What's Oscar's all-time favorite Costume Design era?
Friday, April 30, 2021 at 9:00AM
Cláudio Alves in Ann Roth, Best Costume Design, Costume Design, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Oscar Trivia, Oscars (20)

by Cláudio Alves

The legendary Ann Roth is our reigning Best Costume Design Oscar queen, having won her second statuette for the jazz age designs of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. I'm ecstatic about her victory. Both because it's an outstanding artistic achievement and because hers is a filmography that undoubtedly deserves more than one Oscar. That being said, this year's Costume race (which I previously reviewed in depth) did remind me of a pet peeve I've long had with the category—namely, the overwhelming predominance of period films and the rarity of recognition for contemporary-set narratives. As usual, all of this year's nominees featured period costuming, with even the lone fantasy film, Pinocchio, basing most of its look in mid-19th-century fashion.

With all this in mind, I decided to do some research and find out what era is most common in Best Costume Design Oscar winners. From Ancient Egypt to post-war London, this category has rewarded many styles, though some do stand out as AMPAS' favorites… 

First things first, let's get some films out of the way and establish division parameters. Of the 90 films awarded, 20 have been set in the present day of their making. Nonetheless, only two of those, 1979's All That Jazz and 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, came from post-1966 productions. That was the last year the category was bifurcated, giving an award for color film and another for black-and-white. I also kept from consideration films in the fantasy and sci-fi genres.

There are some complicated cases where fantastic elements mix with a historical milieu, of course. You're free to disagree with my decisions. In any case, this means The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Alice in Wonderland, Mad Max: Fury Road, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Black Panther were excluded. I did keep 1967's Camelot, mainly because its fantastic aspects are minimal and, while stylized, the costumes are ostensibly a riff on Medieval notions. As period work, I also chose to consider any narrative set more than 15 years before the time of a film's production.

Because I'm categorizing these films based on the evolution of western fashion, it felt unfair to include pictures whose costumes, while period, exist outside of this context. Therefore, you won't find the five winners whose stories revolve around Asian culture. They are: Gate of Hell, set in Medieval Japan. Ran, set in 16th-century Japan. Gandhi, which encompasses the many decades of the 20th century in India. The Last Emperor, whose story comprehends Chinese history from 1908 to 1987. Finally, there's Memoirs of a Geisha, another Japanese affair with costumes representing fashions from the late 1920s to mid-40s.

Finally, it's important to mention that this historical catalog is segmented imperfectly with a mishmash of nomenclature that might irk a few readers. I combined titles given to artistic periods with some more colloquial definitions and specific eras in English and American history. In most cases, the decades and centuries are pointed out, and their division attempts to order costumes by period, using the most radical silhouette changes as criteria. Without further ado, here are the Best Costume Design Oscar winners divided by historical era:

 

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

  1. SAMSON AND DELILAH (1950), Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jensse, Gile Steele, and Gwen Wakeling
  2. THE ROBE (1953), Charles LeMaire and Emile Santiago
  3. BEN-HUR (1959), Elizabeth Haffenden
  4. SPARTACUS (1960), Valles and Bill Thomas
  5. CLEOPATRA (1963), Renié, Vittorio Nino Novarese and Irene Sharaff
  6. GLADIATOR (2000), Janty Yates

Mid-century Hollywood was obsessed with Sword and Sandal epics, but that trend died down by the late 60s. No wonder, then, that the only post-1963 winner which features classical costuming is Gladiator, 2000's Best Picture champion.

 

MEDIEVAL (400s-1400s)

  1. JOAN OF ARC (1948), Dorothy Jeakins and Barbara Karinska
  2. CAMELOT (1967), John Truscott
  3. HENRY V (1989), Phyllis Dalton 

Hardly the most glamorous historical period, the Dark Ages aren't very popular with AMPAS. Not only was the last winner set in this time from 1989, but I can't count any Medieval wardrobe nominated since Braveheart in 1995. Maleficent, nominated in 2014, has some period garments, but the flashier stuff is pure fantasy.

 

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

  1. ROMEO AND JULIET (1968), Danilo Donati

Another era the Academy isn't very fond of, despite multiple nominees in the 60s being set there. Partially, this reflects a lack of Hollywood productions about the Renaissance period. The last big-budget affair that I remember was on TV, rather than the big screen. Still, The Borgias did feature fabulous costume design, earning Gabriella Pescucci a couple of Emmys.

