by Nathaniel R
Paddington 2's great costumes were snubbed by BAFTA last year and the CDG this year. But Lindy Hemming won the Oscar for Topsy Turvy (1999) without either of those nominations so there's still hope.The Costume Design Guild was founded in 1953 with an initial group of 30 members. Today they have an international membership of 700+. They've been giving out awards since 1999 but the categories weren't fully as they are know (period/costume/fantasy) until 2005.
Though their tastes do align with Oscar it's difficult to wholly prognosticate from their awards since the Oscar nominees are generally a mix of their Period and Fantasy nominees with an extra title thrown in (plus every once in a while the costume branch within the Academy will surprise with a contemporary nominee). Much more frequently Oscar will just add one film that wasn't honored at all by the CDG! They do it nearly all the time actually (10 out of the last 12 years). The point is a film is not out of the running if it wasn't honored at CDG, especially if it has a previously Oscar nominated costume designer behind it. That's potentially good news for five well regarded costumers who missed the CDG today: Linda Hemming (Paddington 2), Mary Zophres (First Man), Milena Canonero (The Sisters Brothers), Joanna Johnston (Welcome to Marwen), and Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts: Grindelwald). That's not so good news for Caroline Eselin (If Beale Street Could Talk) who missed a CDG nomination today, since Oscar has yet to notice her.
We'll share the stats after the nominations at the bottom of this post so you'll have a clearer picture. Ready? Let's talk costumes...
Excellence in Contemporary Film
- A Star Is Born, Erin Benach
- Crazy Rich Asians, Mary E. Vogt
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Michele Clapton
- Ocean’s 8, Sarah Edwards
- Widows, Jenny Eagan
You know why even have a contemporary category if you can't notice the genius of what the designer was doing with Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in A Simple Favor? I like all five of these movies they nominated but none of them is quite A Simple Favor's equal in this regard. Another contemporary film that had good costume design this year was I Feel Pretty... but people rarely vote on craft but on the film itself (sigh) -- if it's in the awards mix it's in the awards mix regardless.
Excellence in Period Film
- BlacKkKlansman, Marci Rodgers
- Bohemian Rhapsody, Julian Day
- The Favourite, Sandy Powell
- Mary Poppins Returns, Sandy Powell
- Mary Queen of Scots, Alexandra Byrne
We're expecting this to be the Oscar list (minus BlacKkKlansman plus Black Panther). Noticeably missing in this list are The Sisters Brothers (designed by Oscar favourite Milena Canonero), If Beale Street Could Talk (Caroline Eselin), First Man (Mary Zophres) and Cold War (Ola Staszko)
Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film
- A Wrinkle in Time, Paco Delgado
- Aquaman, Kym Barrett
- The Avengers: Infinity War, Judianna Makovsky
- Black Panther, Ruth E. Carter
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Jenny Beavan
WHERE IS PADDINGTON 2 ??? The costuming in that was insanely good, and superior to all of these save Black Panther. Was Suspiria ignored here or in Period? It's hard to know where Horror films place themselves. But it looks like they didn't respond to A Quiet Place's knitwear. Noticeably missing here (not that we're complaining) is Fantastic Beasts 2 since you'll recall that Fantastic Beasts 1 won the Costume Design Oscar in its year.
Excellence in Contemporary Television
- The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Lou Eyrich & Allison Leach
- Grace and Frankie, Allyson B. Fanger
- The Romanoffs, Janie Bryant & Wendy Chuck
- Sharp Objects, Alix Friedberg
- This Is Us, Hala Bahmet
So happy that Grace & Frankie gets regular nominations here because the costuming is very strong and character precise.
Excellence in Period Television
- The Alienist, Michael Kaplan
- GLOW, Beth Morgan
- The Man in the High Castle, Catherine Adair
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Donna Zakowska
- Outlander, Nina Ayres & Terry Dresbach
Good list, right?
Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Television
- American Horror Story: Apocalypse, Paula Bradley & Lou Eyrich
- The Handmaid’s Tale, Ane Crabtree
- Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Cynthia Summers
- Star Trek: Discovery, Gersha Phillips
- Westworld, Sharen Davis
I don't watch enough TV to know if we're missing anything great in this regard. What do you think of the list?
Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television
- Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, Paul Tazewell
- The Late Late Show with James Corden, Lauren Shapiro
- RuPaul’s Drag Race, Zaldy Goco
- Saturday Night Live, Tom Broecker & Eric Justian
- So You Think You Can Dance, Marina Toybina
Brandon Victor Dixon's Judas costume alone should earn this award (we hope)
Excellence in Short Form Design
Adidas // See My Creativity from Guillermo Garza, AMC on Vimeo.
- Adidas: “See My Creativity”, commercial, Bonnie Stauch
- Childish Gambino: “This is America”, music video, Natasha Newman-Thomas
- Elton John – Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Legacy, short film, Charlie Altuna
- Justin Timberlake: “Supplies” Directed by Dave Myers, music video, Ami Goodhart
- Nespresso: “The Quest”, commercial, Jenny Eagan
Who would you vote for in these fields?
CDG to Oscar Statistics
2018: TBD
2017: 3/5 Oscar. Took 2 from Period, 1 from Fantasy. Added Victoria & Abdul and Darkest Hour)
2016: 4/5 Oscar. Took 2 from Period, 1 from Fantasy, and 1 from Contemporary !!!. Added Allied)
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.
As you can see from this list, Oscar's costuming branch nearly always adds a title that was not previously honored by the CDG so be careful in your predictions.