#judianna markovsky

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Hey you feel like an expert and I've been looking for years.

Dr Chase's dress in the first film at the anniversary gala for the archives is absolutely gorgeous and I can't find anything about it anywhere. Do you know anything about the costuming of the film?

Also love the blog omg keep up the good work!!!

RE: Abigail's Dress

Hi Anon,

I am flattered that I seem like an expert, and that you've been enjoying the blog!

Unfortunately, I am the opposite of an expert when it comes to clothes, costuming, and fashion. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing other people analyze the costuming choices in film and tv, I just don't have much to add to the conversation.

That said, let's see if we can do some digging!

Digging ↓ (ft. answers!)

The first place I started was the thank yous at the end of the credits.

Right before the music credits is usually where the filmmakers thank significant contributors. For National Treasure we see a lot of places where they shot on location--the D.C., NYC, and Philadephia film offices, the National Archives and Washington D.C. public transit.

Also Knott's Berry Farm, which seems out of place until you learn that it features an exact replica of Independence Hall. This was used for some of the exterior shots of Ben carving the brick out of the wall in place of the real thing.

You'll also see Ferrari mentioned. This is for the promotional consideration of allowing one of their cars to appear in the film.

My thinking was that if the dress was designer, said designer might be thanked here as well.

But alas, no luck.

Clothes-from-film Sites

I turned to google, though from your question it seems like you've searched for this before, so I my expectations were not high.

There are plenty of sites where you can look up clothes worn in film and television, though National Treasure is old enough and, um... underrated enough that I didn't have any luck here. (Edge of History is another story. If anyone's looking for clothes featured there, you'll see plenty of results!)

Into the wilds of the web we go then.

The Miscellaneous Internet

On Anwers.com, I found this post that states the dress was made by the film's costume designer, Judianna Makovsky. (And is actually blue, not black!!????!)

The answer provides an address to an article titled "National Treasure: Diane Kruger A Dress For Action" on clothesonfilm.com.

Unfortunately, that link leads to no-no bad spam places, as clothesonfilm.com no longer exists.

However, I found that same article referenced on film clothes sourcing website spoturn.com.

A search for the article title turned up what appears to be the entire text of the article posted on a forum.

(Make sure to scroll down past the no-longer-hosted photos! The article stretches over several posts from user Lynn866)

I'll grab the bit that discusses the gala dress, but whole article is fantastic and definitely worth a read!

National Treasure: Diane Kruger, a Dress for Action by Lord Christopher Laverty 27 Nov 2009 ... Abigail on the other hand has probably spent an entire month’s salary on her outfit. The results of which are stunning: [Missing image, presumably of Abigail at the gala] Midnight blue silk gazar evening dress with matching lace overlay, fitted bodice with chiffon bow to waist, deep v-neck to front and back, full skirt with under-netting; short blue velvet jacket with flared sleeves, black high heel shoes, open toe with ankle straps; vintage ruby stone earrings. Although the dress looks black on screen it is actually midnight blue (slightly visible when Abigail leaves the Archives and backlight shines through the chiffon). This colour variation is possibly due to the demands of motion picture lighting. The former Prince of Wales, Edward VII, reputedly had two types of dinner suit on standby, a black for outdoor functions and a midnight blue for indoor. Under artificial light, dark blue can appear as black; a better black than black in fact. The dress’ luxury organza fabric is a crisp, heavy silk gazar from Paris with dyed lace to match; the jacket is blue silk velvet and chiffon. Based on an original design by Judianna Makovsky, the finished article was made by her long-time collaborator John David Ridge.

The earrings are:

Genuine 19th century Russian, they were supplied by L.A. based jewellery merchant Vicki Lynn. These earrings coolly offset the demureness of the dress, enlivening it with just a hint of glitz. That they date from the 1800s nods to Abigail’s love of history.

So. It appears the dress was custom made for the film by the costume designer.

However, if you absolutely have to have one, lizdress.com will apparently custom-make a number of film & tv outfits, including Abigail's dress.

Blue or Black?

Lord Christopher Laverty definitely knows better than I would, but just to corroborate the blue-for-black thing:

• "Rich Black" appears, well richly black, in print, but is not true black in a color theory sense.

• The Addams' Family house for the 1964 tv show was pink, because pink lended the right tone of eerie gray on black and white film.

• The Parthenon contains no straight lines to compensate for the eye's natural distortion so as to appear straight.

I'd argue that the dress was always intended to appear black, mostly based on how Abigail is framed to parallel Ben at so many points during the party/heist sequence.

This is a black tie event, and she's meant to appear as a natural part of the party's black and beige color palette. At no point is she staged as an Elle Woods type who is visually sticking out.

Conclusion

This article is a gold mine, and I'd definitely like to return to it from a character analysis point of view at some point! Thanks so much for helping me come across it.

Thanks so much for you question! Feel free to send another any time!

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

Judianna Markovsky was a downgrade.

Concept art for Zack Snyder’s Justice League by Jojo Aguilar