European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Taly Magazine twentieth Century Fox Melanie Griffith left learns the secrets of Success from her Boss Sigourney Weaver right and ally Harrison Ford in Mike Nichols comedy drama working  dressing for the corporate Battlefield by Rose Marie Turk los Angeles times of work hard study on the Side put in for promotions and Trust your corporate chiefs. So where does it get you for Tess Mcgill the Cinderella heroine of Mike nichols1 new film working girl the answer is absolutely nowhere not until she changes her style. From the moment Tess new Boss Katharine Parker struts into View wearing modern classics and quoting Coco Chanel appearance is germane to the plot. Determined to Rise from the Steno Pool to Wall Street executive Tess played by Melanie Griffith Sheds her Farrah Fawcett mane for serious hair and says goodbye to leather tight miniskirts and bold bouncy jewelry. Although never intended As a dress for Success primer working girl proceeds like a textbook Case. Describing his heroine s Early struggles Nichols noted. She has great ability for the Job she wants to do. But she does t talk right she does t look right and in the upper reaches of Wall Street and Industry that s a huge drawback. Eighty percent of the Battle is  a skiing Accident takes Katharine Sigourney Weaver temporarily out of the picture and allows Tess to take charge. Given Access to her Boss townhouse and Ever a Quick learner Tess dips into Katharine s closet for an executive evening image and picks a Black velvet dress so fresh it still carries a $6,000 Price tag. Six thousand dollars it s not even leather moans her Friend can Joan Cusac looking at the sequin sprinkled number with its tight Waist full skirt and off the shoulder neckline that evokes memories of Kim Novak and Marilyn Monroe. Just whose Label is inside that romantic Black velvet it s not one of those people you would recognize explained Gary Jones the film s assistant costume designer. We found it and did an immense amount of work to it. It was t that length that shape none of those things. We fell in love with the rhinestones. It s an important dress because of Tess transformation and her first meeting with Jack Trainer Harrison Ford. We did a lot of searching and  working with Nichols and costume designer Ann Roth is a big exercise in reality Jones added. A great Deal of research was done on the Staten Island ferry which is full of women who look just like Tess and her Friend can. In fact when we started filming we were in All sorts of downtown Manhattan office buildings. You could t Tell our people from the real  research showed that new York secretaries were very much into their Eye makeup their hairdos. That s their Persona. That s the Way they go to work. Once they be achieved a look they work on it and improve  secretaries who have seen the movie seem to love can s wild skirts funny jackets and her Eye makeup Jones said. Costume designer Roth said that she sees women every Day who dress like Katharine Parker. She s 30, she s eight years out of school six years after her mba. She s been around. I thought she dressed very conventionally. There was no ground breaking design twentieth Century Fox in her climb to the top Tess Melanie Griffith Abandons the Flash above in favor of conservative clothing and serious hair below. Here. They re conventional clothes you can find within 10 Miles of where you re standing right now. Convention is comforting non threatening Roth added. The truth is if your mind is really fascinated by the Back pages of the Wall Street journal or the new York times it s equally not turned on by whether Christian Lacroix is mixing a Gold lame skirt with a Shetland  predominantly Clad in Neutral shades Katharine also steams into the office in a red jacket and wears a v neck knife pleated red dress to Host her first business related cocktail party thus becoming the woman in charge in the midst of All those Gray suits according to designer Jones. Roth purposely put her Wall Street men in somber hues. There Are no flashy suspenders or shirts in this film i meant it to look very different from Wall Street which represents the avaricious Side. It s two different looks. I tended to do Wharton school Columbia Harvard sort of grads those Guys who Don t Fly to Paris and England to have their clothes  even before Tess can invade Katharine s closet she begins to dress like her Wall Street Mentor. In one scene they Are both in Silky White blouses Black skirts Gold rimmed watches on Black leather straps and Small neat earrings. When Katharine tells Tess you might rethink your jewelry,1 she not Only rethinks she starts to make some major changes Jones said. That character gets it if she s going to leave one place and go to another she also has to Start looking different. It s All about change and the clothes Are part of  screenwriter Kevin Wade said that he got the idea for his script As he stood in Manhattan s Battery Park one morning. People were pouring out of holes in the ground the new York subways and off the ferry if you looked right a Little bit you could see Ellis Island where boats brought immigrants years  Wade began to wonder what is that immigrant Story today what is that land of milk and Honey now Tess modelled after women with running shoes on their feet and High heels in their shoulder bags could be viewed As an immigrant every Day coming to the land of Opportunity. But there was an invisible class system that would thwart  questioned about the title working girl Wade responded another reporter asked Why the sexist title Why not working women"?1 she s a girl through most of the film. It s part of what she s fighting  during a research session at Wall Street s Bear Stearns & co., Wade was taken around the company by a 30-year-old broker and vice president. As part of what he thought i wanted to hear he looked at the cafeteria line As the women came through pointing out Secretary executive executive Secretary etc., from 25 Yards away. The corporate Battle atmosphere is a lot like the military. You know someone s More powerful just by looking at his  but unlike Tess most of the secretaries i talked to make no attempt to look like the Boss Wade said. And Why would they they look great. One girl prided herself on the Days when she would Wear yellow leather. She got tons of attention from the men in her  wednesday february 1, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 13