‘Almost Famous’ Costume Designer Discusses Iconic Looks 25 Years Later (Exclusive)

Stillwater Runs Deep!

Heimann says the “theme” behind the fictional band Stillwater was “Cowboy Outlaw.”

“Cameron Crowe and I had our own set of photographic research. Mine was from a Neil Young tour and his was from his time on the road with Led Zeppelin and the Eagles,” Heimann shares. “The Eagles and Allman Brothers were a big influence to me for that look.”

“Everything in that movie except the blue jeans I designed. The blue jeans are all authentic and we went up to Seattle and dug through the barrels of the Buffalo Exchange and pulled out all the real jeans, but everything else is made. I consider it an honor and a compliment to my craft that everybody thought that I shopped at vintage stores for the movie.”

Russell Hammond’s ‘Effortless’ Rockstar Look

The costume designer says she wanted Russell Hammond to look effortlessly cool without trying too hard.

“Billy Crudup’s character Russell was the guy who didn’t wanna be famous, who was put in the front, who was being made famous,” she says. “I wanted him to have an ‘I don’t really care look,’ but he looks hot. There’s one shirt he wears a lot. The great thing about a road picture is that they can only have so much in a suitcase. I love the idea of repeating costumes, because that’s real.”

“He wears this dusty rose pink shirt for his ‘I’m a Golden God’ scene. There were a lot of muslin shirts at that time. I made that shirt out of raw silk because it had a drier feeling to it.”

Like most of the costumes, the bulk of Crudup’s wardrobe was custom-made, despite looking like they were true vintage pieces.

“We made the jacket that Billy Crudup wears and his signature leather jacket. My leather guy went back and learned how to do the North Beach leather lacing for me for the film. It was brand new and we beat it up like it was on the road.”

Jeff Bebe’s Search for Style

Jason Lee’s character, Jeff Bebe, is “the guy who always wants to be in the front,” says Heimann, so she got to have a bit of fun with his ever-changing wardrobe.

“He is in the front, but he keeps getting pushed to the back in his mind; he has an ego problem that can’t be satisfied,” she explains. “I made all of his T-shirts. He did everything. He got a big studded belt, put the conchos on, put the jewelry on, and did everything he could.”

“He dressed all in black to be the dark guy like the Allman Brothers. Then he tried to be a cowboy western guy in a western shirt. He didn’t have a complete direction. He was constantly struggling to be important. I wanted to show that by his being all over and not having a consistent look.”

Larry Fellows’ Tailored Outfits

Heimann carried the same mindset regarding Hammond’s closet while making Larry Fellows’ wardrobe, but this time, she focused a bit more on tailoring.

“Larry was a real musician. I would look at him and say, ‘Did I do it right?’ He’d say, ‘Great. Perfect,'” she recalls.

“The real musicians like him were similar to Billy Crudup’s costume, but more tailored because the ’70s were more tailored. Not the ‘I just woke up’ kind of clothes.”

Ed Vallencourt’s Disappearing Act

While Ed Vallencourt wasn’t the flashiest character, Heimann was just as intentional with his outfit choices.

“For the drummer, I dressed totally in Henleys of all different colors because he was stealth. He never said anything,” she explains. “He was holding a big, deep, dark secret inside. He didn’t really want people to pay attention to him. He was happy playing the drums and being in the band. I dressed him like he disappeared.” 

Lester Bangs and ‘Detroit Sucks’

Lester Bangs was a real-life music journalist and critic who acted as a mentor to director and writer Cameron Crowe. While Heimann says pictures of the real-life Bangs were “very hard to find,” Crowe had a few she used as inspiration for his clothing.

“Phil Seymour Hoffman really worked hard on that character, and he had his techniques of doing that, and he wanted it real,” she says.

One of the photos they had of Bangs was him in a “Detroit Sucks” shirt, so they had a replica made. “Pretty much everything that Phil wore was as close as I could get to the real thing,” Heimann shares.

The simple shirt is now one of the best-known looks from the film, but Heimann says she is “not surprised” that it’s so popular. 

“It resonates if it’s simple and it doesn’t distract the audience. It’s just two words. [Detroit Sucks] is just two words.”

