Costume Design In Friends : Interview with costume designer Debra McGuire

For this month’s editorial line, we interviewed Debra McGuire about the costume design in Friends, the creation of each character's wardrobe, the color palette used, Phoebe's Jewellery and so many other details we've always wanted to know about.

The full interview

When you first got contacted by Friends' co-writers, what overall creative direction have you decided upon for the costumes? What notes have they shared with you about the characters to help you envision each one's wardrobe?

I tried to see inside their heads...intuit who these characters were. The magic happened in the first fittings and happened organically, according to the storylines, activities, jobs. I was working together with the production designer and set decorator to make everything come together in a cohesive and beautiful way. We were all on the same wavelength and clearly magic happened!

You come from a Fine Art/Painting world, has this background contributed to the way you approached making costumes for Friends? If so, are there any particular pieces you've made that are a sort of homage to that?

will send you excerpts from my book in progress about this

"As a painter, I had always seen the world through color, form, and light. The screen, I realized, was no different from a canvas—it was another two-dimensional surface waiting to be composed. Instead of focusing solely on clothing, I began to think about the entire frame: the background, the furniture, the props, the way the actors existed in space. The clothes were not just costumes; they were part of a larger visual assemblage. With every scene, I wasn’t just dressing characters—I was creating a painting."

Almost everything was made from scratch. You've made costumes that are reflective of each character's “social habitus”, their career evolution, their taste, that set each one of them apart. If you had to briefly describe each character's wardrobe/style in a few pieces/fabrics/patterns/color palette that are characteristic of them, what would you choose?

excerpts from my book in progress about this....

"Initially, Marta envisioned the characters in jeans—comfortable, casual, easy. But I pushed back. (Not being a jeans person myself probably had something to do with it!) I believed in creating something visually distinct, something aspirational yet familiar. She trusted me.

I began assigning each character a palette, a texture, a visual identity:

Monica—black, white, gray, with accents of red and burgundy.

Rachel—blues and greens, always rich in texture.

Phoebe—bohemian layers, flowing fabrics, and eclectic patterns.

Ross—professorial in tweeds and corduroys, plaid shirts layered over T-shirts, classic khakis.

Chandler—vintage-inspired shirts, blazers, quirky ties, Hush Puppies.

Joey—flannels and chenille sweaters, and—most importantly—a perfectly worn-in leather jacket. (Ironically, that struggling-actor jacket started as an Armani. We aged and distressed it until it looked like he’d owned it for years.)

Every choice was intentional, every detail carefully considered. It wasn’t just about fashion—it was about world-building, storytelling through color and texture."

There were wardrobe jokes in some episodes where clothes were used as a comedy element. Ross' black leather pants, or Santa Claus/Pregnancy pants that Phoebe found, And so on. Were these pieces already mentioned on the script given to you or have you had to choose one in some episodes? Which ones were the funniest/most difficult to make?

I work from the writer's vision. That being said, everything is scripted. Mostly those comedic wardrobe jokes are seen at the Monday 'table read' prior to shooting on Thursday/ Friday. On the Thanksgiving episode with (7) time periods, we actually received that script 2 weeks earlier.

The civil war nurse costume where Phoebe's arm gets blown off was the most fun and also the most challenging. We also needed multiples because of the blood detail. I still can't believe that a comedic brain actually thought of that for a FRIENDS episode and it will forever make me proud to have successfully accomplished this with all the time constraints!

If you had to describe each character's style evolution from X to Y, because of their work status/character arc changes, or because your creative vision inevitably changed through time as an artist, or because the time period changed from late 90s to early 2000s, etc. What would you say?

I would say that since I design for the character/writing this evolution is organic in the same way that 'real life' is. We grow and we evolve. Our tastes change and so does the world. The 90's silhouettes were oversized and not particularly attractive on camera and so I dealt with that pretty early on. My vision was to take these silhouettes closer to the form of the body and in doing so we apparently affected the trends of that era: Tight t-shirts and body conscious clothing. My philosophy with fashion has always been that the eye gets tired pretty quickly and so does the economic component regarding sales, which often drives the trends. If we've seen long skirts for a few seasons then short shirts will be right around the bend. The same goes for textures and palettes.

On the creation of some particular pieces : Can you walk us through the creation of Monica and Phoebe's wedding dresses in terms of colors, fabrics, and style?

I always designed the dresses and had them in the 'wings' to add to the ones I shopped for, never knowing what would be the 'winner'. I had to do this because fittings were difficult to grab in the midst of the actors busy work schedules. If I was lucky I would get one, rarely 2 fittings. The week was just too jammed. For Monica I wanted something sleek, modern and elegantly simple. The dress I made was exactly that and would have won had the fit been perfect. The one she wore was similar and needed almost no alterations. Phoebe was another story. Because of her character I wanted something with a touch of subtle color. I ended up finding that dress in a bridal store in Westwood but paired it with a coat I had designed and made in India. It was part of my existing clothing collection. The fabric had been made for me in India from a painting I sent to them and then lined and trimmed in fake fur. The ensemble was perfect for her!

Phoebe's style/character signature are her accessories, particularly the rings she wears in all of her fingers that make her recognizable from afar. Can you tell us about the accessories choices you've made for her?

I was a jewelry designer from 1975-1989. I had shipped all of my collections to the west coast when we settled there to live. I had several large containers of jewelry to choose from at the studio and I used these pieces often. I also followed the careers of many jewelry designers at the time and kept them on my radar, reaching out often. I was also on the prowl, at all times, for jewelry and clothing from young, not yet established, designers. I regularly bought pieces that were culturally relevant just to have them in our FRIENDS archive.

Interview and cover by Yamina.H, editor in Chief