This week’s STARMAIL is totally inspired by Macy Berendsen’s piece in HALOSCOPE about circus chic moments in fashion. She brilliantly positions sartorial circus allusions as long-traditioned and deeply American iconography. This article got me thinking about how fashionable clowns are (or how clownish fashion is?) which sent me down a deep late-night Googling rabbit hole. To learn more about where clowns draw visual inspiration from and how they craft their unique costumes, I spoke to some of the most stylish in the game.

To better understand the influence of clown aesthetics in fashion, I spoke to some professional clowns about what they wear and what inspires them:

Kendall Savage

Kendall Savage is a Montreal based performer who educates the public about the art of clowning in her Clown 101 series. She will be performing her award winning show A Truck Stop Diner. In the Middle of Nowhere. On the Night Shift. at Sweet Action Theatre on October 11 & 12.

Ella: What elements of your costume do you design or create yourself? What elements do you source from retailers or other artists?

Kendall: There are many different pedagogies of clowning. Think of it as an umbrella, with a rich textile of finely woven, heavily stylized threads. Ultimately, they all seek to achieve the same goal: to evoke a genuine, honest emotional journey that brings cathartic theatrical experiences.

I perform two distinct styles: one often referred to as Canadian Clowning (Pochinko Style) and modern traditional theatrical clowning. Neither of these styles is designed for children, as my ultimate goal is to perform with Spiegelworld in Vegas. In Canadian Clowning, I don’t choose my costume — the clown does. Quite literally, I put on my red nose and surrender to my “Clown Mind,” stepping away from the “Artist’s Mind,” and allow the clown to journey through thrift stores and bargain bins to find its natural “skin.” This is an exercise within the study of Pochinko Clowning that breathes life into the discovery of a new “baby clown.”

As for my non-red-nose clowns, I draw inspiration from the subcultures I socialize in — the Tiki community, Rockabilly, Punk Rock — as well as my passion for arthouse films and B-rated sci-fi horror. I design all of my costumes, with the exception of one character costume: a customized waitress uniform inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. I provide a rough design for my costume designer, Leigha Stiles (@artbystiles), and through collaboration, we build to meet the needs of the clown.

E: Could you cite any figures or performers, clown or otherwise, who have influenced your style as a clown? What are influences on your costume choices?

K: There are two loves in my life, both all-consuming to the point of obsession, and they influence every nook and cranny of my life's creative evolution. They constantly complement each other and embody an all-encompassing lifestyle: Clowning and Vintage/Retro fashion within the MCM kitsch aesthetic.

For the past 18 years, I have dedicated myself to mastering the art of clown performance, leading my community of clowns as the Co-Founder and Former Artistic Director of Le Festival des Clowns du Montréal (Montreal Clown Festival), and continuing my journey into the world of education and clowning. Throughout this time, I have always been known for my classic, over-the-top outfits. Although Clowning has always influenced my style, it’s the colors, outlandish patterns, and bold textiles of the '60s and '70s that resonate with my senses. These eras, much like my clowning, were bright and unapologetic for the first time in history.

My biggest influences in the fashion world from those eras, in no particular order, are Bob Mackie's designs for Carol Burnett and Cher, Liberace’s outlandish and divine Vegas showmanship, the incredible Phyllis Diller with all her feathers, bows, and ruffles, and Alfred Shaheen’s revolutionary Hawaiian silk screen designs. Where some see gaudy, I see gold. The clown has always been on the edge of society's norms, fearless, unapologetically holding up a mirror to show society how foolish we all are... especially for owning multiple shades of khaki cargo pants. Please, burn them.

E: It seems to me like allusions to clowns in mainstream fashion pull more from Commedia Dell’Arte characters or Grimaldi, while fewer trends draw inspiration from the Auguste clown. Are there any untapped elements of clown costumes that you could see breaking into mainstream fashion in the future?

K: Clowning is ever-evolving. Like most fashion movements, its style draws from historical influences. The Dell'Arte eras are romanticized, heavily sexualized, and represent a significant turning point in the history of clowning, transitioning the clown from the streets to the stage over time. The rising subculture of Clown Core — a lifestyle embraced by those who dress as clowns in everyday streetwear — descends from the Club Kid and Candy Raver scenes. Their bright colors, heavy grease paint makeup, and striped, polka-dotted, and frilly outfits express their inner fool.

However, with the growing acceptance of Drag under the umbrella of clowning, it is the Drag King who now deserves the spotlight in the future of mainstream fashion. Though Drag Kings have been around longer than Drag Queens, they have been overlooked. Yet, they influence the Clown Core movement with their over-the-top renditions of the "male" physique. These gender-bending, comical performers should be the focus of the next generation of Drag Clown.

All eyes on Drag Kings — long live the Kings!

E: Your costume for A Truck Stop Diner. In the Middle of Nowhere. On the Night Shift. does not feature many of the hallmarks a lay person may associate with a "clown costume": red nose, white face paint, colorful wig, big shoes, etc. How do you navigate the space between “normal” clothing and a stereotypical “clown” costume?

