The Subtle Art of Designing Portlandia's Sarcastic Costumes

Throughout the course of eight seasons, Portlandia has also birthed some incredibly memorable characters: the adorably well-meaning Peter and Nance, outdoorsy Dave and Kath, opposites-attract couple Nina and Lance, and feminist bookstore owners Toni and Candace, just to name a few. As the show prepared for its final season (which premiered Thursday on IFC), Broadly caught up with its Emmy-winning costume designer—and Portland native—Amanda Needham to discuss how her designs brought such a diverse cast of characters to life.

Needham, who finished working on Portlandia last summer, said that she didn’t know what to expect when she signed on to the show nearly nine years ago. "I didn’t realize how long it was going to last," she recalled. "And I didn’t realize the extent of how many characters I would have to design for."

When she first began sourcing pieces for the show, Portland’s famous quirkiness was hard to miss. "I was out shopping, so acutely aware of what was around me because I was trying to find pieces that separate everybody," Needham said. "I was hyper aware that all of the weirdest people come to Portland."

Translating that signature weirdness into an entire design aesthetic was quite the challenge, she explained—especially since they felt so far removed from Los Angeles. "In LA, you know where to go, you have these big costume houses, and that’s it," she said. "In Portland, you’re hunting things down and reaching out to very specific designers in the world to help you create these characters. We also did a lot of vintage and thrifted pieces because these characters really exist, and they exist hugely here in the Pacific Northwest."

And when it comes to dressing fan favorites, it’s all about staying true to the characters' personalities and honoring that in the details. Take, for example, Dave and Kath, the fleece-clad, ready-for-anything adventurers. "They’re so over-prepared," Needham said. "And Dave is just on 'Aloha time' all the time, so there he is in the Hawaiian print shirts. On Toni, you’d see a little more animal print, long skirts, and turtlenecks with a vest, which you would never see on Kath."

For some of the show’s more polished and fashion-forward characters, like the fad-loving entrepreneurs Bryce and Lisa, the key is connecting them to a certain look—without getting too costume-y. "That’s about color palette and hues and details, like the bows and socks," Needham explained. "A lot of the Bryce and Lisa stuff is vintage but embellished, so that’s hard because you have to find a dress that works for Carrie, but you also have to find a suit and a hue that works for Fred. A lot of times I ended up buying a bunch of pieces and kind of embellishing, fixing, and altering them, hoping that one of them works."

Considering the level of detail involved in Bryce and Lisa’s costumes, one of the challenges Needham faced was not overdoing it: "Sometimes, I felt like if we weren’t being totally careful and conscious with those characters specifically, it could feel like they were going to prom. So the question is: How do we make this real and dress it down so it’s more relatable to a larger group?"

To Needham's credit, Portlandia fashion is relatable, accessible, and identifiable enough to make for a great Halloween costume. "I immediately think of who is dressing as Portlandia characters for Halloween," she said. "I see a lot of Toni and Candace, Nina and Lance, Bryce and Lisa, and Peter and Nance. I feel like those characters are just a little bit more iconic—people are able to pick them apart, almost like anthropologists, and that’s been really fun."

Toni and Candace in Season 4, Episode 8: "Late in Life Drug Use"

While Needham said wrapping up Portlandia is "bittersweet," she hinted that the show is going out in style and that season eight has plenty of sartorial surprises in store—one of which involves the how-they-met backstory for Nina and Lance. And Needham didn’t have to do much research for that episode. Instead, she just thought back to her own experiences in Portland during the era. "It was the first time in my life when I thought, 'Oh, I was here in the '90s; I know what people looked like.' It felt really comfortable to go back to my roots as a Portlander during that same time. It wasn’t, you know, a stretch. I barely needed Google for that."

Season eight boasts an extensive list of guest stars, including Rachel Bloom, Aidy Bryant, John Corbett, Terry Crews, Rashida Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tessa Thompson, and many others. "Everybody was so good," Needham said. "Nobody comes to our show and doesn’t know what it is. They know that their characters will be crazy, wild, and eccentric, and they are fine playing that range. I think that’s a big testament to Fred and Carrie and their characters in real life."

But if the big names aren’t enough of a reason to tune in, learning how the dynamic duo of Nina and Lance came to be is all the incentive you need. "Honestly, the Nina and Lance thing in the '90s is going to be huge," Needham said. "There are a lot of elevated styles. It’s really going to be the most crazy thing you’ve ever seen on the show."