Ellen Mirojnick: From "Fatal Attraction" to "Oppenheimer"

by Cláudio Alves

There is little heroic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, whether in real life or on the big screen. Yet, in Christopher Nolan's latest, the commonplace act of getting dressed for the day is treated with the gravitas of a superhero movie's "suit up" scene. If nothing else, the moment highlights Ellen Mirojnick's work, another feather in the costume designer's cap. As with every one of the picture's elements, each choice is carefully deliberated, a negotiation of intimacy and immediacy that tries to transmit a first-person take on the period film. Two-piece tan suits rhyme with sky blue shirts, echoing the Los Alamos landscape, while a turquoise-inset silver belt buckle and porkpie-crowned cowboy-rimmed hat wink at Western iconography. It's a uniform as much as a costume, the men's "mythic look" as described by Mirojnick, who kept hats out of the other character's looks to make her protagonist stand out. 

This could be a lucky year for Mirojnick, awards-wise. Oppenheimer just might result in the designer's first Oscar nomination. Considering her vast career, it's hard to believe she's yet to be honored by the Academy…

FAME (1980) Alan Parker

Ellen Mirojnick grew up in New York, where she cultivated a taste for fine arts, painting, and music before attending the School of Visual Arts for photography. That didn't last long, and she soon redirected her studies to fashion at Parsons School of Design. Sadly, while designing was her passion, sewing proved an insurmountable obstacle. She was asked to leave but soon found work in the business, first in jewelry-making, then as a ready-to-wear designer for the Happy Legs company. It was through her husband, Barry R. Mirojnick, that, in 1978, the designer would enter the movie business, as she was visiting him on the set of a smutty little flick called French Quarter when the producers asked her to be their costume designer.

Though the work was hard and the budget minimal, Mirojnick fell in love with the movies during the process. Still working at Happy Legs, she checked on costuming opportunities, eventually entering a professional partnership with future two-time Oscar nominee Kristi Zea. As her assistant, Mirojnick worked on Fame and Endless Love, but when it came time to adapt the musical for TV, she costumed the pilot episode alone. From there, the designer worked steadily in series, films, and commercials, finding a first great triumph with Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction. On that set, Mirojnick met a critical collaborator in the leading man, Michael Douglas, whom she'd go on to dress in many movies.

Those included some mighty influential titles like Wall Street and Basic Instinct, so popular they were copied by the fashion world rather than the other way 'round. Power and sex charge through both films and could characterize the principal tenets of Mirojnick's 90s filmography, a decade where she had her finger on the zeitgeist and even helped shape it. Think of the heightened sex appeal of Showgirls and the ludicrous Exit to Eden, the action practicality of Speed and Twister, the cyberpunk spark of Strange Days, the neo-noir past meets present lure of Mobsters and Mulholland Falls, the cosmopolitan elegance of A Perfect Murder. 

TWISTER (1996) Jan De Bont

Methodologically, she sees costume design as a collaborative process dependent on the input of other artists, including scenographers and DPs. Moreover, Mirojnick claims to revolt against fussiness, preferring streamlined architectural fits where the general shape is always more important than the small detail. Collage and mashup are as important tools as drawing, pulling from several sources to concretize the idea of character and mood, atmosphere, an ineffable sense of cinematic style. In Jacob's Ladder, for example, she'd use a Joel-Peter Witkin photograph to inspire some of the movie's nightmarish distortions, finding practical solutions as simple as nylon stretched over faces, bodies, screams.

In recent years, the designer's minimalist aesthetic has developed into a more maximalist beast, especially as she transitions from a filmography dominated by contemporary-set narratives to more period and fantastic fare. The Klimt-inspired costumes from 1997's Cinderella were an indicator of Mirojnick's wild stylings for projects like The Greatest Showman, Bridgerton, and another Cinderella, this time starring Camila Cabello instead of Brandy. While these anachronist-heavy explosions of clashing colors and prints aren't to my taste, I can recognize value in their proposed aesthetic. Curiously enough, around the same time, Mirojnick also developed a close collaboration with Steven Soderbergh, for whom she designed the fantastically-accurate The Knick.

Thanks to Soderbergh, the designer won her most significant industry honor yet, taking the Outstanding Costume Design Emmy for Behind the Candelabra. She has also been nominated for two BAFTAs, once for Chaplin and then the Liberace biopic. Sadly, the Oscars nod eludes her to this day. Let's hope Oppenheimer signals a reversal of fortunes. In the meantime, we can appreciate all the costuming excellence she has given us over the years. Here's a sampling, in the same vein as the one celebrating Barbie's Jacqueline Durran from last month. Check these well-dressed projects and where to watch them.

