Distinctive Duds for Three Dads
The Title: “Three Men and a Little Lady.”
The Script: The Three Men (Tom Selleck, pictured, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg), last seen together in “Three Men and a Baby,” return with a lively 5-year-old, Mary (Robin Weisman), for a roommate. But romantic mayhem replaces domestic bliss when Mary’s mom (Nancy Travis) gets engaged and takes her away to a big country estate in England.
The Look: Distinctive and dapper. Costume designer Louise Frogley created the Three Men’s wardrobes by mixing new designer wear with used clothes. Tom Selleck’s sober, successful New York architect, Peter, wears baggy pants and cotton shirts, a Prince of Wales-check linen suit, cardigans and vests, much of it by Ralph Lauren, and to top it off, wire-rim spectacles by Giorgio Armani for that serious, GQ look. Danson’s anxious-actor Jack lives in throwaway clothes, such as sweats, jeans and running shoes. For those macho moments, he adds a stressed leather bomber jacket. Frogley wanted Guttenberg’s artist, Michael, “to look as if he spent a lot of money on clothes but wasn’t absorbed by them. He’s rather unconsciously hip.” He wears lots of Giorgio Armani baggy double-pleated pants, cotton shirts, polo shirts and, when the occasion calls for it, a designer tux. As for the wardrobe of Weisman, Frogley says, “I wanted it to look like a jumbly mixture, as if everyone in the household contributed to her look.” She wears white ruffled socks and Mary Jane shoes for dress, gingham-check pinafores over playful-print T-shirts for everyday, baseball hats and roll-cuff blue jeans for the weekend.
Stores and Labels: Selleck’s designer wardrobe came straight from the source. “Lauren let me look at his swatches and then he had the clothes made special for Selleck,” said Frogley. Danson’s sweats and jeans are the stuff of department stores. His leather bomber came straight from Avirex, a New York- based manufacturer. Guttenberg’s clothes came from several Armani boutiques, including one in Beverly Hills. For Weisman, Frogley shopped at American Rag on La Brea, Palace Costume on Fairfax and swap meets. Pixietown in Beverly Hills provided the Liberty-print formal dresses she wore in England.
