Adorned in Sweetness and Light

The Movie: “To Die For”

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The Setup: Small-town news anchor wanna-be Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) lets nothing and no one get in the way of her big ambitions.

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The Costume Designer: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor, whose films include “The Fisher King,” “Indecent Proposal” (with Bernie Pollack and Bobbie Read) and “Drugstore Cowboy.”

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The Look: After a movie full of Suzanne Stone, it will be difficult to ever again feel kindly toward anyone wearing pink. There’s something hysterically off about her, starting with the fact that she apparently never heard from basic black. Unemployed but camera-ready at all times, she favors short, tight suits in pink and other unrelentingly cheery colors--canary yellow, powder blue, foam green and lavender. Even her hair (sort of Jane Pauley, circa 1980) and makeup, including candy pink lips and Easter basket-color eye shadows, seem poised for a close-up. It’s a clever ploy, for Suzanne makes an unforgettable film image.

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Triumph: On a winter day, Suzanne dresses her dog to match her, in a pink coat and hat.

You Should Know: With Suzanne eventually rising to become a small-town cable weather girl, Pasztor spent plenty of time channel surfing for weather people. Her conclusion: “They dress funny. They always have that big map going behind them. The background is so intense, it’s very hard for them to compete with. So sometimes they wear strange patterns or very bright colors.”

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Quoted: “I didn’t want people identifying Suzanne with any specific news anchor because she’s pretty much a special case. She’s a little bit removed from reality. So you take a little bit from here and a little bit from there,” Pasztor says.

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Sources: Finding clothes for Suzanne was a challenge since most designers work strictly in dark and neutral palettes. Moschino was the only contemporary label with strong colors, patterns and an inherent sense of humor. In hopes of keeping the film unattached to a specific year, the designer avoided clothes made during the same season. Instead, she relied on a sampling of Manhattan resale stores where Upper East Side women empty their closets. The dog’s outfit was hand-knit for the production.