Oprah's 'The Butler' Fashion: Costume Designer Ruth Carter Says Winfrey Chose 'Ugliest' Outfit For Scene

Oprah Picks 'Ugliest' 80s Tracksuit For Scene In 'Lee Daniels' The Butler'

In her first role in a live action film in 15 years, Oprah Winfrey was eager to throw herself fully into character, even if it meant wearing a bad 80s tracksuit on screen.

Ruth Carter, an Oscar-nominated costume designer who worked on "Lee Daniels' The Butler," joined HuffPost Live Wednesday to talk about her selections for the film. She said for a road trip scene, she gave Winfrey three tracksuits to choose from for her character "Gloria." Winfrey gravitated toward "the ugliest one."

"It was so quintessential 80s that you couldn't go wrong with that," Carter said.

Carter also discussed the back-and-forth on set about a scene that would have put Winfrey in hair rollers. She said director Lee Daniels had written the hair rollers into the script, perhaps because he was trying to break the mold for Winfrey. But after Carter pointed out that it wasn't necessarily the best way for Winfrey to debut on screen, Daniels agreed to change the detail.

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