The MET Gala meets the Movies

by Cláudio Alves

MIDSOMMAR (2018) Ari AsterThis Spring, the Costume Institute at the MET is putting on an exhibition titled "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." It's all about garments that, through the passage of time, have degraded or become too fragile to wear and exhibit by traditional means. They are slumbering, but through technological wizardry and museum magic, one hopes to breathe new life into them. From pepper ghosts to glass coffins, replicas, and immersive soundscapes, the MET will deliver visions of the fashioned ephemeral cataloged through an appeal to nature. The exhibit has three elemental parts– earth, air, and water –underlining the connective tissue between the pieces and the natural world, where decay is an essential part of existence. In some ways, it's a look at notions of impermanence through fashion.

Fittingly, this year's MET Gala has a dress code defined as "The Garden of Time," a novel by J.G. Ballard that considers similar themes. However, because stylists and celebrities are literal to a fault, this has resulted in florals and flowers as far as the eye can see – the red carpet turned into a Midsommar cosplay convention. If you're dissatisfied with the offer, why not scratch that sartorial itch through cinema? Here are some possibilities…

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April Foolish Predictions: Eye Candy and Music

by Nathaniel R

The Dietzes are back in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" and so is costume design goddess Collen Atwood. Photo © Parisa Taghizadeh for Warner Bros

Our April Foolish tradition continues with the visual and sound categories. For this installment we're just picking highlights from our crystal ball. Read on...

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Contemporary Costume Watch: "Pain Hustlers"

by Cláudio Alves

Where does one draw the line between period and contemporary costume design? It's hard to tell, and sometimes, it depends on the intentionality behind a given sartorial choice. Some filmmakers aim to capture the specificity of time and place, even when chronological proximity would excuse some adaptations to current sensibilities. Others forego that exactitude altogether. And then there's the way even the Costume Design Guild muddies the waters. How is the early 90s style of Rent considered period in 2005, but Precious' 1987-set narrative is still contemporary in 2009? All this to say that, for this article's purpose, let's interpret Pain Hustlers' wardrobe as a work of contemporary costume design. An outstanding one at that…

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Horror Costuming: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

by Cláudio Alves

Jonathan Demme's horror masterpiece, the only film in the genre to win the Best Picture Oscar, has been written about ad nauseam since its release. And yet, some elements of The Silence of the Lambs remain under-discussed. It would seem impossible, but such is the richness of this feature. Take its design, iconic but understated enough to be taken for granted. The costumes are especially deserving of attention, going way beyond Lecter's mask and Buffalo Bill's world of human skin suits. They were designed by Colleen Atwood, a future favorite of the Academy, and represent an oft-forgotten part of her artistry - the ability to ground grotesquerie in reality and use clothing to define the relationships between people…

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The Best Costumes of 1998

by Cláudio Alves

It's time to say goodbye to 1998 and move on to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown year, 1986. However, before that, let's take a look at the Best Costume Design race that saw Sandy Powell receive her first double nomination, a face-off of Elizabethan fashions, two movies whose only nod was in this category, and a riff on midcentury sitcoms. The ceremony's host, Whoopi Goldberg, even modeled pieces from each nominee, opening the show in Queen Elizabeth I drag.

All in all, it's a rather conventional costume design lineup seeing as it's entirely composed of period work. However, some of these individual achievements deserve special attention for their playful glamour, radical visions of marginalized histories, and parodical referentiality. The nominees were:  

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