OVP: Best Costume (2022)
The Nominees Were...
Mary Zophres, Babylon
Ruth Carter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Catherine Martin, Elvis
Shirley Kurata, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Jenny Beaven, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
My Thoughts: We are moving into the Best Costume category for the 2022 Oscars today, and with it, something of a debate. In the 21st Century, only two films that are completely contemporary (La La Land and The Devil Wears Prada) have been nominated for Best Costume Design. Technically, that stays true here, but I do think it's worth asking the question of whether or not Everything Everywhere All at Once should count in this regard. The movies cross-genre trappings definitely put it in a unique class.
After all, most of the film is contemporary designs, and a lot of them are quite fun. Ke Huy Quan's aged polo shirts, Jamie Lee Curtis's mustard yellow turtleneck...these are well-suited for the characters, and definitely contemporary. But I suppose if you want to talk about what actually won this nomination, it's almost certainly Stephanie Hsu's Jobu, bedecked with a Barry Lyndon-style donut head or her channeling Elvis Presley with pink hair (seriously, how did this not get a Makeup nomination?). Either way, though, this is the rare coattails nomination (no way this gets in without that Best Picture heat) that feels classy & cool. Oscar was thinking on his toes here.
Honestly, though, Oscar was largely in the best wheelhouse with this category (hands down their best tech lineup in 2022, and imho the best lineup period they pulled together in any category). I mean, look at what Mary Zophres is doing with Babylon. The entire film is fascinating, looking like it fell out of a fever dream about the 1920's. Zophres smartly doesn't just emulate looks from the era (Margot Robbie's crimson half dress with a waist deep neckline would've gotten you arrested in the actual 1920's), but also modernizes and twists them, going along with the film's message of "movies exist forever." It's gorgeous stuff.
It always helps with a tech category if you put the actual tech featured into the plot of your movie, which is true for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. This is above-and-beyond though, and not just a vanity nomination. The way that Jenny Beavan recreates vintage Dior, and reminds the world that he was one of, if not the great fashion designers of the 20th Century, with effortless colors and lines and an array of cuts. It'd be easy to cater to modern design tastes here and make Mrs. Harris' dress more suited to today's tastes, but thankfully they lean into the timelessness of Dior's fashion house instead.
Elvis is also dealing with recreations, but while Dior kind of stays on its own pedestal, go to any street corner in Vegas and you'll see someone channeling Blue Hawaii. This is a problem for the film not because it's bad, but if you're against competition this fierce you need to stand out more. Other than the blue silk suit that Butler wears when girls are going gaga for him (the whole point of this look is to get everyone a little bit turned on, which this look works well for as Butler is never sexier than at this moment in the picture), the rest of the movie doesn't feel like it's got some sort of spirit outside of historical accuracy. Again, this ain't bad...but it's not quite Oscar-worthy.
Our final nominee is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the rare Oscar-winning sequel to win in the same category as its predecessor. It's easy to understand the why here. In the first film, we got an introduction to the world of Wakanda, but in the sequel Ruth E. Carter wanted to show that within that framework, there are personal styles that each of these characters wear (it's not uniform). This is smart, character-building costuming, particularly when it comes to Angela Bassett, who gets that phenomenal white-and-silver queenly crown outfit, as well as the purple-and-gold spin on it, and the 1990's motif sported by Danai Gurira & Letitia Wright in the United States.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Costume Designer's Guild splits its nominees into three categories (Contemporary, Period, & SciFi/Fantasy) so we have fifteen nominees here. Elvis took Period costume over Babylon, Don't Worry Darling, Mrs. Harris, & The Woman King, while Contemporary picked Glass Onion against Nope, Tar, Top Gun: Maverick, & Women Talking. This means the CDG thought of EEAAO as Fantasy, and gave it the prize against Avatar, Black Panther, Hocus Pocus 2 (how exactly was this eligible during the Bob Chepak "let's throw massive box office into the garbage" months at Disney?), and Thor: Love and Thunder (the helmet was CGI...that should've instantly disqualified this citation, one of the worst of any precursor in 2022). BAFTA also went with Elvis, but went out on a limb with its nominations, selecting All Quiet on the Western Front, Amsterdam, Babylon, and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. In terms of sixth place, given its overall love All Quiet on the Western Front was surely there, but I did predict Corsage (and was high on The Woman King) headed into the nominations.
Films I Would Have Nominated: It's a very good list, Oscar should be proud. If I'm going to get picky, there was a perfect opportunity to nominate an indisputable contemporary film like Glass Onion here, given the wonderful looks that are sported by Janelle Monae & Kate Hudson in this movie...in general I wish we'd seen more of this movie with AMPAS.
Oscar's Choice: Oscar went with an upset. Almost no one called Black Panther 2, as the assumption was that Elvis would get a win here to go along with Best Makeup...neither happened.
My Choice: In a very strong field, I'm going to go a little topsy-turvy and pick Mrs. Harris ever-so-slightly over the delicious anachronisms in Babylon. I had more fun with the costumes in the House of Dior. Behind them are Black Panther, EEAAO, and Elvis.
And now, it's your turn. Do you want to stay with the queenly Angela Bassett (and Ruth E. Carter), or do you want to join me in getting Mrs. Harris her dream gown? Would you consider Everything Everywhere All at Once to be Fantasy or Contemporary design? And in a loose field, who was in sixth place? Share your thoughts below!
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