Wes Jefferies; Expert on Military, Indian Costumes for Movies

Wes Jefferies, 93, motion picture costumer who specialized in military uniforms and Native American clothing. A native of Provo, Utah, Jefferies helped dress performers in about 75 movies from Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in the 1929 silent “The Taming of the Shrew” to Sidney Poitier in 1971’s “The Organization.” He began developing his eclectic knowledge of military uniforms when he dressed World War I characters for the 1930 Best Picture Oscar-winner “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Other classic military films he helped costume were: “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer” starring Gary Cooper in 1935, “Charge of the Light Brigade” with Errol Flynn in 1936, “Gone With the Wind” with Clark Gable in 1939, “Joan of Arc” with Ingrid Bergman in 1948, “Hell to Eternity” with Jeffrey Hunter in 1962, and “Sergeants Three” with Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack and “The Manchurian Candidate” with Sinatra, both in 1962. Jefferies honed his expertise in Native American dress for “Broken Arrow” and a number of John Ford westerns, among them “Wagon Master.” Jefferies’ many contributions to the motion picture industry included pioneering methods of “aging” new clothing to appear old and worn, helping develop shades of gray fabric that would appear “film white” in black-and-white pictures, and working on fabric colors at the inception of three-color process films in the mid-1930s. He earned life achievement awards from both the Society of Operating Cameramen and the Motion Picture Costumers Guild of America. In 1996, Jefferies was interviewed by Turner Broadcasting Co. for its “Oral History of Motion Picture Costuming.” On July 12 in Palm Desert.