season was when I came in, and then all I would do was fly out with FedEx from Barney, Neimans, and Saks, and that's all I did was walk out and they would just have fun. I love clothing, and if you love clothing, that's great, because that is my thing...And clothing's powerful. It's a hard game, but it's a powerful tool. But yes, so Tim, I think that's why he hired me! I worked on Dawson's Creek.
B+C: At Brit + Co, we talk a lot about creativity and inspiration, and I'd love to know how you fill your cup creatively and how you find inspiration.
MA: When I start, I buy a lot of stuff, and I don't even have it be a label because it doesn't matter to me. Sofia's dress, the gown [from episode 8], was the only label I've really remember buying other than working on The WB. But that Carolina Herrera gown was so beautiful, and it was perfectly what Tim wanted.
I sit on the internet for hours and I just look at every single thing and I see how unusual it is, and I just buy it and I have it in a closet of stuff. I do ASOS, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, I do Neiman's...I put all the little — Tim calls them the paper dolls — I take photos, I cut them out, I put them on the walls. And everybody can come in and see their outfits, and they see what everybody else is wearing, and they just come in and I put the story up on the wall as we build it. So I love everybody to know what's going on...Let everybody do their jobs and sit back and watch how it goes. I'm like, "I'm not here to lead the show. I'm just going along with you guys."
Which High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4 costume was your favorite? Let us know in the comments and check out our Interview page for more exclusives!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
