The Story Behind Hustlers ’s Most Iconic Looks

Hustlers, now in theaters, gets a lot of things right—nuanced storytelling for women, impressive casting, that scene where Jennifer Lopez's Ramona says, “Doesn't money make you horny?”

Another win: the costumes. When you think of a period piece, something like Downton Abbey might come to mind. But the fashion in this movie about a group of strippers scamming their wealthy Wall Street clients in the early to mid '00s was just as complex—if not more so—to develop.

"The trends changed so much in the early 2000s. We haven't really identified that time period in the same way we have for others," costume designer Mitchell Travers tells Glamour. "You know, the '70s are brown and green. The '80s are electric colors on a black base." To understand the first decade of the 2000s, he says, is to know that fashion at that time was going through an identity crisis.

To work around this, Travers surrounded himself with images and made a mood board for each character. (Director Lorene Scafaria also told him to not include any green in the movie "unless it's money.") "I just had to boil that era down and understand it for the sum of its parts," he says. "The bits that make it really distinct ended up being things like the bandage dress, the platform heel, and the celebrity-driven logo mania of the time. Everyone was heavily accessorized. It was a lot of basic staple pieces with as many accessories as you could pile on.

"You know, it was a time in life where you could wear a graphic tee on the red carpet and be considered trendsetting," Travers continues. "So it's not the most beautiful of times, but I tried to really dig deep and find some beauty in that."

Here, the costume designer breaks down his character mood boards and reveals the story behind some of the film's most iconic looks.

Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) would definitely be aware of J.Lo.

"For Ramona, I looked to a lot of the Victoria's Secret Angels from the time. I was also looking at Rachel Zoe, Victoria Beckham—women who were creating brands and had a visual identity early on in the 2000s. I liked that there's a financially aspirational quality to Ramona, and I thought she'd be looking at these women who are starting businesses. Kimora Lee Simmons was a major influence for that character as well.

"Of course, it's difficult to not look to Jennifer Lopez herself for style inspiration. I mean, she's doing now what she did then, which is pushing the envelope, inspiring new trends, and wearing really fashion-forward pieces. It's the way she's always been. And so when you look at a time that was just 10 years ago, she was dominating the red carpet. She was trendsetting, creating a need for these It bags and changing the shape of denim that women wanted. So it's impossible to look at the period and not consider the effect she's had on it. You can't really say Ramona wouldn't be looking at Jennifer as an inspiration."

Destiny (Constance Wu) has the biggest fashion evolution.

"For Destiny, I looked to Tila Tequila, Nicole Richie, Brittany Murphy, girls like that.

"I hope what's apparent in the film is that as their bank accounts soar, you recognize that their color palettes change slightly and their handbags change with the amount of money they're carrying inside of them. For Destiny, specifically, it was important that we understand that as we meet her in the beginning, she's trying to find herself a little bit. Her identity isn't as crystal clear as Ramona's. I wanted it to feel that as time goes on, she's able to refine a bit. She's able to clean up some of her influences, so she's not as all over the place as she is when we first meet her. She becomes a bit more put-together over the course of the film."

Diamond (Cardi B) had one of Travers's favorite looks.

"I was quite proud of the look that Cardi comes out in. Not the one that you see with the pasties—that's, of course, something I love—but I really like the scene where Destiny gives Diamond the lap dance. In my mind, it was sort of a bizarre mid-2000s noir film. You know, we have two of the most globally recognized women in this scene, and I wanted to treat Cardi's entrance a bit like a film noir where you don't really get to see her eyes. There's a sort of wonderful reveal of that character done in the doorway. Of course, the difference is that in movies past, you're using glamorous fedoras; in my movie, we're using a Von Dutch baby-pink trucker cap. But I hope that the point lands.

