OVP: Best Costume (2016)
The Nominees Were...
Joanna Johnston, Allied
Colleen Atwood, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Consolata Boyle, Florence Foster Jenkins
Madeline Fontaine, Jackie
Mary Zophres, La La Land
Colleen Atwood, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Consolata Boyle, Florence Foster Jenkins
Madeline Fontaine, Jackie
Mary Zophres, La La Land
My Thoughts: We continue on with our look at the Oscar race of 2016 with a peak at the Best Costume Design race. 2016 is slightly different than your average recent year for this category because alongside the requisite pretty period dresses and fantasy outfits, we got an actual contemporary film for the lineup. La La Land is the first contemporary, non-fantasy film to be in this lineup since 2010's I Am Love, making it one of those rare twice-in-a-decade sort of anomalies. As a result, we're going to start with Mary Zophres' achievement.
La La Land may be contemporary and based in a reality of sorts, but it's also sort of a heightened reality so calling it a "modern" film isn't quite the same as if something like Parasite were to get into this category in 2019. Zophres plays with basic colors (specifically red, yellow, green, and blue) in a dynamic and engaging way. Arguably the sequence I think of most from La La Land is Emma Stone strutting through the Los Angeles night in a sophisticated blue sundress, countered by women in similarly-designed monochromatic frocks. The costuming is arguably the film's most specific and sophisticated asset, one that keeps instilling the changing fortunes of our leading characters, as well as their moods in a way that occasionally the script & acting doesn't. I know I've ragged on La La Land a bit in this series, and that will continue in other fields, but the costuming was a home run for me.
We move from La La Land to another Best Actress contender, Jackie. Fontaine gets real life as inspiration for her creations, as not only does she have an historical figure to base them on, she has one of the most important fashion icons of the 20th Century, Jackie Kennedy. That said, Fontaine doesn't simply rely on her pillbox laurels here. She finds ways to painstakingly recreate the looks of the late First Lady, making them feel not only real, but occasionally boxier, more specific to their time than they appear in photographs. Think of the stiff shoulders of Kennedy's pink suit or the rolled waist of the red dress she wears during the White House tour-Fontaine's work is remarkable not just because she gets the Kennedy looks done flawlessly, but also because she makes them feel authentic as if we're watching this world come to life, a world most of us only know from history books.
The final film to feature a Best Actress contender in this lineup is Florence Foster Jenkins. Here Consolata Boyle also has a (significantly lesser-known) historical figure for inspiration, but I left feeling unimpressed by the designs. The costumes are more modern in their cut and design, and are used less for function & more for comedic affect. A lot of Florence is based on the idea that the world makes fun of Meryl Streep's titular character, but she's oblivious to their mockery. The costumes in this film give too many of the cards away, increasingly outlandish with little explanation as to why. There's nothing distinctive in this film in the way that Jackie and La La Land achieve-picturing Meryl in your head in this picture, you more just shove a random dress from your grandmother's attic onto her in your memory, rather than an actual look from the film.
Allied is another film that suffers from only a vague sense of the costuming, though here at least that's more your memory faulting you than it being bad in the picture. The film is clearly playing with the concept of Casablanca, a film that weirdly doesn't have a lot of distinctive costuming, particularly for women, other than Ingrid Bergman's "blue" dress. That said, the motif here is solid, with Cotillard sporting an array of silk gowns, including that memorable seafoam green dress, something matched in the film when Brad Pitt wears an elegant suit of the same color. The costuming isn't always consistent (Cotillard's style changes too much within the picture without real explanation), but honestly I think that's less Johnston's fault and more the problem of a script that doesn't know how to create its own Casablanca.
We'll conclude with the only film that is completely away from reality (rather than La La Land which only enjoys the occasional flight-of-fancy), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Colleen Atwood is an Oscar perennial, so it's little surprise that she was cited, though it probably helps that they took the franchise back to the 1920's. There's something dapper about Newt's coats, and some of the weird cross-sections Atwood achieves between the real world fashion trends and those of the wizarding world, but by-and-large this is more handsome than inspired, a series of elegant set pieces that don't distinguish themselves enough from what came before.
La La Land may be contemporary and based in a reality of sorts, but it's also sort of a heightened reality so calling it a "modern" film isn't quite the same as if something like Parasite were to get into this category in 2019. Zophres plays with basic colors (specifically red, yellow, green, and blue) in a dynamic and engaging way. Arguably the sequence I think of most from La La Land is Emma Stone strutting through the Los Angeles night in a sophisticated blue sundress, countered by women in similarly-designed monochromatic frocks. The costuming is arguably the film's most specific and sophisticated asset, one that keeps instilling the changing fortunes of our leading characters, as well as their moods in a way that occasionally the script & acting doesn't. I know I've ragged on La La Land a bit in this series, and that will continue in other fields, but the costuming was a home run for me.
