Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino spent 46 days shooting The Hateful Eight in Colorado, mostly near Telluride, last winter. But the Centennial State didn’t just serve as a backdrop for the post–Civil War drama, which will be released on Christmas Day. Local designers helped craft some of the costumes, while nearby stores provided the essentials. Here, a sampling of how this single film made an estimated $60 million economic impact on Colorado

Repetitive Motions
Mike Guli, owner of Michael J. Guli Designs in Bellvue, crafted a leather coat (cape included), buckskin shirt, and belt for Zoe Bell’s stagecoach-driving character. “Knowing Quentin Tarantino movies,” he says, “people tend to get shot a lot.” So the 67-year-old put his sewing machine—nicknamed Herman—to work making nine replicas of the jacket and shirt. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino spent 46 days shooting The Hateful Eight in Colorado, mostly near Telluride, last winter. But the Centennial State didn’t just serve as a backdrop for the post–Civil War drama, which will be released on Christmas Day. Local designers helped craft some of the costumes, while nearby stores provided the essentials. Here, a sampling of how this single film made an estimated $60 million economic impact on Colorado.

5280 December 2015
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Around Town
Costume designer Courtney Hoffman (below, with Tarantino) celebrated her 30th birthday at Allred’s Restaurant at the top of Telluride Ski Resort’s gondola. Her advice: Order the truffle fries. The cast and crew also ate at 221 South Oak, relaxed in the Orvis Hot Springs in Ridgway, and skated around Telluride’s outdoor ice rink.

(Not) Winter Ready
The mostly California-based crew was so concerned about the cast being cold on set that high-tech wind-resistant fabrics were added between layers of some costumes. But the mild winter meant they were sometimes too warm. When snow did roll in, members of the costume design team made trips to stores like Telluride Sports and Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply in Montrose to pick up extra socks or more gloves. Having multiples of everything (as many as 10) allowed the costuming team to swap out wet boots or hats the snow had warped.

Tread Talk
When snow fell in Telluride during the shoot, the film crew turned to Telluride Tire and Auto Service for more than 200 studded and snow tires—and spent around $150,000 at the store.

From Scratch
Michael and Kellie Paxton spent much of last winter commuting between their tent setup on location at Schmid Ranch and their Nip n’ Tuck Upholstery store in Durango. The husband-and-wife team was tasked with fabricating the interior of three stagecoaches—padding panels, adding decorative nailheads—and building three feather beds and a chair.

Metal Works
Blacksmith Maegan Crowley of Dolores’ Iron Maegan Metalworks says crafting 25 fence posts, a set of stagecoach handles, and hooks for the haberdashery in authentic 19th-century styles was straightforward (even though the crew needed those handles finished in 24 hours). The difficult part? “They wanted things to look irregular,” Crowley says. “I’m a perfectionist; even my hammer marks are very consistent. That was a hard thing for me.”

(A look at Colorado’s 15 minutes of [2015] fame)

This article was originally published in 5280 December 2015.
Daliah Singer
Daliah Singer
Daliah Singer is an award-winning writer and editor based in Denver. You can find more of her work at daliahsinger.com.