K: There is no such thing as normal. As a white, Eurocentric theatre performer, I focus on Clown as a performance art that both influences and is influenced by my personal style. To me, Clowning is about problem-solving the impossible with the ridiculous. The stereotypical clown costume, rooted in a Middle American child entertainment aesthetic, was originally designed for clowns performing in three-ring circuses, where the exaggerated style was necessary to be seen by thousands of onlookers. The style is nostalgic and dated, but still a valid subculture within the clown community.

As for myself, why navigate within strict boundaries? The lines are forever blurred.

Max Mckerlie

Max Mckerlie is a Toronto based illustrator, sculptor, and the artist behind Clowns in Cyberspace, a work of digital performance art featuring the original characters Pastiché The Quilted Clown, Bisou The Soft Touch Clown, Luno The Moonbeam Clown, Babbetto the Pranking Potential Clown, Ashputtle The Peal and Peridot Clown, and Spirallo The Dizzy Clown.

Ella: Where do you place your costume and style of performance within the history of clowning? Do you feel that your image could be categorized into a clown sub-genre or scene? 

Max: Initially I drew a lot of inspiration from commedia dell'arte characters and theater from that time period, specifically Pierrot characters. The exciting thing about clowns is that they've evolved and changed alongside all other aspects of human culture, so I have come to take inspiration from all sorts of different forms of clowns throughout history.  

E: What elements of your costume do you design or create yourself? What elements do you source from retailers or other artists? 

M: I pretty much make every aspect of the costumes myself - head to toe! For the shoes my characters wear, I recover store bought shoes in different fabric and embellishments. I would like to say that I have every step of the design process concisely planned out. However, I usually get an image in my head of a character that I want to create and go right into pattern drafting, skipping any initial design sketches. The fabric is what jumpstarts the inspiration. I usually see a fabric I like and the costume begins to take shape in my head. 

E: Do you wear a similar look for each performance, or does your costume change drastically between performances? If so, what factors cause you to style costumes so differently?

M: The general style of my costumes stays pretty consistent between performances, but each character is distinctly different. I view the clown characters as different archetypal or symbolic fragments of myself that have their own stories to be told. I do try to have some visual harmony amongst all the characters, but they do change from performance to performance.

E: Does the way you dress as a clown today look much different than when you first started?

M: It looks a lot different. Or at least I would hope. You see, I began making clown costumes as a way to teach myself how to sew and draft patterns. The first few costumes I made contained a lot of design and construction flaws because I was still figuring that stuff out. I think if you looked at each costume I have designed chronologically my learning process would be very clear. 

E: Do you incorporate any “everyday clothing” into your clown costumes? Do you incorporate any costume garments into your everyday wardrobe?

M: My everyday life and my clown performance life have had a steep convergent evolution indeed. The clown props I use in videos have become regular decor in my apartment; my closet is split 50/50 between clown costumes and my regular clothing; my sewing table consumes more and more of my living room. Inevitably elements of clowning have made it into my everyday wardrobe. My favourite piece is a little clown pendant necklace that I wear everyday. The truth is, a clown performance and an everyday life performance don’t feel that much different to me. 

E: Could you cite any figures or performers, clown or otherwise, who have influenced your style as a clown? What are influences on your costume choices?

M: Children's media has always been a passion of mine ever since I was a child. My day job when I am not performing as a clown is in children's television production. There was a television program that ran here in Canada while I was growing up called The Toy Castle that has always been an inspiration for me. The costume designer on the show is named Mary Kerr. There are also countless other similar programs that have been hugely influential to me. I love elaborate costumes, practical effects, and puppetry of all kinds. 

E: Clowning overlaps with so many other forms of performance art, like Drag, Burlesque, Comedy, Acrobatics, etc. How do you yourself adapt your clothing choices for different forms of performance? How do you see other clowns dress in relation to their niches?

M: I have heard it said that drag is the performance of gender, and I have always maintained that clowning is the performance of heightened emotion. And of course these concepts have so much overlap that sometimes it is hard to distinguish a drag performer from a clown and vice versa. I try to adapt my clothing most for movement. A lot of the costumes I wear are physically restrictive. Sometimes that is a benefit to the performance and sometimes it is clearly just a design flaw of the costume I am wearing. 

E: How do you feel about fashion trends that draw inspiration from clown aesthetics? 

M: I am in full support of any fashion undertaking that incorporates elements of clowning. Like I said before, there is not much difference between a clown performance and an everyday life performance in my mind. So, why not dress like a clown whenever you get the chance. Our clothing is really when we get to tell a story to the people who are passing us on the street. 

E: It seems to me like allusions to clowns in runway fashion pull more from the aesthetics of commedia dell’arte characters or Grimaldi, while fewer trends draw inspiration from sources like the Auguste clown. Are there any untapped elements of clown costumes that you could see breaking into mainstream fashion in the future?

M: A lot of clown fashion is rooted in kitsch. And the philosophy of kitsch is that there is beauty, value, love, and excitement to be found in any creative undertaking. I think this is a concept that mainstream fashion is beginning to embrace. So, it is almost inevitable that we will see more and more avenues of clowning emerge into mainstream fashion.

