Next week, Lorna Luft will take over Feinstein’s at Loews Regency in Manhattan to perform her one-woman show, “Songs My Mother Taught Me: The Judy Garland Songbook.” In honor of the event, we look back at a WWD story about costume designer Ray Aghayan, who dressed Garland for her short-lived TV series in the Sixties. “Marvelous to work with, a stimulating talent,” said the Tehran, Iran-born Aghayan about the actress. Here, a few more of his thoughts.
On “The Judy Garland Show”: “Her costumes are made at Western Costume by Elizabeth Courtney and never cost less than $1,400 each — and she usually has three changes per show.…What you call her ‘new sportiveness’ is really just an outgrowth of the way she prefers to dress. She comes to rehearsals comfortably in a shirt and pants.”
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On elegance: “Who is truly elegant among the personalities? After Audrey Hepburn, I really can’t think of anyone. It’s really so easy to dress well when you can afford the best designers, but I’ve seen Miss Hepburn arrive for a fitting at a Western Costume wearing Levi’s, a simple shirt and a 98-cent kerchief — and she looked great.”
On future plans: “Any other star wardrobes on the horizon? Don’t you think one big star a year is enough?”