Boardwalk Empire
PANEL DISCUSSION
Crime, Fashion, and Television
Saturday, May 12, 2012, 5:00 p.m.
With John Dunn, Lisa Padovani, Lauren Press, Shelley Fox, and Betsy Wissinger
Television series like The Sopranos, The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire create fully realized criminal underworlds in which issues of class, power, and character are expressed through clothing, from the anti-fashion of The Sopranos, which reveals the misshapen underbelly of the American mafia, to the elegant retro-style of Boardwalk Empire, to the complex, contemporary urban landscape of The Wire. This panel discussion will explore the specifics of costume design and styling for crime television, featuring costume designers from some of the best contemporary crime dramas. Panelists include costume designers John Dunn and Lisa Padovani from the series Boardwalk Empire, assistant costume designer Lauren Press the series The Sopranos, and Shelley Fox, Professor of Fashion at Parsons The New School for Design, and Betsy Wissinger, Professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and a specialist in fashion and sociology.
