Manuel here, continuing our Carol week festivities.
Carol Aird always looks like she’s stepped right out of a fashion spread. Or rather, she wouldn’t look out of place if she were to walk into one. She’s always so impeccably dressed, courtesy of course, of one Ms Sandy Powell.
“Category is: Femme Butch Realness”
I was half-joking when I wrote that note down as I finished Haynes’s film back in NYFF but the more I savored the concept, the more apt it became as a description of Mrs Aird...
What I love about Powell’s choice of wardrobe for Blanchett is the way it’s both tight-fitting (constricting even!) and form-enhancing but also quite severe and austere. Those dresses wrap around and hug her body while those blazers, blouses and trousers give her an imposing air. You can see this in her jewellery too, which is both dramatic and ornate (those broches!); heavy but understated. She’s both ultra feminine and stylishly masculine.
Look no further than the gorgeous robe/pajamas ensemble she wears. The cut and pattern (those shoulder pads!) contrast beautifully with the silky and loose fabrics, weaving masculine garb and feminine style. This even bleeds into and obviously informs Blanchett’s performance: that perfectly coiffed hair—not a strand out of place—and these striking ensembles match the mask-like expression Carol usually wears. She is a woman constantly in command of her appearance, her mouth always teetering in between a knowing smirk and an indifferent frown, carefully offering up clues and cues to those in search of them.