Isabella Caroselli

Isabella Caroselli is a performance artist, clown, yoga practitioner, and recent masters graduate from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI) at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Ella: What elements of your costume do you design or create yourself? What elements do you source from retailers or other artists?

Isabella: I’ll begin first with what I have – “Start where you are” is what comes to mind before I go out to buy something to complete a costume. I will prioritize second-hand shops before buying something new. Most of my hospital clown outfits, for example, were all bought in second-hand thrift stores.

E: What does your process of costume styling look like? Where do you start when planning a costume?

I: It’s usually an image that comes to mind that I feel called to explore, or I'll go out exploring. I’ll put myself in a space with a lot of clothes and just play. I’ll do that by trying clothes on that I feel attracted to and excited about, and also that I feel hesitant about that I don’t know I would like, or have some resistance to. I find that both of these means of creation feel useful and foundational for me. The polarity of being given an image in my mind vs creating one externally and seeing how they form and change from those two places is interesting and fruitful in my process. Additionally, I will get an ADHD fix on Pinterest and create boards for me to refer back to and find inspiration from. But I usually start away from researching first and go with the image I’m having and the feeling I get by putting certain pieces together and go from there.

E: How do you feel about fashion trends that draw inspiration from clown aesthetics?

I: I'm more interested in people exploring clown in workshops and in classes than I am with fashion trends pushing characatures/characteristics of the "every-man" clown.

I think clown fashion trends or clothing pieces are a valid and important place for people to play with if they have an interest in clown. For folks who feel really stuck in their daily lives with their not-so-fun job, and feel that they need to be serious to do their job well most of the day (or most of their lives), would probably find a release in this very low-stakes process. I absolutely encourage people to step away from the suits and the uniforms, and try on the bright wild things, and not for others, but for oneself.

E: It seems to me like allusions to clowns in runway fashion pull more from the aesthetics of commedia dell’arte characters or Grimaldi, while fewer trends draw inspiration from sources like the Auguste clown.

I: Are there any untapped elements of clown costumes that you could see breaking into mainstream fashion in the future?

With your perspective of this, and in comparison between the two, in my opinion, I’d say that the Commedia characters exude more of the “refinement” that mainstream fashion prioritizes. There is an “adult-ness”, a maturity, to it that might be more welcomed for some to explore and build off of than the Auguste clown. That clown feels more childlike (and usually judged as “childish”, though not the same!) and messy, Cutesy - if you will. Which may be more attractive to those who are more at home with bright colors and glitter, visually bold, and who are inherently attracted to this particular expression of clown that feels more wild and queer to me. Between the two, commedia is going to be the more “cool” choice, the elite, of the two, which may be more successful for high-end and mainstream fashion. But who tf knows (!!!) – clown is gonna clown however clown decides to clown. You start messing with clown, and clown starts messing with you – it shakes your shit up.

Mainstream fashion not pulling from the Auguste clown makes sense (you know more about this than I do!). I imagine so, because as much as clown wants to be cool, it actually isn’t. The people who do it can be cool, but their clown is not “cool” or popular, or “in”. Clown is stupid. I believe what makes a great clown is the dedication to brilliant idiocy in service of cathartic experiences that highlight our failures, sensitivities and shame as human beings, and help us learn to take them less seriously and with more love. Like, Beyonce is fucking cool, for example, but Bey ain’t a clown, know what I mean?

So, making clown aesthetics relevant through an archetypal clown like the Auguste could be harder for mainstream fashion to get people having no experience or understanding of the depth of clown get on board. They might look at those aesthetics and be repelled by them – they’re not “cool”. I emphasize this because it’s still so present in our conditioning to be liked and be popular. To have and gain hierarchical status is not what a clown does, but what clown shows us how ridiculous we are in our attempts to get status. Influencers are not clowning. Also, PSA: politicians and cops are not clowns.

People need to give up looking cool to step into what clown brings up inside of you. What we wear can be an invocation to the clown muses that we are more ready to play than we were before - there is an endeavor for authentic presence and personal freedom. Clothes can be a great starting point to welcome the dimensionality of oneself, but costumes are not the entirety of clown, but can help give us the permission to go where clown dares us to go. I feel that there is an authentic, vulnerable, healing playfulness that adult people want to return to. Clown can support that process, and exploring one's curiosity of self through clown is a hopeful thing for me. More clown means more play, more disruption to status quo, more compassion, more humor, more insights, more healing, more hope, more joy, more life. Clown changes your life - just like clothes can.

We need to talk about the Shakes the Clown (1992) red carpet???

I like how Dior does clown chic:

Macy Berendsen mentions this episode of Clara Perlmutter's makeover show, Clarified, featuring a clown makeover for Erika:

You can buy the harlequin tights that Lady Gaga wears in Joker: Folie à Deux:

Interested in getting your clown on? Consider attending Clown Cult:

Twiggy as Pierrot the Clown in Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend (1971):

And, finally, a threat: