The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences hosted the 4th All-Academy Mixer, celebrating the Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Downtown Los Angeles.

Costume design from: “Castle“, “Coco Chanel“, “Dancing with the Stars“, “Ghost Whisperer“, “Grey Gardens“, “John Adams“, “The L Word“, “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency“, “Project Runway“, “Sense & Sensibility“, “The Tudors“, “United States of Tara” and “Without a Trace“.

Costume design is one of the main visual components that can make a big impact on the overall essence of the characters being depicted in any production. By adding colors and textures to the wardrobe elements, costume designers can make choices that set the tone to establish both a timeline and emotional tone of any scene, enabling the audience to be captivated by engaging characters in suspended reality when watching television, movies and even stage performances.

Of the costumes on display, some were from the collections of the nominees for this year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Costume Design.  Jo Katsaras and Zureta Schulz, were featured for their work on “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”, as well as Joan Bergin and Susan O’Connor Cave, for their work on “The Tudors” since they are all nominees for Outstanding Costumes for a Series.  Nominated for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Catherine Marie Thomas and Mickey Carleton had work on display from HBO’s “Grey Gardens”.   Donna Zakowska and Amy Andrew Harrell, Emmy winners for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special from 2008, had costumes from HBO’s “John Adams” still on display.

I’m a detail-oriented person, so I loved being able to see the incredible handwork on some of the costumes, many of which had embellishments like beading or special notions and trim.  It was also really interesting to read about how each designer approached the theme of the show that they worked on and incorporated those ideas into their designs, which was noted on some of the displays.  For example, the designers from “Gossip Girl” had the opportunity to create designs for an episode that had a fashion show scripted, in which they featured their own originals.  And the highlight for me was being able to attend this event with my favorite young, up and coming designer, Alexandra Yeaggy.

The 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Awards will take place on Saturday, September 12^th at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles.  The show will be broadcast on E! Networks on Friday, September 18, at 1:00 pm, so tune in to see this year’s winners.  Highlights of the costumes from the 14 different shows can be seen in the online gallery.

Tags: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Alex Yeaggy, Fashion