FATAL ATTRACTION (1987) Adrian Lyne
Streaming on Fubo TV, Paramount Plus, Showtime, and DirecTV. You can also rent and buy it on most major platforms.

WALL STREET (1987) Oliver Stone
Available to rent and purchase on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, DirecTV, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.

JACOB'S LADDER (1990) Adrian Lyne
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, MGM+, Paramount Plus, Kanopy, and Fubo TV. You can also rent and buy it on the big platforms.

MOBSTERS (1991) Michael Karbelnikoff
Available to rent and purchase on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, DirecTV, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.

BASIC INSTINCT (1992) Paul Verhoeven
Streaming on Fubo TV, Paramount Plus, Showtime, and DirecTV. You can also rent and buy the film on most major platforms.

CHAPLIN (1992) Richard Attenborough
Streaming on Paramount Plus and Hoopla. It's also available to rent and purchase on the big platforms.

EXIT TO EDEN (1994) Gary Marshall
This misbegotten sex comedy is hard to find, as it's not streaming anywhere. However, you can check it out on Youtube, where someone uploaded it for free.

STRANGE DAYS (1995) Kathryn Bigelow
Currently streaming on Max and DirecTV.

SHOWGIRLS (1995) Paul Verhoeven
Streaming on Paramount Plus, the Criterion Channel, MGM+, Hoopla, Tubi, and Fubo TV. You can also rent and purchase it on Redbox.

MULHOLLAND FALLS (1996) Lee Tamahori
Streaming on Tubi, Freevee, Pluto TV, and the Roku Channel. You can also find it, available to rent and purchase, on Apple TV, Amazon Video, VUDU, Redbox, and the Microsoft Store.

CINDERELLA (1997) Robert Iscove
Currently streaming on Disney+.

STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) Paul Verhoeven
Currently streaming on Netflix and DirecTV. You can also rent and buy it on most of the major platforms.

A PERFECT MURDER (1998) Andrew Davis
Available to rent and buy on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, Redbox, DirecTV, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004). David Twohy
Streaming on USA and Fubo TV. You can also find it on most major platforms, available to rent and purchase.

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (2010) Oliver Stone
Available to rent and buy on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, DirecTV, and the Microsoft Store.

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013) Steven Soderbergh
Streaming on Max and DirecTV. Available to rent and buy on most of the big platforms.

THE KNICK (2014-2015) Steven Soderbergh
Both seasons are streaming on Max, Cinemax, and Spectrum On Demand. They are also available for purchase on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, and VUDU.

BY THE SEA (2015) Angelina Jolie
Available to rent and purchase on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, Redbox, DirecTV, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.

LOGAN LUCKY (2017) Steven Soderbergh
Streaming on Fubo TV, Paramount Plus, Showtime, Hoopla, Kanopy, and DirecTV. It's also widely available on most major platforms to rent and purchase.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2017) Michael Gracey
Streaming on Disney+, Fubo TV, and FX Now. It's also available to rent and buy on the big services.

THE LAUNDROMAT (2019) Steven Soderbergh
Streaming exclusively on Netflix.

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL (2019) Joachim Rønning
Streaming on Disney+. You can also find the film, available for rent and purchase, on most big platforms.

LET THEM ALL TALK (2020) Steven Soderbergh
Streaming on Max. You can also rent and buy it on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Youtube, VUDU, Redbox, DirecTV, and the Microsoft Store.

BRIDGERTON (2020) Julie Anne Robinson, Tom Verica, Sheree Folkson & Alrick Riley
The first season, the only one with costumes by Ellen Mirojnick, is streaming exclusively on Netflix.

OPPENHEIMER (2023) Christopher Nolan
The nuclear half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon is currently in theaters.

Do you think Ellen Mirojnick will earn her first Oscar nomination with Oppenheimer? Moreover, would you have nominated her for any of the other titles in her filmography?

Comments

[andrewfraser]

One of my favourite designers working! Her late 80s - early 90s work in particular is so timeless and chic.

Would love to see her get the nomination for Oppenheimer.

[César Gaytán]

I'm not a fan of the costumes of Oppenheimer. Basically are just suits.

[Peggy Sue]

I don't think she has the status she deserves.

Alex Forrest
Catherine Trammell
Nomi
+ the suits in Wall Street and the legwarmers in Fame

QUEEN

[Peggy Sue]

Answering your question, I think Oppenheimer is (falsely) brainy enough to get a ton of nominations. I don't love it but the work with the lead character is outstanding.