We move from La La Land to another Best Actress contender, Jackie. Fontaine gets real life as inspiration for her creations, as not only does she have an historical figure to base them on, she has one of the most important fashion icons of the 20th Century, Jackie Kennedy. That said, Fontaine doesn't simply rely on her pillbox laurels here. She finds ways to painstakingly recreate the looks of the late First Lady, making them feel not only real, but occasionally boxier, more specific to their time than they appear in photographs. Think of the stiff shoulders of Kennedy's pink suit or the rolled waist of the red dress she wears during the White House tour-Fontaine's work is remarkable not just because she gets the Kennedy looks done flawlessly, but also because she makes them feel authentic as if we're watching this world come to life, a world most of us only know from history books.
The final film to feature a Best Actress contender in this lineup is Florence Foster Jenkins. Here Consolata Boyle also has a (significantly lesser-known) historical figure for inspiration, but I left feeling unimpressed by the designs. The costumes are more modern in their cut and design, and are used less for function & more for comedic affect. A lot of Florence is based on the idea that the world makes fun of Meryl Streep's titular character, but she's oblivious to their mockery. The costumes in this film give too many of the cards away, increasingly outlandish with little explanation as to why. There's nothing distinctive in this film in the way that Jackie and La La Land achieve-picturing Meryl in your head in this picture, you more just shove a random dress from your grandmother's attic onto her in your memory, rather than an actual look from the film.
Allied is another film that suffers from only a vague sense of the costuming, though here at least that's more your memory faulting you than it being bad in the picture. The film is clearly playing with the concept of Casablanca, a film that weirdly doesn't have a lot of distinctive costuming, particularly for women, other than Ingrid Bergman's "blue" dress. That said, the motif here is solid, with Cotillard sporting an array of silk gowns, including that memorable seafoam green dress, something matched in the film when Brad Pitt wears an elegant suit of the same color. The costuming isn't always consistent (Cotillard's style changes too much within the picture without real explanation), but honestly I think that's less Johnston's fault and more the problem of a script that doesn't know how to create its own Casablanca.
We'll conclude with the only film that is completely away from reality (rather than La La Land which only enjoys the occasional flight-of-fancy), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Colleen Atwood is an Oscar perennial, so it's little surprise that she was cited, though it probably helps that they took the franchise back to the 1920's. There's something dapper about Newt's coats, and some of the weird cross-sections Atwood achieves between the real world fashion trends and those of the wizarding world, but by-and-large this is more handsome than inspired, a series of elegant set pieces that don't distinguish themselves enough from what came before.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Costume Designers Guild is one of the only guilds to separate their nominees into not one or two categories, but three: contemporary, period, and fantasy. As you can tell, period films dominated at the Oscars, and so we saw repeats of Jackie and Florence Foster Jenkins next to Hail Caesar!, The Dressmaker, and the victorious Hidden Figures. Fantasy didn't go for Fantastic Beasts (though it was cited), but instead Doctor Strange, with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Rogue One also batting bridesmaid. The only Oscar nominee that did win was La La Land at contemporary, where it stood above Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Lion, Captain Fantastic, and Nocturnal Animals. The BAFTA Awards preferred Jackie over an exact replica of the Oscar lineup.
Films I Would Have Nominated: 2016 was heaven for costume designers, as there was hardly any shortage of contenders. I definitely would have added in the magnificent Dressmaker, truly a triumph of sex appeal and bold design. I would have also included Silence for its 17th Century examination of innermost Japan. Hail Caesar had so much fun recreating old Hollywood, something I appreciate more after spending so much time last year with Esther Williams' movies, and while they hardly need acknowledgment (the fittings would be enough reward for one lifetime), Everybody Wants Some! finds ways to make the 80's look authentic, and totally sexy.
Oscar's Choice: In a true shock (probably the biggest of the night) Colleen Atwood won her fourth Oscar, the first time she'd won without competing against Sandy Powell, probably in a tight race over La La Land and Jackie.
My Choice: Unlike Oscar, I don't think it's the right time to give it to genius Colleen Atwood. Instead, I'm going to go with Jackie in a very slight turn over La La Land, with Allied, Fantastic Beasts, and Florence coming behind.
And now, of course, it's your turn. Are you with me that Jackie deserved this trophy, or you more in line with giving this to Colleen Atwood yet again? Why do you think it was this category of all categories to finally break Harry Potter's losing streak? And with a plethora of options, who was the sixth place finisher? Share your thoughts below!
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