Remember how Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa in Casablanca combined ladylike separates with masculine tailoring? Or, the little black Givenchy dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s that, paired with pearls and gloves, cemented Audrey Hepburn’s place as a fashion icon? Costume design in film has always added an important layer to how a character is revealed to the audience. The fedora completed Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones look, and the pink suit (made by Ralph Lauren) in The Great Gatsby told you a story about the extravagant lead. “The right kind of costume design helps build the character, adds layers to a persona without shouting, saying ‘look at me, this is who I am’,” says Michelle Rodrigues, Chicago-based costume stylist.
This year, Oscar nominations for Costume Design include Milena Canonero, a three-time winner, who brought Wes Anderson’s characters to life in The Grand Budapest Hotel despite not having a particular time or place in history to research and recreate. “It makes everything so much easier and more free,” said Milena in an interview with Vanity Fair . Other nominations include Mark Bridges ( Inherent Vice ) who captures the cheeriness and the beauty of the 1970s; another three-time winner Colleen Atwood ( Into the Woods ) who put together costumes that offered a contemporary retelling of the fairytales, much like the script itself; Anna B. Sheppard ( Maleficent )who created a visually stunning Queen of the Moors, using dark and sculpted silhouettes; and Jacqueline Durran ( Mr. Turner ) who created a clean, lived-in and muted look for the portrayal of the 19th century master painter.
Depending on their genre, these designers have woven together a visual representation that drives home the point that costumes in a movie are more than just the garb. “Costume is the extension of the characters the actors are playing on screen. As an audience, sometimes we know what the character is thinking or feeling depending on what he/she is wearing but we never make a conscious effort to make this association,” says filmmaker Anshuman Singh.
Let’s take a quick look at the main contenders for Best Picture. We have the standard military look with a buffed-up Bradley Cooper in American Sniper but it’s the off-duty scenes with his wife and child that really portray the soldier’s complex life. In Whiplash , J.K. Simmons reminds you of a stern Simon Cowell, from American Idol , in his tight-fitted t-shirts as he plays a gruelling music teacher. “Nothing is coincidence; the costume team creates the looks based on the characters and the script after hours of discussions with the director,” says Rodrigues.
Both The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything capture British fashion with double-breasted suits for the men and conservative A-line dresses and sweaters for the ladies. In The Theory of Everything , they could have gone overboard for perhaps the scene on the bridge when Jane and Stephen Hawking share their first kiss; instead, an elegant understated dress with matching gloves made do.
While the superhero costume in Birdman got positive reviews, it is the casual, daily wear that gave designer Albert Wolsky trouble. “I spent more time trying to figure out what each actor looked like coming to work. It always is when it’s that nothing type of clothes that everybody’s wearing. It’s hard to show the character,” he said in an interview with the New York Times . Everyday clothes were also a big part of Boyhood . Shot across 12 years, the costumes subtly reflect the style and trends of each year as well as the arc of the characters. The looks change with each passing year; not only for the central character but also his mother played by Patricia Arquette. She gradually transforms from hippie to suburban housewife to a college professor.
In Selma , designer Ruth Carter had to work with documentary footage to recreate the looks and scenes. Given the story, the costumes became a symbol of social order in the South in 1965. African-Americans were not allowed to dress in fineries so, in the actual ‘Bloody Sunday’ March scene, you will notice women dressed in bright colours. “A lot of the footage was in black and white so you have to reinterpret it,” said Carter in an interview with Variety .
The real win for costume design is when a character can reveal traits through its own device. Just like the baggy trousers, oversized shoes and hat for Charlie Chaplin’s ‘tramp’ helped define his on-screen persona. Or, like in Pretty Woman , the bright red gown designed by Marilyn Vance ushers in the transformation Julia Robert’s character undergoes from streetwalker to a picture of elegance. A lot of storytelling happens through a piece of cloth or accessory, even if sometimes the audience misses the method behind this magic.
