Gods & Generals Uniforms:

[History36]

Hi,

Just curious if anyone happens to know who / what company made the uniform frock coats for G&G, by chance?

Thank you for any and all info,

 

[RedRover]

Richard LaMotte was the costume designer. Irvin Gates was the head tailor on the production. The head cutter & fitter, was Robert E. Moore III. Supported by several other cutters, fitters, tailors and seamstresses. Greg Starbuck made the military caps.

R.E. Moore, III, later worked on the CW themed "Emancipation" (2022).

 

[Rhea Cole]

The second half could have been filmed in a nudist colony. Nobody I know has seen the second half.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Hate to disappoint you but everybody is still wearing clothes after the intermission.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Hate to disappoint you but everybody is still wearing clothes after the intermission.

I guess I walked back into the wrong theater after the intermission.

 

[Vicksburger]

The second half could have been filmed in a nudist colony. Nobody I know has seen the second half.

One of the great movies of all time. Seen the second half many times. All fully clothed.

 

[History36]

Thank you for the responses. I thought I read that 'Grand Illusions' produced the uniforms (unless those names listed worked under that company namesake). Thanks again for the responses....

 

[RedRover]

Thank you for the responses. I thought I read that 'Grand Illusions' produced the uniforms (unless those names listed worked under that company namesake). Thanks again for the responses....

"Grand Illusions" certainly made costumes for the film "Gettysburg" (1993). They used to advert the fact in their early 1990s advertisements. I remember an occasion they had a sutler setup at a reenactment in that period and displayed some of the clothes they had made for that film.

Their old 1990s ad:

 

[History36]

Yeah, I kinda recall seeing that ad back when I was a kid! But, hmm, someone posted that they have uniforms made by Grand Illusions for G&G. With that being said, should I be skeptical...?

 

[RedRover]

Yeah, I kinda recall seeing that ad back when I was a kid! But, hmm, someone posted that they have uniforms made by Grand Illusions for G&G. With that being said, should I be skeptical...?

I would presume it is likely Grand Illusions made some stuff for G&G if they were still in business. The same production company that made Gettysburg made Gods & Generals a decade later.

So here's what I can find. Gods and Generals was filmed in the summer and fall of 2001. Butch Whitlock, the owner of Grand Illusions, passed away in 2005.

This article from 1999, quotes Richard La Motte (later the costume designer for Gods and Generals) that he enjoyed doing business with Grand Illusions...

Favorite Features - Grand Illusions

By Mary Alice Garrett This story originally appeared August 26, 1999 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware. Fashions are timeless at Grand Illusions, where historical re-enactors and Hollywood costumers shop for new clothes that look like they’re more than 100 years old. The reproduction

sites.google.com

IMDB lists Mr. Whitlock as a costume designer for Gods and Generals...

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926108/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_12_2

So it would appear that Grand Illusions was still in business and worked on Gods and Generals...

 

[Joe Whitworth]

Were all the clothes furnished by the production company or were a lot of personal items worn by the extras? A lot of G&G and was filmed on an old friend's (now passed) historic farm outside Keedysville. The prop railroad cars decorated a hay field for a spell after the filming. He and his son both had bit parts.

 

[RedRover]

Were all the clothes furnished by the production company or were a lot of personal items worn by the extras? A lot of G&G and was filmed on an old friend's (now passed) historic farm outside Keedysville. The prop railroad cars decorated a hay field for a spell after the filming. He and his son both had bit parts.

The production employed a large number of reenactors, most of whom had their own period clothing and guns, cannons, horses, etc. According to this video, several thousand reenactor hobbyists participated in the various scenes...

But there was still certainly lots and lots of costumes on hand for non-reenactor extras, stunt-men, besides the actors, etc.

 

[Joe Whitworth]

Thanks for posting the video. Some of those locales were quite familiar, I fished in the creek, camped in the meadow and hunted all over Austin's farm in my long ago youth....

 

[Steven Rockwell]

One of the things that always bugged me with Gettysburg and later G&G is so many of the uniforms look they were issued that morning. Some of those men would have been campaigning for weeks before we get to the moments of the movies and their uniforms should have looked like it. Dirty and dusty, worn, patched knees and elbows, etc. At least Sam Elliot made the effort to make his uniform look like he'd been in the saddle for days. Obviously people like Lee or Hancock would have clean uniforms in their personal wagons and orderlies to make sure they looked their very best all the time, but all those privates should have looked worn out.

I do realize it comes down to the reenactors treating their equipment and uniforms with care.. I do the same thing with the AmRev stuff I have. But it just nags at me when I see it on screen.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Seen the second half many times. All fully clothed.