Penny Lane’s Effortless Style

It was important to Heimann to style Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane as “effortlessly cute and chic in a way that would be easy.” 

With almost everything else, Heimann designed Lane’s blouses and paired them with straight Levi’s 501s. 

“Sometimes she’s a cute tomboy, but then we can see her vulnerability. When she says ‘What kind of beer?’ I wanted to see her at her most vulnerable,” she explains. “How she pulls herself back into her cocoon. I put all those ruffles in the front and when she walked, the light would go through.” 

Penny Lane’s Coat

Heimann knew Lane’s fur-lined coat was a “big deal” for both Crowe and the movie as a whole.

“When we first meet her, and she’s in her hometown, she’s got on her velvet bell-bottoms and her platform shoes. She knows she’s gonna see Russell, and she’s got on her coat,” Heimann recalls.

The costume designer says she first tried to knit the coat, using Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment as a reference. 

When that didn’t work, she combined the styles from an Afghan coat and a vintage 1920s opera coat to make the now-iconic design. The fur collar was made from a rug purchased at Urban Outfitters. Heimann says the color had to be an exact shade of cream so that it reflected light from Hudson’s face. 

“[Cinematographer] John Toll and I went through about 10 different collars to find the right shade of cream to bounce the light off of her face,” she says. “It is very important for Penny Lane to be lit. Luminous, from within and without.”

Heimann added embroidery and ruffles to the “flirty” piece.

“Her clothes were very delicate. The coat was her shield, her go-to, her armor,” she says. “It was just in case she could retreat inside. If by chance she ran into Russell at the gig, the coat came off, and she’s got this hot little outfit underneath.”

“Her effortless look is easy to emulate in your own way. The character of Penny Lane creates emotions that resonate with the audience. Perhaps that’s what inspires them to wanna be her. Somehow it touches them in a place where they’re like, ‘I could do that.’ ”

Sapphire’s Feather Boa

Heimann says that Fairuza Balk’s character Sapphire was “so inspiring” to her and the actress “brought all her jewelry from home.”

“Her outfits were so fun. I made her sheer late pants,” she says. “I made the feather boa vest for the line ‘This is the maid.’ It’s such a serious dialogue in that scene. She’s telling William’s mother, ‘You did a good job and you should be proud.’ She’s telling her [while] wearing this.”

“I thought that was hysterical to me. It wasn’t meant to be a joke. But, I thought for once in her life, she’s gonna be in something light and fluffy instead of like a goth princess.”

Working with the movie’s tailor, Heimann sketched exactly how she wanted the coat to look. They then cut up different feather boas and laid them out until they liked the design.

“It was bulky and not well-fitting because I wanted it to be like she’s playing dress up in the room,” she explains. “When she was running by the side of the bus, the feathers moved. As a costume designer, you read the script and take into consideration the action that’s going to be in a given scene. You might prepare the costume with that in mind. “

Polexia Aphrodisia’s ’30s Inspired Outfits

Anna Paquin played Polexia Aphrodisia, another key member of the “Band Aids” and a close friend to Lane. For Aphrodisia, Heimann envisioned pulling from vintage ‘30s looks but adding a modern twist.

“The pink dress she wears is a pink velvet. I made that bucket hat to bring it into the present day. The handbag she carries was a plastic outdoor tablecloth tied up with pink straps on it to match her dress,” she shares. “I did my research and got really caught up with the period, and I feel comfortable to design within the period.”

“Anything older than the period can be new. The basic look for Polexia was retro ’30s with up-to-date ’70s touches.”

Elaine Miller and the Miller Family

Heimann says the color red was a throughline for the Miller family.

“Frances McDormand was very inspiring to me. The character was so present. I wanted her to be right up with the times in her granny dresses and her Mexican-inspired dresses. She wasn’t a non-hip mother; she was an intellectual mother,” Heimann shares. 

For the rest of the Miller family, Heimann shares that she “wanted the family to have a lot of red.”

“When they were standing there in the beginning, when we were defining the family, [Patrick Fugit] had the big red stripe. Fran had a red print dress, and Zooey had her red. Here’s the family. Could there be three more different people? They’re united by color.”