Blowing Hot and Cool

THE FILM: “Mo’ Better Blues”

THE SETUP: Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) is a jazz trumpeter whose two girlfriends, schoolteacher Indigo Downes (Joie Lee) and aspiring singer Clarke Betancourt (Cynda Williams) find that though they may frequently hold the man, they seldom hold his self-absorbed soul. He gives that over to music-making with the Bleek Quintet, in a smoky club called Beneath the Underdog. And oh, this club! It’s a dreamy Art Deco design you’d never want to leave. There is trouble one night when Bleek leaps to defend his friend Giant (Spike Lee) from some shady characters. But in the end, friendship, life and love hit high notes that are sweet.

THE LOOK: Costume designer Ruth Carter and her staff built the film’s wardrobe around the be-bop era of the ‘40s and ‘50s. They culled fashion looks from books and reinterpreted styles using contemporary European and American ready-to-wear. Spike Lee (pictured) was easy to dress. “Everything for ‘Giant’ is oversized, I didn’t have to do a lot of tailoring,” says Carter. He and the other men in the movie wear designer labels, especially that of Sabato Russo, whose clothes are cut large and loose in earth-tone fabrics. “The colors are the most suitable for the many shades of brown skin,” says Carter. Among unusual accessories are the shirt with only half a collar and one point, for Washington. Carter bought it from a street vendor on Broadway in New York. Trivia buffs will be interested in other accessories, inspired by wardrobes of great contemporary jazz musicians. Carter explains: “Spike sports a pair of Dizzy Gillespie-style glasses. There are Thelonious Monk and Lester Young style short-brimmed hats.” Lee wears one interchangeably with a wider-brim style, both in solid black.

THE LABELS: For the men’s wardrobe, the designer labels flow: Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Kenzo, Claude Montana, Russo, Kansai Yamamoto, Valentino, all purchased in the designer showrooms that are off-limits to the general public. Joie Lee (Spike’s real-life sister) wears a no-name wedding dress from Domsey International, which Carter describes as one of the biggest thrift stores in New York. And the evening dress Williams wears for sing a strut-your-stuff number at the nightclub, is a Carter original. Floor-length, an off-white color, beaded and draped to show off Williams’ willowy figure, the dress is as cool as a trill of notes from a jazz saxophone.