"Cardi was a real team player. She was so much fun. I had prepared so many things for her because I hadn't worked with her before and didn't know if she'd be comfortable working in the way that an actress would. You're not wearing the most glamorous things, you're wearing the things that are right for the character. I didn't know if she'd be prepared for that. So I prepared things that were a bit more extreme as well as a bit more music video in quality because I wanted her to feel comfortable. But she was totally game to play. I got her to tell me a lot about what was it like when she was Cardi at the club. I got her to tell me some amazing stories about her time in the club and even used some of the details she was able to remember about her time there for her character."

The inspiration for that Juicy Couture sweatsuit might not surprise you.

"Jennifer and I really loved that crown [on the back of the hoodie] for that scene because we knew she would be shot from behind walking toward the ATM. Knowing that we were going to see her from behind, this velour hoodie was the perfect thing for that scene. I didn't know that it would be seen with Lorde's 'Royals' playing in the background, but we have Lorene to thank for that moment."

"I do think there is a sense of delighting in that Jennifer is in the film. We use the Juicy Couture velour tracksuit as a nod to some of the trends she created. I remember in a fitting, I pulled out the Juicy and I laughed with her. I said, 'You know, we the fans deserve that "I'm Real" nod because you did that. It happened as a result of your choice.'"

How Ramona's denim bikini line—the one that Mercedes (Keke Palmer) wears later in the film—came together

"At that time in history, there were so many women creating their own lines. In a lot of ways it predates the celebrity makeup line, which is now what we're experiencing, where it seems everybody wants to sell you a lip liner. At the time, it was really more about fashion. There were so many celebrities and reality stars who were creating lines of clothing.

"It was scripted that Ramona would be trying to do a line of denim swimwear, which I thought was just such a brilliant jumping point that Lorene had given me. I was looking at swimwear lines at the time to try to boil down the trends. I had to push the envelope so that you understand that Ramona's taste level is a bit…a bit bold. She's trying to create this line, but she doesn't have a background in fashion or design in any way. So what she's really doing is grasping at all of the trends and trying to include them all in her line."

The all-women Christmas scene was one of the hardest to plan.

"A Christmas scene is especially challenging when your director tells you that you can't use green, right? It was a wonderful opportunity to see what these women would look like when men aren't involved, when they don't have to be dressing for work or dressing to try to appeal to anybody in particular. I wanted a sleepover feeling in that you have the girls looking a bit more comfortable while still glamorous at the same time. You have a mix—Jennifer is wearing a fully beaded robe on top of liquid leather leggings in metallic gold. While it retains this sort of flashy stripper vibe, it's a bit more comfortable and relaxed. No one has to suck it in this environment. I just really wanted to express what that would feel like. What does a family look like when it's made up of women like this?

"I had this psychic moment when Constance Wu texted me about the Christmas scene. She was like, 'I think I should have reindeer slippers on.' And we had just gotten them in. Of course we're doing this all in March, when there is no such thing available at any stores. It was this wonderful thing where I really felt like she and I understood the character from the same point of view. We both felt like this was important for that sequence."

And this Destiny look might be one of the most memorable outfits in the film.

"I knew there would be this beautiful tracking shot of Destiny getting out of her car and having to walk through a preschool in a bit of a walk-of-shame moment. We found these gold boots, and I was just so obsessed with the idea of looking at those boots walking into a preschool in the morning.

"Another trend I wanted to use in the movie was cargo. I think it's such a horrendous trend, and the fact that women were wearing it so willingly at the time says a lot about what we saw as elegant or glamorous at that time.

"The other thing I wanted to do with that costume was support the chaos of the scene. One of the things I did with that was put chains on both the tank top and the waist belt she was wearing. It was something that Ashley Tisdale and Avril Lavigne were doing at the time. I just thought it would lend itself to have this chaotic nature of the sound of metal swinging all around as she's trying to save this man who's been injured, save the business that feels like it's falling apart, and then her other job of being a parent is compromised because of all of this.

"To expose so much of Constance's midsection in that scene was just so interesting to me. Of course we see so much skin exposed at the club, but to see that much exposed in the morning light felt like it was a nice duality between the two lives she's leading."

Anna Moeslein is a senior editor at Glamour.

Originally Appeared on Glamour