From Uma Thurman's blood-splattered zip-up in Kill Bill to John Travolta's classic perfecto in Grease, leather jackets have served as cool armor for countless on-screen stars. While equally iconic, the leather bomber worn by aspiring dancer Frances Ha in the eponymous film doesn't so much make a statement as help its hapless owner blend in. Out today on Blu-ray/DVD from The CriterioN Collection, Frances Ha was co-written by couple Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, the former who directed the film and the latter who starred as Frances. "[The jacket] almost felt like some version of a superhero cape," Greta told me in an interview. "It helped me be her whenever I was wearing it."
For all its clumsiness, the jacket is charming––much like Frances. At the age of 27, while friends are hosting posh dinner parties and moving to Japan, she's still peeing on subway platforms and grimacing at bodega ATM fees. At one point, she books a weekend flight to Paris using a credit card she receives in the mail, only to sleep through most of the trip. "I'm not a real person yet," she admits to a date.
No one could say the same thing about Gerwig. Since making a name for herself in low-budget indie movies like Baghead, the actress has gone on to work with the likes of Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. And she's more likely to be spotted in Band of Outsiders campaigns and printed Suno dresses than bulky bomber jackets. Nevertheless, the garment in question remains in her closet. We discussed it by phone last week.
Alice Hines: Thanks for making the time to talk. Let's start with the leather jacket from Frances Ha––where is it now?
Greta Gerwig: It’s hanging in my closet, actually. I like to keep at least one clothing item from every character I really loved. We tried a lot of different leather jackets before we settled on that one. It was written into the script that [Frances] "wears a leather bomber jacket. It’s not cool it's just something someone gave her once and it’s too big.” And so we went in search of exactly that. When I had it on it almost felt like some version of a superhero cape. It didn't have any special talents, but actually created negative abilities. [Laughs] It helped me be her whenever I was wearing it.
Is having a signature item of clothing something that's unique to Frances? Or is that helpful for all characters?
Clothing is for me a very big part of figuring out who a character is. The way people choose to present themselves to the world says a lot about who they think they are and who they aspire to be. I find that the really good directors are quite specific about what [characters] wear. The more specific the better.
You said that Frances' jacket comes with a negative superpower. What would that be?
The inability to create the life you want for yourself. I have a lot more embarassment than Frances has, as a person. And I think in a lot of ways Frances is impervious to embarrassment and to how other people perceive her. She isn’t necessarily good at reading them. When I put on that jacket, I felt like I was equally uninterested in what anybody else thought. It's not a negative superpower but something I would actually like to be better at in my own life. Just because I think sometimes preoccupation about what other people think can interfere with you just living your life.
For all its clumsiness, the jacket is charming––much like Frances. At the age of 27, while friends are hosting posh dinner parties and moving to Japan, she's still peeing on subway platforms and grimacing at bodega ATM fees. At one point, she books a weekend flight to Paris using a credit card she receives in the mail, only to sleep through most of the trip. "I'm not a real person yet," she admits to a date.
No one could say the same thing about Gerwig. Since making a name for herself in low-budget indie movies like Baghead, the actress has gone on to work with the likes of Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. And she's more likely to be spotted in Band of Outsiders campaigns and printed Suno dresses than bulky bomber jackets. Nevertheless, the garment in question remains in her closet. We discussed it by phone last week.
Alice Hines: Thanks for making the time to talk. Let's start with the leather jacket from Frances Ha––where is it now?
Greta Gerwig: It’s hanging in my closet, actually. I like to keep at least one clothing item from every character I really loved. We tried a lot of different leather jackets before we settled on that one. It was written into the script that [Frances] "wears a leather bomber jacket. It’s not cool it's just something someone gave her once and it’s too big.” And so we went in search of exactly that. When I had it on it almost felt like some version of a superhero cape. It didn't have any special talents, but actually created negative abilities. [Laughs] It helped me be her whenever I was wearing it.
Is having a signature item of clothing something that's unique to Frances? Or is that helpful for all characters?
Clothing is for me a very big part of figuring out who a character is. The way people choose to present themselves to the world says a lot about who they think they are and who they aspire to be. I find that the really good directors are quite specific about what [characters] wear. The more specific the better.
You said that Frances' jacket comes with a negative superpower. What would that be?
The inability to create the life you want for yourself. I have a lot more embarassment than Frances has, as a person. And I think in a lot of ways Frances is impervious to embarrassment and to how other people perceive her. She isn’t necessarily good at reading them. When I put on that jacket, I felt like I was equally uninterested in what anybody else thought. It's not a negative superpower but something I would actually like to be better at in my own life. Just because I think sometimes preoccupation about what other people think can interfere with you just living your life.