Latex Bodysuits, Leather Pants, and Sarah Palin Suits—The Real Story of Costuming Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for Their SNL Return Inline
Photo: Courtesy of NBC1/8Monologue
“They wrote this monologue and they explained that it’s going to be Christmasy and that they play these opposites, so that’s what we were working on. Tina had found this jumpsuit that she wanted to wear with the white stripe and the black bottom. What we did for Amy was we took apart an Antonio Berardi dress, which was all white, and we created a black bottom and kept the Antonio Berardi white top. Then they both had green earrings on to give a little nod to Christmas,” Broecker explained of the duo’s elegant opening number outfits. “The thing that’s so amazing about working on the show is having people come back, like Tina, Amy, and Maya [Rudolph], who are such amazing performers and such amazing people. I worked with Tina on 30 Rock for seven years, so I kind of know Tina’s body very well. [laughs] Amy has a completely different style and a completely different aesthetic, so it was nice to think about which of them could wear what.”
Photo: Courtesy of NBC2/8A Hillary Christmas
For the sketch starring Kate McKinnon as present-day Hillary Clinton with Poehler and Fey reprising their 2008 turns as Clinton and Sarah Palin, respectively, Broecker dug into the SNL archive. “Those were suits that they had worn before. That literally was an outfit that Amy wore in 2008, and that was one of the original Sarah Palin outfits that Tina wore,” he said. As for creating the look for Clinton-in-2015, Broecker works with an SNL team member to scrutinize each political candidate’s outfit so that it can be perfectly re-created on the show. “This is an opportunity for a female president to show the world how you can be powerful and an amazing dresser at the same time,” he said of Clinton’s current, more fashion-savvy styles.
Photo: Courtesy of NBC3/8Movie Set with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
The spoof of Carol featuring Kenan Thompson’s crazy sounds posed a challenge for Broecker, namely: how to have two leading ladies in similar outfits not detract form each other on-screen. “The cast has to balance around the host, and then all of a sudden you have two hosts, so you have to think about how to balance two people who have to be themselves, be a character, and not have one upstage the other, unless that’s the intention,” he said. For this sketch, the balance laid in the colors and shapes of Fey’s and Poehler’s retro suits. “I had about seven suits that we had and that I found from vintage stores, and so it was about making sure the silhouettes were simplified and then it was visually about trying to do a color balance.”
Photo: Courtesy of NBC4/8Weekend Update
From 2004 to 2006, Fey and Poehler ruled the Weekend Update desk with their quick wit and ridiculous monologues. Their look was always a structured blazer with a white camisole top underneath. This week, the pair reprised their newscaster roles in their actual costumes from years past. “Those were their original jackets,” Broecker remembered.
Photo: Courtesy of NBC5/8Tina and Amy’s Dope Squad
Featuring Fey and Poehler’s actual nannies, their actual gynecologist, Gayle King, and Amy Schumer this parody of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video may have been Broecker’s most ambitious costuming of the evening. “We had all the pictures [from the Swift video] around us. We prepped that Thursday morning, and we starting shooting it at 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning, so we had basically 18 hours to find costumes, prep, and alter,” Broecker said of the tight schedule. “We had this aesthetic for each one that we wanted to create. Amy wanted to wear a corset, so that went with that, and Tina was in an old Gareth Pugh dress that we cut the lining of the sleeve out of.”
