John Wayne

Luster Bayless, Man Behind Some of John Wayne’s Most Iconic Movie Looks, Dies at 84

Luster Bayless was a pioneer in costuming, especially Western costuming. He dressed John Wayne for a handful of films, including “McLintock!,” “True Grit,” and “The Shootist.” He worked with John Ford, Robert Stevenson, Francis Ford Coppola, and Hal Needham. Bayless died in his home in Canyon Country, California on Friday of natural causes that were brought on by dementia. He was 84.

He was a Mississippi native, born in Sunflower County on October 26, 1937, and hitchhiked to Hollywood when he was a young man. In 1977, he launched his own costuming company, called American Costume Co. It now goes by the name United*American Costume. His company was the first non-studio, independent company to supply wardrobe and crew for a studio film. Notably, Luster Bayless picked out the iconic Stetson that Robert Duvall wore in “Lonesome Dove.”

Bayless’ company began with “The Sacketts,” which starred Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, and Jeff Osterhage. This 1979 miniseries but Bayless on the map of Western costuming, and opened doors for American Costume Co. The company provided wardrobe for films and series from 1980 with its first feature “Tom Horn,” to the present with the 2020 “Perry Mason” series on HBO. It supplied wardrobe for “Back to the Future,” “Titanic,” and “Django Unchained,” to name a few.

In 1959, Luster Bayless was hired by Western Costume, and worked on several Disney films. When he worked with John Wayne for the first time on “McLintock!,” Bayless recalled in 2013 that Wayne told him, “‘Look, I want you to do all my movies.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s go for it.’ He said, ‘I’ve got six of them lined up right now.’”

Luster Bayless: Western Wardrobe Wizard


Bayless worked with John Wayne on “True Grit,” “The Undefeated,” “Chisum,” “Rio Lobo,” “Big Jake,” “The Cowboys,” “Cahill U.S. Marshal,” “The Train Robbers,” “McQ,” “Rooster Cogburn,” “Brannigan,” and “The Shootist,” from 1963 until Wayne made his final film in 1976.

Luster Bayless knew that the most important part of a wardrobe was the hat. He told WLBT in 2015 that the hat was the most important “‘Cause this is what you’re shooting at right here, you know,” he said. John Wayne clued him into this fact when he said, according to Bayless, “You give me the hat and I’ll figure out what’s underneath it.” Bayless said he “threw a bunch of [hats] down on the floor, and [John Wayne] picked up the one that he liked.” He didn’t really dress John Wayne; “He dressed himself,” Bayless said.

Luster Bayless received a lifetime achievement award from the Motion Picture Costumers group in 2013. In 2018, he received the Costume Designers Guild’s Legacy Award. He also operated the Hollywood Movie Costume Museum in his hometown of Ruleville, Mississippi.

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