The Bikeriders Makeup Department Head Explains How She Created 1960s Looks

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters, and the film was helmed by Take Shelter and Midnight Special director, Jeff Nichols. The film is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon about a motorcycle club in the 1960s and stars some big names such as Tom Hardy (Venom), Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), and Jodie Comer (Free Guy). ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with the film’s Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis, who spoke about working with the cast and how some of the looks came together. She also talked about creating makeup styles for the era, and revealed some of the surprising inspirations behind her choices.

“I think one of the most important things I learned looking back and doing research on any decade for a project before 2000, there weren’t as many publications or opportunities to really see different styles that are being offered to the world, Chavis explained. “There were definite set styles for every decade. There were fashion styles that were kind of across the board. There were makeup and hairstyles that were across the board for different communities all over the world. And I feel like you just learn more and more how ingrained these styles were into people’s upbringing.”

“There weren’t a ton of different styles for the ’60s,” she added.” I mean, definitely from the early ’60s to the later ’60s, they had that hippie revolution that really started to come into effect later on. But even with that, there was such a stark line between who were the preps, who were the outsiders, who were the hippies.” 

“They had their classic styles. And I think nowadays, because anything goes nowadays, stuff looks like it’s from the past. Some stuff looks like it’s current day, you don’t really know. But for the ’30s, the ’40s, the ’50s, the ’60s, ’70s, all of those, they’re very defined by the makeup, hair and wardrobe and the shoes that they wore and everything. Every time I do a period piece, you just can’t help but kind of understand why everybody was dressing the same.”

“It’s not like they had social media to look at all these different people and what they were wearing. You kind of just had whatever was in the magazines at the time. And another really favorite place of me to do research was looking at old record covers and albums,” she added. “Because those were the people that were really setting the tone for what was in and everything. They didn’t have Instagram influencers or anything like that. So whoever was on an album cover or on the TV guide or whatever, those were the things that really set the tone for the style of the decades.”

What Is The Bikeriders About?

You can read a synopsis of the film here: “THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.”

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters.