When you think of one WesternYou are likely to think of the wild west: perhaps the after-civil war days in the 1870s and the battle of Little Bighorn, or the 1880s and the rifle match at OK Corral.
“1923” Then had a special challenge: to convey many of the most recognizable Western motifs, 10-gallon hats, Chaps-But developed 40 years in addition to the most recognizable period. 1920s was a time when the wild west of Montana, the home state Taylor SheridanThe family’s central Dutton, collided directly with modern times.
Costume designer Janie Bryant Had already played the same role on Sheridan’s previous series “1883” and won an Emmy for costume design “Deadwood” (except “Mad Men”, for which she received several nominations). Because of the past experience of Westerners, she was very adapted to the subtle differences needed for “1923. “Things like how, in” 1883 “, no cowboys would have worn plaid in” 1923 “, after the great influx of Scottish immigrants to Montana during the decades – Montana at this time would have been a patchwork of accents that reflects all different ethnicities that had only come there – the box would have been broad.
Authenticity was all too Bryant to design and buy the clothes that all characters wear, and she has been nominated for outstanding period costumes of 2025 Emmys for “1923.” As Michelle Randolph says in the video below, so much of her clothes on season 2 of the show – socks, hats, gloves – was actual vintage items from the 1920s that Bryant found and acquired for her to wear.
“The biggest difference from the 1880s to the 1920s is really the high, crowned cowboy hats,” Bryant told IndieWire. “If you look at Jacob’s hat, Harrison Ford’s hat – I call his hat ‘The Jacob’ – and it’s a Montana Peak fold,” a cowboy hat with a particularly high center or crown, much higher than what is often depicted for cowboys before the 1920s. But in the 20th century this had become more style, partly thanks to the Hollywood actor and movie Cowboy Tom Mix, a big screen star in the 1910s and 20s.
“He is an exaggerated example, but if you look at cowboy Tom Mix, he had a very, very high crowned hat,” Bryant said. “There is a big difference in what Cowboys bar in the 1880s, very different style.” You compare the cowboy hats over “1923” with photos of mix, and they are very similar. A superstar on his day, mix may not even be known for many cinefilers today, but he was on Bryant’s radar. And through its action, “1923” itself recognizes the increasing influence of Hollywood even at that time, as several local Cowboy characters in the story are said to have moved Montana to try their hand at the growing film industry. (This is a time, think of you, when the actual Wyatt Earp of OK Corral Famous was literally an counselor for Westerns on Hollywood movie sets.)
And given that season 2 of “1923” has all its Montana setting that takes place during a particularly brutal winter, it was also important to catch authentic winter clothes for this very unique time and place. “They wore lots and lots of layers, like layers that the audience didn’t even see, the thermals, the sweaters, layers of just like sweaters, shirts, all these elements,” Bryant said. “They wore many layers that you really couldn’t see under their jackets – scarves, gloves, hats – it was all layered on. And I mean, it was really cold.” It even hit a negative 21-degree Fahrenheit wind cooling at a point during shooting.
Then it is the question of winterizing the costumes to make them look as if they have been in the cold for a very long time. During much of Season 2, Yellowstone -ranch is suspended from the nearby city of Bozeman because of how impossible roads and tracks come from the snow. And the clothes must reflect constant use under these difficult conditions.
“I have a wonderfully disturbing and aging team,” Bryant said. “I work with them on aging and distress the costumes because that’s such an important element for ‘1923,’ that the costumes are aged, that they don’t appear Brand new. For (Randolph’s Character) Elizabeth, SHE HAD MANY. Then at Different Times in the script, we would make it dirty, dirty, dirty until she’s laid up on the sofa.
Bryant helped to tell the story of “1923” – ie, actually promoted the action – in a huge way through her suits. The clothes identify different fractions and clearly delineate some of the battle lines. “In Bozeman you see men who wear suits and well -dressed women in the latest fashion,” said Bryant. “It is contrary to what happens at Dutton’s Yellowstone Ranch, where they are a little more old-fashioned and they still use horses rather than cars and have a much more traditional cowboy aesthetic.”
Using the clothes to tell the story was especially important in terms of Julia Schlaepfer’s AlexThe British aristocrat who is in love with Brandon Sklenar’s Spencer and travels halfway around the world to be with him again – endure a lot in the process.
“Alex really went on a trip where she lost everything,” Bryant said. “Basically, in season 1, because of her Journey with Spencer, she just kept losing things. Had the clothes on her back, and then she was given this job to be a waitress on the train.
It becomes even more relevant given her poor prevailing decision to accept a car ride through Dakotas and Montana Winter from a well-meaning but somewhat vacant Chicago couple, Paul and Hillary.
“Taylor had written that the ladies were not really traveling with gloves because it was the end of March, and they thought,” Oh, it will be hot, “said Bryant.” It was definitely a point in the story where they were not well prepared. I mean, they had brought some blankets and that kind of things, but they were not prepared for how cold it would be. “Terrible consequences follow – and all because of the most important plot role that the clothes play in the story.
Bryant designed suits for two of the most acclaimed programs from the 2000s in “Deadwood” and “Mad Men”, show where the clothes contributed directly to the story. “1923” Season 2 is in all respects a continuation of what she did so well on these shows: cultivate a sense of total immersion where you lose yourself in another world, and the story can be so much more powerful.
