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Article: Van Smith: [ Age 61 ] Costume maker created a signature "trash" style for movies directed by John Waters.
- Article from:
- The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD)
- Article date:
- December 7, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Baltimore Sun. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jacques Kelly
Dec. 7--Van Smith, a movie costumer who created "trash aesthetics" for friend John Waters' films and devised the hair and makeup for the late drag-queen icon Divine, died of a heart attack Tuesday at his family's home in Marianna, Fla. The former Baltimore resident was 61.
"He thought up Divine's look, that signature fish-tail red gown, and he was a huge part of what my films look like," Mr. Waters said yesterday from Los Angeles. "Van understood the sense of humor about fashion. He did deconstruction in clothing before anyone else was on to it. He helped invent trash aesthetics." Born Walter Avant Smith Jr. in Marianna, the ...