Please welcome new contributor Cláudio Alves...
Multiple Oscar winner Colleen Atwood on the set of "Dumbo"
As we head into the heart of festival season, the Oscar race is about to take shape. Many of the buzzier titles are finally being seen and, some will emerge as major contenders while others will fall by the wayside. That is true for most categories, but not always true for Best Costume Design. That wonderful craft award, oft celebrated here at The Film Experience, is less dependent on Best Picture buzz as other craft prizes. Let’s not forget the sole nomination likes of The Tempest, W.E. and The Invisible Woman.
It’s quite likely we’ve already seen at least one of the eventual nominees. Let's take a more thorough look at the contenders for this award...
THOSE WE’VE ALREADY SEEN
Michael Wilkinson designed for Aladdin
More and more, costume designers can actively campaign for a nomination by doing interviews and letting the press keep their achievements on people’s minds. That has worked well for the Disney live-action remakes and sequels, with four of them securing nominations. We can’t underestimate Michael Wilkinson’s work in Aladdin or Colleen Atwood’s designs for Dumbo. Both are arguably a bit gaudy and I am personally somewhat of a Wilkinson agnostic, but it’s very showy work and the Academy occassionally has a ‘more is more’ way of thinking.
Julian Day (left) with some Rocketman lewks
Rocketman’s wardrobe is more purposefully excessive, but, after Julian Day missed out on an Oscar nod for Bohemian Rhapsody, I’m doubtful he can get in for this, no matter how superior the movie and costumes are.
Quality and press-wise, the most likely to go the distance, thus far, is Arianne Phillips for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. No Tarantino movie has ever been nominated for Best Costume Design, but we think that's about to change. Phillips’ glamorous and character specific recreation of 1969’s styles is awards worthy and her work has been heavily promoted.
LIKELY CONTENDERS WE’VE YET TO SEE
Jacqueline Durran for "Little Women"
After a rare (if you're not named Sandy Powell) double nomination in 2018, Jacqueline Durran has returned in style to the race. While Peterloo and Mary Magdalene are far from the Oscar radar, they are impressive design feats. Little Women, on the other hand, seems poised for awards success and that trailer has a very Pride & Prejudice ’05 feel to it with its slightly modernized 19th century fashion that is bound to annoy history buffs.
Durran also has 1917 coming out this year, but, if that wardrobe is exclusively made out of military uniforms, I’d count it out of the race. Master & Commander and The Revenant are more the exceptions than the rule when it comes to this category, where gowns are preferred.
For similar reasons, I’m cautious about The King’s prospects: the costume branch has been somewhat allergic to medieval movies, unless they have a clear fantasy element.
An apparent sausage fest that is more likely to appear on the Costume Design ballots is The Irishman. Sandy Powell and Scorsese doing several decades worth of period recreation sounds like a costume obsessive’s dream come true.
Alexandra Byrne for "The Aeronauts"
More potentially Oscary still is Alexandra Byrne’s work in The Aeronauts. The trailer promises Victorian fussiness and the designer’s usual mismatch of historical references and wild flights of fancy. If the denim atrocities of Mary Queen of Scots could get in last year, anything she does can.
I’m more optimistic about Harriet, considering what the trailer shows and Paul Tazewell’s quasi living legend status in the Theatre world. Over in biopic-land we also have Judy with costumes designed by the never nominated Jany Temime. Dolemite Is My Name promises a veritable feast for the eyes so Ruth E. Carter might get an afterglow nomination having just won for Black Panther.
Ruth E Carter for "Dolemite is My Name"
That said, the movie’s overtly comedic nature leaves me unsure. The Academy loves stylized costumes when they are designed with an avant-garde or fantasy edge to them, but do something more clearly created as visual comedy and you’re, more often than not, in trouble. Grand Budapest Hotel and Shakespeare in Love’s costumes could be used in a normal period drama and not look out of place, for instance. That’s why I’m also a bit doubtful of JoJo Rabbit’s chances, despite Nathaniel’s predictions.
Paco Delgado for "Cats"
To finish, we have Downton Abbey and Cats. The English costume drama looks like Best Costume Design catnip, but its TV connections might be its downfall. Regarding Cats, the difficulty in separating digital fur technology from actual costume seems bound to create some confusion. Not to mention it looks terrifying, thought that's never stopped the Academy before.
What films do you think will get nominated for Best Costume Design this year? What films deserve to be nominated but seem far from the Oscar race?