Glasses Jason Alexander wore in the 'Seinfeld' pilot were from Spike Lee's 'Malcolm X,' costume designer says

• It seems Spike Lee's film "Malcolm X" and the sitcom "Seinfeld" share some history.
• Costume designer Ruth E. Carter used glasses from the film to style Jason Alexander in the sitcom's pilot.

Two-time Academy Award winner Ruth E. Carter revealed that she used a pair of glasses from the set of "Malcolm X" to style Jason Alexander in the "Seinfeld" pilot.

Speaking on the Nessa OFF Air podcast, the Hollywood costume designer said that she used the glasses for the pilot of the show after having previously sourced them for the Spike Lee biopic about the life of the civil rights activist Malcolm X.

Carter said she worked on "The Seinfeld Chronicles," which was the title of the iconic show's pilot episode, in 1989, shortly after she had finished working on the movie — which wouldn't be released for another three years due to production delays.

She said that for the NBC sitcom, which was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the "prototype" of the glasses worn by Jason Alexander's character George Constanza were ones that Denzel Washington had previously worn while playing Malcolm X.

Carter said that while discussing the look for the character of Constanza with Alexander, he suggested wearing glasses.

"The only glasses that I have are those wired-rimmeds that I brought in that came from 'Malcolm X'," Carter said. "He put them on and was like, 'Yeah, I like this shape.' I was like, 'Bingo, done!' We got him fit for glasses, and that's where it started."

Carter clarified that the glasses in question were not the ones Washington wore throughout most of the movie, which earned her her first Oscar nomination for "Best Costume Design," but a pair seen briefly during a sequence showing the titular character's time in jail.

"He has a scene in prison where he puts these wired-rimmed glasses on, and those were the ones I had," she said.