From Cruz and Eden to Jack and Jenn : Costume Designer Richard Bloore, segues from Santa Barbara to Days of Our Lives
By Stella Bednarz, Soap Opera Digest, 1991	Home   Cette page en Français

"Looking back, it was meant to be," observes costume designer Richard Bloore of his switch from Santa Barbara to Days of Our Lives. As Santa Barbara's designer from Day One, he was responsible for everything from Cruz and Eden's romantic wedding attire to a heavenly fantasy to Sonny Sprocket's western duds. His employment status changed when John Conboy was named the show's supervising executive producer.

"He and I did not really seem to see eye to eye," recalls Bloore. "He said he did not agree with my color palette. I think he had another designer in mind and felt that I did not give him quite what he wanted. He gave me the option of being the assistant to the new designer, or to leave. I felt it was best to leave."

Bloore was only out of work a short period of time when the call from Days of Our Lives. Their longtime costume designer, Lee Smith, was ill and his assistant needed help. Ironically, Bloore had been Smith's assistant ten years earlier. He agreed to pinch-hit, and then Smith died. When Smith's assistant turned down the job of costume designer, Bloore was approached by supervising executive producer Al Rabin.

"I love to design and I do enjoy soap opera," Bloore enthuses, so he accepted, though the new post presented problems. "Lee was an old friend, a dear, talented man and a good teacher," he points out. "That was the most difficult part of the transition, to fill his shoes. I can't be Lee. It's kind of awkward at times, but everyone here has been wonderful."

There was also the challenge of switching styles. "Days of Our Lives is slice-of-life, middle America," Bloore observes. "At Santa Barbara, there are broader characters. On Days of Our Lives, I notice it's more a relationship show. The love angles and triangles are all important. Santa Barbara has some of that, but it's much more fantasy and adventure." Bloore worried about adapting, and even confessed to Rabin, "I can be a little heavy-handed. I'm used to doing things strong." Rabin and producer Shelley Curtis "didn't give me specifics as the color and style," Bloore reports; rather they discussed characters, and the designer was offered anything he needed.

Of paramount importance to Bloore is updating the wardrobe of the male characters. "It's true that some of the Days of Our Lives men used to wear their own clothing," Bloore reveals. "It was set up years ago and nobody said anything. The men's clothes needed to be spruced up." One of the first tabbed for an overhaul was Shane Donovan, Salem's resident spy. "He's your James Bond type and he has money, so he should have a stronger wardrobe, be fashion forward," Bloore comments. And even Roman Brady is changing his stripes, er, plaids. "He's been wearing jeans and plaid shirts, but Shelley wanted him to be carried into the thirtysomething look, to hip him up. Drake (Hogestyn) was a bit reticent, but he's realized he looks great," says Bloore. Remember that the next time you see Roman sporting suspenders.

Is there much of a difference between the clothing budgets for Days of Our Lives and Santa Barbara ? "Oh yeah. It definitely went up going to Days of Our Lives, almost twice as much, which is fabulous for me," Bloore enthuses.