What work goes into those '100 Years' videos?

I watch classic films like High Society, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Mahogany repeatedly - not so much for the story lines, but because I get a kick out of seeing Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and Diana Ross dressed exquisitely in the fashions of their eras.

This is why I always get lured into clicking on Mode Studios' historically haute "100 Years" videos, quick-paced series of two- to three-minute mini-movies that chronicle men's and women's fashion over the decades.

The team of eight chooses a particular style or lifestyle trend, like hats or engagement rings or cocktails or the typical person's dinner. The videos show (by undressing and dressing models in fast motion, or by making and plating food) the most popular representation from each decade starting 100 years ago.

Clearly, I'm not the only one watching and procrastinating. Mode, based in Brisbane, Calif., introduced its "100 Years" series about a year ago, and each of its 18 videos has averaged seven million viewers, with watchers in Mexico, Brazil, and Russia. The videos have been viewed a total of 324 million times.

The series even has spawned copycats, as online websites from Allure to Icon Network try to replicate the concept.

Mode's latest, 100 Years of Fashion: Nails and 100 Years of Home Innovation, were released in May.

The best part about the videos? The stylists do a phenomenal job showing what people actually wore. This is not fashion based on Hollywood or Vogue standards.

For example, in the 100 Years of Fashion: Women video, I saw myself in that baby-doll frock and opaque-tights look from the '90s.

My all-time favorite - even more than the cocktails video - is 100 Years of Fashion: Wedding Dresses. It's so perfectly accurate, right down to the veils and size of the bouquets.

Like all of Mode's productions, it starts with a model dressed in plain undies, who, within seconds - thanks to a time-lapse camera - is transformed into a World War I-era bride complete with cathedral veil, then a dropwaist-dressed flapper, then a sheathed Depression-era newlywed.

The same woman morphs into a tailored, New Deal-era bride of the 1940s, a 1950s princess, and so on until we eventually get a little bit bohemian in the '70s and a lot of allusion for 2016.

I know all the work that goes into a fashion shoot - and it ain't pretty. So how does Mode do it? I recently chatted with Avelino Pombo, Mode's director of videos, about how the production company nails each chapter of fashion history with such visual aplomb.

Elizabeth Wellington: How did you get the idea for this series?

Avelino Pombo: It started with the Throwback Thursday hashtag. We noticed when we featured YouTube influencers taking a modern-day outfit and throwing it back a decade, people were resonating with it. So we decided to do our own throwback videos.

We launched with 100 Years of Cocktails, and we showcased the popular cocktail for each decade. In turn, we dressed the bartender. We noticed people were sharing the video in a powerful way. So we decided to focus on fashion a bit, with a mannequin that comes to life once it has the finishing touch put on her. The first one we did in that way was 100 Years of Fashion: Women.

Wellington: How long does it take to film each one?

Pombo: Each one takes a full day. There is a lot of prep work that goes into it. We source the clothes, find a model that resonates with the styles. We've worked with some well-known people: Cassey Ho from Blogilates (100 Years of Fashion: Workout Style), and Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo (100 Years of Fashion: Women in Film). But the majority of our models are regular, everyday people.

Wellington: How many stylists do you use?

Pombo: We use one stylist, one hair person, one makeup person. We have a really lean team.

Wellington: Do you pull a lot of outfits per decade?

Pombo: We do, and we do a dry fitting the day of. That is where we make changes - see what works and what doesn't. It's an 11-hour day.

Wellington: How much research goes into this?

Pombo: A lot. But there is definitely overlap. For example, when we did 100 Years of Cars, we researched the cars, but we also wanted the men in the cars to wear the hats they would actually wear during that decade, and that helped with 100 Years of Fashion: Hats. When we did 100 Years of Engagement Rings, we made sure all of the nails changed. That helped with 100 Years of Fashion: Nails. We even researched the boxes the rings came in.

We want it to be really tangible.

Wellington: What is the future of the 100 Years series?

Pombo: On average, we'd like to do two a month: one fashion and one lifestyle. The possibilities - from sweaters to beds - are endless.

ewellington@phillynews.com

215-854-2704

@ewellingtonphl