This shows one of Kevin's costume changes: the "walrus-intestine" hooded windbreaker. One of our pieces of costume research in the design office was a genuine artifact jacket made of walrus intestine by Alaskan Indians. It was a great example of folk industry made with limited resources and unlimited ingenuity. Walrus intestine is nature's perfect insulator protecting against the wet and the wind.

However, it only works when it remains wet itself. Otherwise it dries out and becomes brittle. And smelly wet walrus intestine is nothing in which to dress your leading man so we had to develop an artificial similar membrane.

After much experimentation, we hit upon a substitute using mottle dyed organza painted over with a thin transparent plastic coating to look like a primitive translucent parchment. For a much more durable version for stunt men's costumes, we used nylon rip-stop in place of the organza. We used this artificial intestine on many costumes including those for the leading lady, Jeanne Tripplehorn.

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