Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla transports audiences back to the start of the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis in the late 1950’s and follows their relationship until the early 1970’s. We were lucky enough to chat with costume designer Stacey Battat about her incredible work on Priscilla, her sixth project with Coppola.

Kenzie Vanunu: The film was so immersed in her private life and not just all of the publicized looks we’re all so familiar with, what were your steps in researching how to plan those designs?
Stacey Battat: I know that they never came downstairs not fully dressed. I know that from Priscilla, you know secondhand because I didn’t speak to her but I spoke to Sofia and Cailee who both spoke to her. And I just kind of assumed like he was in Hollywood and just knowing from the photos that you do see of them that they were, you know, pretty current. They were fashionable people, they had access to like custom made clothes and nice clothes. So I did a lot of research through like, like looking at old Vogue’s and all the GQ magazines and old Harper’s Bazaar. I went to the Met fabric library and because that’s always inspiring just to see what were the trending fabrics or whatever.

Kenzie Vanunu: That’s so cool. The fabrics looked so like lived in, they didn’t look like they were just worn the first time. It was so thrilling to watch, especially when she’s in Germany, like it’s not new clothes she’s wearing, they looked like clothes she was wearing repeatedly.
Stacey Battat: Well, I think in Germany, that was our goal. And Germany, you know, she had stuff that she wore, you know, and then when she gets to Memphis like she’s a little bit like someone’s doll. The clothes are new. And there’s lots of them.

Kenzie Vanunu: The film spans multiple decades, but always feels entirely period accurate within each segment. How did you tackle the challenge of doing all that research and effortlessly moving from one time period to the next?
Stacey Battat: Thank you. I appreciate that. It was a difficult task. And I think it was just about trying to like be transitional because I think there’s like these markers of what makes the 60s and what makes the 70s. So to try to figure out like how to transition into like a bell bottom and also obviously looking at them during those times and being like okay, like at this point, she was kind of wearing a shift dress at that point. She was wearing pants and how do I like what’s the seam? You know what I mean? Like, how do I like bridge that gap now from like ’65 to ’71 or whatever. So, I think a lot of research. I mean, I can’t tell you how many Vogue’s and Harper’s Bazaar. I mean, I probably look through everyone from the 1959 to 1973.

Kenzie Vanunu: It must have been such an adjustment to go back to present day at the end of filming.
Stacey Battat: It’s actually strange. I always say this. I feel like at the end of every movie, I have an identity crisis. Because I really am so immersed in it. So after Priscilla, we had leftover pink fabric from the baby dress and I was very attracted to that pink fabric. And I had a coat made out of it.

Kenzie Vanunu: It’ll be the perfect holiday, party coat!
Stacey Battat: Yes, exactly!

Kenzie Vanunu: Cailee does an incredible job of playing Priscilla at every age, but the costume design along with the hair/makeup truly makes you believe her at each age. What were some of the methods you used to transition her age with the costume deign?
Stacey Battat: I mean, I think part of it was you know, obviously the looks of the time but then also just that we added a little bit of extra crinoline you know, in the early part so that the skirts were always fuller and like a little bit more childish. In the early ’60s, it got more streamlined and then eventually, she’s in pants and more authoritative. So I felt like there was definitely a kind of trajectory of silhouettes that maybe went from childish to adult but within the confines of what is you know, appropriate for those areas. And also, the colors like I feel like she was wearing baby pink at the beginning and you know, like more Peter Pan collar type stuff and then you know later that changes.

Kenzie Vanunu: Yeah, one of my favorite details I noticed was the whole time she’s in Germany she was wearing a locket. And then once she was with Elvis in Memphis, she like, upgraded to like a cross necklace. It didn’t it felt more mature and like, she was trying to be the wife figure. Not the, like 18 year old girl I was something I noticed straight away.
Stacey Battat: Aw, thank you! We joked around about all the time because it was cute! Priscilla did really wear a locket when in Germany and it had a picture of her biological father in it. And with the cross necklace, she’s trying to mold to him. So she now she’s like, ‘You like God? I like God. Yeah, yeah, cool. I’ll wear this.’

Kenzie Vanunu: I noticed she was fidgeting the cross necklace when they burn the books. And you can see that’s totally the reason why she is wearing his because she thought it was like a pleasing to his current interest. Cailee does such a great job of playing every age, but it was like the costuming that really just emphasized the stage of her life.
Stacey Battat: Aw, thank you. She was such a dream to work with. She was such an elegant, lovely, non-complaining as she was in so many settings. She was just such a dream.

