Gunning for Style

The Movie: “The Quick and the Dead.”

The Setup: Slinging a six-gun, Ellen (Sharon Stone) arrives in Redemption to avenge the death of her father in the Old West, circa 1878.

The Costume Designer: Judianna Makovsky, whose credits include “Six Degrees of Separation” and “Reversal of Fortune.”

Hit: This female toughie successfully diverges from a long line of primped-up Western babes descending from “Gunsmoke’s” Kitty Russell. Makovsky invents a new and appealing Western woman fantasy--one who’s dressed for dusty, rugged business, but not to be confused with a man. Her boots may be tooled with flowers, but watch out for those shiny spurs. She courageously pairs sexy lace-up leather pants with a beautifully embroidered Victorian bustle jacket, man’s linen shirt and handsome turquoise and silver belt and gun buckles. The whole effect might even give Ralph Lauren pause.

Miss: Even if it is Sharon Stone and she does have pretty shoulders, she shows too much of them in a purple silk dress (with wonderful Mexican-style embroidery) for a dress-up date. If it weren’t for Ellen’s hard scowl, she’d practically revert into a gun moll.

Quoted: “It was basically a studio choice to have her look sexy. They hired Sharon Stone, and they didn’t want her to look dowdy,” Makovsky said. “The studio discussed (her) wearing a skirt, but Sharon and I never liked the idea because we were afraid it would make her look like Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill’s riding show.”

Trivia: “The big battle was getting the trousers to look great on camera,” Makovsky said. “Leather is very hard on camera--it tends to make people look fatter.” To fine-tune the fit, Stone stood before a mirror in a muslin version of the pants, and she and a draper drew lines corresponding to the longest parts of her leg muscles. The seaming on the leather trousers was made accordingly.

Inspiration: The costume collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Sergio Leone “spaghetti Westerns” for the Mexican fashion influence, period magazines.

Good Hair Day: Ellen’s cinema realite long, stringy hair was accomplished with a half wig and blond “sunlighting.”

Sources: Some items--including lace mitts, a rain slicker, a Mexican shawl and weird blue granny glasses--are antique. The rest of Ellen’s costumes, as well as the extraordinary embroidered jacket worn by Ace Hanlon (Lance Henriksen), were made at John David Ridge costume house in Los Angeles.