🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐

Your first introduction to Kate Hudson’s Birdie Jay in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery says it all: In the middle of a global lockdown, while her peers are masked up, isolated and in sweatpants, she’s having a party. And not just any party; her cavernous New York City apartment is packed to the rafters with flamboyant hipster guests, one of whom literally sets her home on fire. That’s Birdie, though — like all the “disruptors” invited to billionaire Miles Bron’s (Edward Norton) private Greek island for a fun murder-mystery getaway, the model and Instagram fashion plate is bold, brash and more than a little problematic.

So, what does one wear to a shoot-the-works quarantine rager? That’s the question costume designer Jenny Eagan asked herself as she began thinking about how to express Birdie’s extravagant personality through her clothes. The answer is a silk lounge set patterned in a swirl of black and red and topped off with a black bustier. It’s flowy, it’s glamorous, it’s… extra. And it’s also more than a tad inappropriate for the circumstances. In other words, it’s classic Birdie.

Ahead, Eagan walks us through Birdie Jay’s Glass Onion wardrobe and explains what each sumptuous, eye-candy ensemble says about her character. 

The quarantine party pajamas

Remember tie-dye sweatpants? Birdie Jay would never. 

I thought, “What [are] Birdie's glamorous pajamas?” I wanted her to have to be a bit more bold and glamorous — who would own this except for somebody like this character? It felt so beautiful but impractical for any other occasion other than your own party during a quarantine. 

We wanted to have bold prints with her. That one and then the [outfit she wears on the] boat made me wake up and think like, “Oh, if we carry it through in everything we do, I think it’ll sell that over-the-top, bold excitement that Birdie brings to the character.” I didn’t even know [about] the whole kick she does. That was all her own.

The mesh mask

This film is set in May 2020. If you were traveling — which you probably shouldn’t have been — you were required to wear a mask. Everywhere. But Birdie has her own take on what that means.

You know Birdie doesn’t want to wear a mask — she’s probably never put one on. But it’s a requirement, and [you can imagine her being] like, “Oh, God, Peg, get me something,” and being presented [with] things and saying: “I can’t breathe in this!” This one she can breathe in. At first, you don’t even know she has anything on, and then you get really close. It was almost like a piece of jewelry for her. 

And then the outfit itself, [our] cutter, Erica, made everything. She just took that and ran with it. How do we make these bold prints work in a contemporary way where it feels like everybody would want to wear that outfit with that confidence? It’s all well-tailored and thought through. We had talked about doing a jumpsuit, but I’ve been in those situations before, and it’s hard to go to the bathroom. We think about that.

The orange bikini

After a two-hour yacht trip to Bron’s private island, Birdie and her friends enjoy a quiet afternoon at the pool. Casual? Never heard of her. 

Wasn’t that beautiful? It was just so bold. It was nothing that I would ever put on my body, but with Birdie and Kate herself, her confidence [in] that bikini was just over the top enough to press that character even more. Who would go on vacation to your friend’s house and bring that bikini, except for someone like that? With her silk caftan! And everything was matching — the hats were all made for her too. So the start was the bikini, and then the rest just fell into place so naturally. She has the most looks because she randomly changes [outfits]. She’s got a robe on in a different scene for no reason, but that’s what’s fun.

The rainbow lamé dress

Eagan had four different versions of this showpiece on hand because “something always happens.”

That was one of those things where it was scripted because we had to hide what was happening. So, we knew there was going to be a twirl, and we had to make it in a certain way that would hide that and maneuver it. We kind of beat our heads against the wall, like, “How are we going to make this happen so that it looks natural and you would wear it to a dinner party?” 

Then I went to New York to fit Danny [Craig]. l went fabric swatching, and I happened to find this piece with just all of these different colors in it. And I brought it back to the cutter and was like, “How can we do this?” She was really a genius about how to take that fabric so that you could utilize all of it and all of the colors and twist it, bias-cut it and turn it. We didn’t have very much [fabric] and I knew she had to get a couple [pieces] out of it, so we were very lucky. Keeping the design simple was important for me. I think the fabric and the color really sold that dress. It also lends itself to her. The hair felt very natural, and for the first time, she wanted it to be down. It was that casual Grecian dinner vibe — yet bright — that we all aspire to have.

The Penny Lane coat

In a flashback to when the gang first meets at the Glass Onion bar, Birdie is wearing a fuzzy white coat that may look very familiar to fans of Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. But was the nod to Hudson’s role as Penny Lane intentional?

I thought about that, and I was a little nervous, but I thought, “You know what? It’s kind of the same time period, and maybe it’s a nice nod to that movie for her.” It was again about what can be big and bold and set her apart from each one of them. And with the beret — Kate will take anything like that and make it work.

The perjury suit

As all of Bron’s friends close ranks around him, Birdie is called to testify that she saw him write down the founding idea for Alpha on a napkin at the now-defunct Glass Onion bar. 

That top was Alexander McQueen. That was one early thing we found. His stuff is always so beautiful. What else is she going to wear to court that could be any more Birdie than that? So that was really fun. So simple. I wish you could have seen more of it in the movie.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is streaming on Netflix now.

Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr.'s Favorite Costumes in Glass OnionBirdie Jay and Lionel's most memorable looks.