Costume Guild Nominees: Hail Caesar, AbFab, Doctor Strange, Etc...
Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 11:15AM
NATHANIEL R in Colleen Atwood, Costume Design, Gabriela Pescucci, Milena Canonero, Penny Dreadful, TV

The Costume Designers Guild has spoken their mind in 7 categories. Let's look at their nominees shall we?

Excellence in Period Film
The Dressmaker – Marion Boyce, Margot Wilson
Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle
Hail, Caesar! – Mary Zophres
Hidden Figures – Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine

You might think "oh, that's the Oscar list!" but clutch your pearls or other design accessories. There are so many more options for the Academy in period that missed here (Silence anyone?) and in the other categories with Contemporary (which might have a contender this year with La La Land) and Fantasy nominations... which Oscar takes almost as seriously as Period Pieces in this category...

A note of caution. The Oscar list almost never borrows from the contemporary selections (sniffled) but here's what they've done in recent years in relation to CDG:  

2015: 4/5 Oscar took 2 from Period, 2 from Fantasy. Added The Revenant)
2014: 4/5 Oscar took 2 from Period, 2 from Fantasy. Added Mr Turner
2013: 3/5  Oscar took 3 from Period. Added two The Grandmaster and Invisible Woman)
2012: 5/5 Oscar took 3 from Period and 2 from Fantasy. Didn't add.
2011: 4/5 Oscar took 4 from Period. Added Anonymous 
2010: 4/5 Oscar took 2 from Period, 2 from fantasy. Added I Am Love
2009: 4/5 Oscar took 3 from Period, 1 from fantasy. Added Bright Star 
2008: 4/5 Oscar took 4 from Period. Added Australia
2007: 4/5 Oscar took 4 from Period. Added Across the Universe
2006: 5/5 Oscar took 3 from Period, 2 from contemporary!!! Didn't add.

MORE CDG NOMINATIONS

Excellence in Contemporary Film
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – Rebecca Hale
Captain Fantastic – Courtney Hoffman
La La Land – Mary Zophres
Lion – Cappi Ireland
Nocturnal Animals – Arianne Phillips

Some good choices though at least one is a head scratcher... *COUGH* No nod for A Bigger Splash in contemporary? That's just dumb. Sorry CDG but try harder next time. 

Excellence in Fantasy Film
Doctor Strange – Alexandra Byrne
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Colleen Atwood
Kubo and the Two Strings – Deborah Cook
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Colleen Atwood
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – David Crossman, Glyn Dillion

Fun to see an animated film make the list with their teeny-tiny costumes on stop motion figures. But did Colleen Atwood really need two nominations for her now egregiously familiar big shoulder loving goth-fantasy stylings. 

So for the Oscar list what to do? It seems likely but not locked (due to contemporary nature) that La La Land will get in. But what combo can prevail from fantasy and period? Is this the first time Marvel Studios manages a nomination? That cape in Doctor Strange does have a personality all its own. 

Outstanding Contemporary Television Series
American Horror Story: Roanoke – Lou Eyrich, Helen Huang
Empire – Paolo Nieddu
Grace & Frankie – Allyson B. Fanger
House of Cards – Johanna Argan, Kemal Harris
Transparent – Marie Schley

I'm particularly delighted by the nomination for Grace & Frankie which is not an obvious choice but a stellar one, given how much character and specificity and comedy that the costumes provide. Empire gets a lot of of mileage from its clothing as well.

Outstanding Period Television Series
The Crown – Michele Clapton
Penny Dreadful – Gabriella Pescucci
Stranger Things, Series – Kimberly Adams, Malgosia Turzanska
Westworld, Pilot – Trish Summerville
Westworld, Series – Ane Crabtree

The 80s are "period" now. Excuse me while I check myself into an old folks home. Rooting for the perpetually undervalued Penny Dreadful but I know it won't win. That's okay. Pescucci already has an Oscar, two BAFTAs, and two Emmys even if she's never won this particular industry prize.

Outstanding Fantasy Television Series
Game of Thrones – Michele Clapton, April Ferry
The Man in the High Castle – J.R. Hawbaker
Once Upon a Time – Eduardo Castro
Sleepy Hollow – Mairi Chisholm
The Walking Dead – Eulyn C. Womble

Excellence in Short Form Design
Beyoncé: “Hold Up” – B. Åkerlund
Dos Equis: “The Most Interesting Man in the World – Mission to Mars” – Julie Vogel
Dos Equis: “The New Most Interesting Man in the World Traverses the Sand and the Serengeti” – Liz Botes
H&M: “Come Together” featuring Adrien Brody, directed by Wes Anderson – Milena Canonero
Pepsi: “Momotaro” Episode Four, featuring Jude Law — Ami Goodheart

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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