All About Emily Blunt’s Pain Hustlers Looks, Which Range From Thrift Store Finds to Custom Gowns (Exclusive)

IN Pain HustlersLiza Emily Blunt Liza Drake is dressed to swoon.

A single mother is just trying to make ends meet as an exotic dancer in Florida when pharmaceutical executive Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) walks into her club and casually offers her a job.

Although Pete may not have been serious, Liza accepts his offer and begins her whirlwind transformation into a charmingly sexy drug saleswoman who pushes painkillers to doctors – and that requires a wardrobe full of business woman clothes.

Costume designer Colleen Atwood, who was in charge of creating the wardrobe for the film (now available in select theaters and on Netflix on October 27), spoke with PEOPLE about sourcing pieces from places like Goodwill stores in Los Angeles and calling on designers to create unique designs.

Brian Douglas/Netflix

Emily Blunt and Chris Evans Play Pharmaceutical Reps in ‘Pain Hustlers’ Trailer

Take us through the evolution of Liza’s wardrobe – from exotic dancer to fledgling pharmaceutical sales representative to powerful saleswoman.

My first date with Emily was in New York. We talked about the character and the journey she will make in her world. She was a working class girl. She came from humble beginnings. Clothes were not a big priority in her life. She had so many other things to deal with – just surviving. So we started with her in jeans and really casual everyday stuff. Then, as she saw other people who were successful in pharmaceutical sales, she adapted to their style and appearance. Suddenly at some point she possessed [her style] and based on that, she started to choose on her own.

That’s how we got three places. She started early on with the wardrobe, which was the little yellow sundress you see at the beginning or the little denim dress with straps. These were things you could get at Goodwill and thrift stores. That’s the concept we started with, and actually both items were found in thrift stores in Brooklyn. Then we started doing a bit of shopping in what we call the high street in the UK, but in regular department stores. Then, when she became more affluent and comfortable and realized that she was making money, she started buying designer clothes and incorporating that into her look. So that’s three different levels of dress up with her character.

Pain Hustlers.

Brian Douglas/Netflix

When she first starts selling, it seems like she went to her mom’s closet for something a “grown-up” would wear – like she just didn’t know what to do.

Law. She began to realize that she was operating in a different stratosphere. Emily is such an amazing actress and looks great in anything. She was really fun to work with and let her down a little bit at the beginning so we could travel with her, including hair and makeup. It was a real collaboration.

There are several standout pieces in her wardrobe, including the white jacket she wears in one club scene. She felt as if a part of her past had mixed with her present.

It’s an Alexander McQueen jacket. I saw it in the store and I was like, “oh my god, this is perfect for the strip club scene.” There are elements of both worlds colliding together. In the story, there was a point where this was happening to her. It was a metaphorical choice as well as something that just worked visually in the room. It was a very expensive jacket, and my budget was not big. I didn’t buy it right away. But when I showed it to Emily, she said, “Oh, yes, we do.” And I ended up making pants with it. It didn’t come as a suit. I just made white pants, which you don’t actually see in the movie.

Emily Blunt in Pain Hustlers.

Courtesy of Netflix

Another highlight is the gold sequin dress at the house party – it seemed like something Emily herself would wear.

Emily’s friend with Michael Kors, and that dress was specially made for us for the movie because we had an idea of ​​what we wanted but couldn’t find it. She remembered that he had done a similar look a few seasons ago. So we got closer [Michael Kors Collection] and they made it for her for the movie. It was a great gift with her embroidery and dress idea in the scene. It’s a super simple yet perfect elegant dress in a sea of ​​flashiness. He really stood out.

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Brian Douglas/Netflix

What were some of the places where you sourced Liza’s wardrobe?

It is interesting that her wardrobe came from three cities, [but] mainly LA and New York. Even though we shot in Atlanta, by the time I got to Atlanta, we had already figured out Emily. I shopped at places like Goodwill and [consignment store] Buffalo Exchange, in New York and LA, and [also] flea markets and places like that because even though it looks like nothing, it takes a minute to get the trip right with a character like that. I pulled a lot of things from those sources and then added to them [discount department store] Ross and even Nordstrom.

When we entered the world of designer clothing, it was Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. I shopped everywhere for the show. And I made quite a few pieces for her in the middle range of characters because I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted.

Brian Douglas/Netflix

dr. Lydell (Brian d’Arcy James) also has quite the wardrobe evolution. Tell us what you did with it – including that Gucci look we’re seeing.

Well, he was a great collaborator. His character was a train wreck – a mid-life crisis extraordinaire. So in the beginning he was a mess and he wanted to be fashionable and a player, but his reference for that might not have been the highest reference in the world. As he became more affluent and more of a player, we felt that his endorsement would be like looking at something in a magazine and seeing yourself in it, not really watching in himself in him. That’s how we ended up with Gucci leather pants.

It was the evolution of anti-style. So he’s someone who’s such a great character actor that we had a lot of clothes for him. We didn’t want to make it too cartoony. You had to believe he was the prescriber in this place. Whenever he performed as a doctor, even though he had designer stuff underneath, he wore a jacket in the lab just so he wouldn’t be too obvious of a fake. He’s despicable, but your heart goes out to him in a way that’s actually because of his really great performance.

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Catherine O’Hara in Pain Hustlers.

Courtesy of Netflix

Finally, let’s talk about Catherine O’Hara. Her wardrobe is so much fun.

Well, I actually started with Catherine. She liked going to listen to bands, she liked metal. She was like an 80’s party girl who tried to settle down, raise kids on her own and was a bit of a mess but with a big heart and a big spirit. And then Catherine really liked getting into the rock mom vibe of it. I just got a bunch of t-shirts like Joan Jett and Blondie.

Then when he starts working in pharmacy, he’s already in that middle sticky range when he starts. Instead of a business style, she opts for Dolce & Gabbana with her upper class choice. He’s already channeling that rock and roll wannabe vibe in a very shabby, unoriginal way with his clothes. Then at the end it goes back to where it started. Her clothing journey returns to the comfortable place where she started, but just a little nicer.

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Source: HIS Education