Kenzie Vanunu: That’s so amazing to hear. For the reimagined looks we’ve all seen real photos of from the wedding looks to the jumpsuits on Jacob Elordi to the family photoshoot, what was the research like to ensure the accuracy of each look that you had to reimagine for the screen?
Stacey Battat: I mean, photos primarily. And I feel like lots of photos and we really dissected all of them to get all the details, you know, of what was in them. Like the pink dress had pockets in the seams, which is very, like indicative of clothes at that time. And it felt like we you know, the plaid dress with the goodbye scene was like a mohair fabric, but we got most of that from looking at photos with her. And then like we did some adaptations that shirt that she wears, in the in the family photo shoot, you know, we put a zipper up the back because you know we’re shooting a movie. You gotta get that over the beehive or whatever. Like, you know, we didn’t want to pull that like so where there was a zipper in the back, we did need some film friendly adaptations.

And then his, you know, super iconic things like his jumpsuit and whatnot, were surprisingly like they they’re still made by a company called BK Enterprises and they use the original patterns! Butch and Kim started by like making one and then they reached out to the guy who originally made them who ultimately gave them the pattern. So they work with all the original patterns for like 68 special stuff. And so they’re incredibly authentic.

Kenzie Vanunu: That’s amazing. When he she walked into Graceland and he was in the leather outfit, I was like, wow, like it looks so real. It’s just so cool to see him at home, just trying on outfits. Just a normal guy asking his wife, ‘what do you think of this?’ I love that aspect because I think something a lot of people don’t think about with Elvis is being nervous about something that went on to be so embraced.
Stacey Battat: I think that was something that we really wanted to express within the costumes is that there was an intimacy that they share. This was Elvis and Priscilla in their private life, not in the public eye. And who are they in those things and how do they relate to one another. I also want to say about that scene, the ’68 special our tailors, Yulia and Ahmed, are the tailors in that scene!

Kenzie Vanunu: In the film, there’s a moment where Elvis tells Priscilla blue is her color and she’s repeatedly seen in blue throughout the rest of the film. There’s another scene, which is something I remember from the memoir specifically, where he tells her patterns drown her out and she shouldn’t wear them. Given all of his stipulations that he imposed on her appearance, how did that impact your visual storytelling for Priscilla as a character?
Stacey Battat: So I think what I tried to do is, you know, when she, like after he tells her something that she is compliant, right? Like, she’s like, Oh, he likes blue. Also, it’s indicative of the time like, we, like, women didn’t have the same autonomy that they have now. But I think he told her, You look good in blues, so she would gear towards blue. But then when she was mad at him, like, I feel like when she went showed up in Los Angeles, she was wearing a pattern. And I felt like she did that to be like that was because like, she was like, You know what? I’m coming anyway.

Kenzie Vanunu: I loved seeing that because it was more because especially with Cailee’s performance, it’s not so much what she says, it’s like her actions. And I love seeing the costume design reflect that because I noticed that instantly. When she showed up in Bel Air, it was a big patterned hat with a matching pattern dress and I was like, ‘oh, she is angry at this man!’
Stacey Battat: Yes, exactly! She was! And that dress in that scene I would like to say was made by Anna Sui. She and I worked together to create it; it was one of her fabrics. And then we printed it on them on a more appropriate ’60s fabric and made one of her silhouettes.

Kenzie Vanunu: That is so incredible! I love the fashion collaborations within the film. Awesome. And then my final question is you’ve worked with Sofia on numerous modern and period pieces. Is there a different approach when she comes to you with something more period versus modern? And how you begin brainstorming?
Stacey Battat: We work really well together. And, you know, I love working with her. She’s very collaborative. I think also, because you become like, those of us who have worked with her a lot. Like we come on board early on. So I mean, not like early on, like, we just, it’s like in the conversation, like it’s in the world, right? Like she’ll say, like, ‘oh, I want to make a movie about Priscilla. Next year, or whatever,’ and then she’ll send you the script. And then like, in a way, it’s like, percolating for a little bit and like you’re thinking about it. And then like, sometimes you see something and then share it and say, like, ‘Oh, I thought of this for Priscilla, or whatever.’ But then obviously, like, once we get into the project, then there’s like, not lackadaisical research, you know, like, like real, like, you know, this is what we’re thinking and then I feel like we talked at the beginning and kind of figure out like, certain aspects like color palettes and whatever, and go from there.

Kenzie Vanunu: That is just so awesome to hear about the collaborative energy. Well, it was so nice to talk to you and congratulations on the film. It’s incredible work, and I’m so excited for everyone to see the film and your work.
Stacey Battat: I really appreciate that. Thank you!

You can read our review of Priscilla here.
The film is exclusively in theaters now.