Since Closer arrived in theaters on December 3, 2004, the perfectly coiffed pink wig that Natalie Portman’s character Alice briefly sports when she’s on the clock at the strip club has remained in the zeitgeist in some capacity. In the 2010s, it accompanied copious photosets on Tumblr. In recent years, it’s migrated to nostalgic pop culture Instagram accounts, TikTok montages, and “film Twitter” where cinephiles and fashionistas alike piece together fancams from its limited screentime. It inspires coordinated bachelorette party ‘fits and, every Halloween, you can bet Alice will appear on more than one “cool girl costume ideas” list.
While legendary costume designer Ann Roth (Midnight Cowboy, 9 to 5, Barbie) was behind the Closer wardrobe and wanted Alice to wear a colorful wig for the strip club scene, Portman’s hairstylist and makeup artist on the film, Oscar-winner Christine Blundell (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Wonder Woman), found and fitted the exact right one. And the wig isn’t just eye candy; it holds a lot of answers to the film’s plot.
