7 Days 'til Oscar: Costume Design
Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 12:33PM 
Each year at the Oscar ceremony I hope against hope that they'll ditch one of the numerous superfluous montages celebrating something or other throughout history and just do a runway show of the year's best costumes. On rare occasions we've seen a living tableau before the winner was announced and at least once, a Whoopi ceremony, the host actually incorporated costume design into the gig.
Imagine Seth MacFarlane coming out as Fantine in a shredded Les Miz gown or Queen Ravenna's raven collar dress. Sorry, no! I apologize deeply for putting those images in your head. Let's just say that I feel reasonably certain there will at least be a stovepipe hat during the ceremony in honor of Lincoln.
OSCAR NOMINEES
• Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
• Joanna Johnston, Lincoln
• Eiko Ishioka, Mirror Mirror
• Paco Delgado, Les Misérables
• Colleen Atwood, Snow White and the Hunstman
will win: Anna Karenina, it's not quite traditional "royalty porn", their favorite thing in this category, but the Russian aristocracy is close enough.
should win: Anna Karenina, Durran continues to just amaze in film after film.
weird trivia: The Oscars love Colleen Atwood but she only ever wins when she's pitted against their other all-time favorite Sandy Powell
possible spoiler: if Oscar voters are feeling daring and/or sentimental you could see a posthumous win for the great Ishioka whose costumes always function as their own setpieces they're such scene stealers
OSCAR VISUAL CHARTS
My Own Ballot & Semi-Finalists with shout-outs to all the Oscar nominees (great lineup. well done AMPAS) as well as Sharen Davis, Kasia Walicka-Maimone, Caroline Eselin, Julie Weiss, Mark Bridges, and Manon Rasmussen
I think this begs a reader poll...
Reader Comments (9)
"weird trivia: The Oscars love Colleen Atwood but she only ever wins when she's pitted against their other all-time favorite Sandy Powell"
And vice-versa!
I almost fainted when I realized you don't mention Christian Gasc for Farewell My Queen at all!
Both Colleen Atwood and Sandy Powell seem to be totally over the oscars at this point lol.
Count Vronsky's white suit that he wore at the ball is the costume that I would love to own.
If I remember correctly they did some sort of runway thing in the 95' Oscar (that Braveheart year). They have models wearing costumes from the nominated films and catwalk the stage. That was my first year of watching the Oscar and I thought it was one of the compulsory thing but was quite disappointed they never did it again. Did they do something similar again and I missed it?
One more thing: I remember they nominated the very cool costume from 12 Monkeys that year. They rarely do so for a sci-fi anymore right?
PJ -- They did that sort of runway the years of Amadeus and A Room with a View.
This is how they should always present it. Jaunty music and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FesI0_K_JLk&list=UUb-vZWBeWA5Q2818JmmJiqQ
I'll wait next year until at least one of the nominees is post-Victorian and a little skanky, just the way I like it.
cool posts and pictures!