Keeping Things on the Fast, Loose Side

The Movie: “Up Close & Personal”

The Setup: Veteran newsman Warren Justice (Robert Redford) mentors/romances trailer-park emigre Tally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer) on her upward trajectory into big-time television news.

The Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky, who won Academy Awards for his work on “All That Jazz” and “Bugsy.” His other credits include “Sophie’s Choice,” “The Turning Point” and “Enemies, a Love Story.”

Her Look: With 65-plus wardrobe changes for her ladder-climbing jobs in Miami (soft sherbet colors), Philadelphia (dumb power suits with bow-tie blouses) and beyond, Tally ultimately emerges as a sophisticate. She relies on burgundy, putty, charcoal and navy jackets, and pants and skirts worn with silky, barely there blouses. Except for a too-tight hot pink suit she wears as a neophyte Reno newscaster, Tally likes things loosely cut, a Pfeiffer preference as well. It works. Without depending on pricey designer labels--that’s not the way most newsfolk dress, Wolsky says--her mix-and-match goods from typical mall stores (Marshalls, Ann Taylor, Saks) look classy. (For sheer elegance, though, Kate Nelligan’s been-there-done-that news diva wins in custom-tailored suits by Yves Saint Laurent and Wolsky.)

You Should Know: Pfeiffer is “probably the easiest body I ever had to dress,” Wolsky says. “She has a perfect clothes body--wonderful proportions, a wonderful frame--and a way of taking over clothes. . . . The only person I could compare her to is Lauren Hutton. . . . All those changes could have been a nightmare, but it wasn’t.”

Hit: Warren’s blue eyes leaping off the screen. “It’s not an accident,” the designer says. Redford’s face is almost always framed in blue--blue checked or blue chambray shirts worn with simple black knit ties to direct viewers to his face. The actor “knows exactly what he looks like and what he should look like,” Wolsky says.

Inaccurate Hair Day: Tally’s hair color changes more often than Barbara Walters’. But while most women progress from dark hair to light, lighter, lightest, Tally goes from beach blond to deep brown.

Inspiration: “I was bleary-eyed from looking at all those television news shows,” says Wolsky.