 

MID-TUDOR (1490s-1540s)

  1. A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966), Elizabeth Haffenden and Joan Bridge
  2. ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS (1969), Margaret Furse

Another era that's regularly dramatized on TV, but less so on cinema. The last big movie to choose this particular era of history was The Other Boleyn Girl, which got little Oscar buzz. In that case, I can't complain since the flick features some of Sandy Powell's worst efforts, an atypical miss on the designer's part.

 

ELIZABETHAN (1550s-1600s)

  1. HAMLET (1948), Roger K. Furse
  2. ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1949), Leah Rhodes, Travilla, and Marjorie Best
  3. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998), Sandy Powell
  4. ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (2007), Alexandra Byrne

While there are only four winners to find, there have been many nominees set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The last ones were 2011's Anonymous and 2018's Mary, Queen of Scots.

 

BAROQUE (1600s-1750s)

  1. CROMWELL (1970), Vittorio Nino Novarese
  2. CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1990), Franca Squarciapino
  3. RESTORATION (1995), James Acheson

Hollywood rarely dramatizes this period, but there are a lot of European films that do. No wonder we can find one of the rare non-English-speaking Oscar winners among the victorious Baroque wardrobes.

 

ROCOCO (1750s-1790s)

  1. BARRY LYNDON (1975), Milena Canonero and Ulla-Britt Söderlund
  2. FELLINI'S CASANOVA (1976), Danilo Donati
  3. AMADEUS (1984), Theodor Pistek
  4. DANGEROUS LIAISONS (1988), James Acheson
  5. MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006), Milena Canonero
  6. THE DUCHESS (2008), Michael O'Connor

There only being six winners set in the latter half of the 18th century was a bit surprising. Among costumers and period clothing enthusiasts, this is a trendy era, and there seems to be a wealth of movies made about it. Still, whenever a strictly Rococo narrative is nominated in this category, they tend to win. I can only recall one such film losing in the past twenty years: The Affair of the Necklace. I guess some would include the Beauty and the Beast remake, but only the secondary and tertiary characters don on historical fashion, while the leads mostly indulge in modernized fantasy.

 

REGENCY & ROMANTIC (1790s-1830s)

Not a single winner set in this period. If Emma. had won, it would have been a first. Guess The Academy shares some directors' antipathy towards the oddly-proportioned fashions of the early 19th century. When filming Pride & Prejudice, Joe Wright insisted the costumes avoid the characteristic look of Regency clothes because, according to him, they make women look like marshmallows.

 

EARLY TO MID-VICTORIAN (1840s—60s)

  1. THE HEIRESS (1949), Edith Head and Gile Steele
  2. THE KING AND I (1956), Irene Sharaff
  3. THE YOUNG VICTORIA (2009), Sandy Powell
  4. LITTLE WOMEN (2019), Jacqueline Durran

If only this category had existed sooner, we could see many more films in this section. Gone with the Wind and Jezebel would have indeed won their years' trophies.

 

GILDED AGE (1870s-1890s)

  1. MOULIN ROUGE (1952), Marcel Vertès
  2. GIGI (1958), Cecil Beaton
  3. TESS (1980), Anthony Powell
  4. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992), Eiko Ishioka
  5. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993), Gabriella Pescucci
  6. TOPSY-TURVY (1999), Lindy Hemming
  7. MOULIN ROUGE! (2001), Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie
  8. ANNA KARENINA (2012), Jacqueline Durran 

If this were a competition, the Gilded Age ties the first-placement with eight winners. I cheated a little bit since there's a marked difference between the Bustle Era fashions and the 1890s. That being said, even the films putatively set at the turn of the century (Gigi, Dracula, and both Moulin Rouges) mostly avoid that era's hallmarks like the huge leg-of-mutton sleeves.

 

EDWARDIAN & WORLD WAR I (1900s-1910s)

  1. MY FAIR LADY (1964), Cecil Beaton
  2. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965), Phyllis Dalton
  3. NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971), Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo
  4. FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1983), Marik Vos-Lundh
  5. A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1986), Jenny Beavan and John Bright
  6. TITANIC (1997), Deborah Lynn Scott

The range of approaches represented by these Oscar winners is quite impressive. On the one hand, you have the ludicrously fabulous fashions in My Fair Lady, which are as far from historically accurate as one can conceive. On the other hand, there's the meticulous work of A Room with a View, whose attention to detail creates an entirely immersive experience, like a celluloid window to another time.

 

THE ROARING TWENTIES (1920s)

  1. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959), Orry-Kelly
  2. TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT (1972), Anthony Powell
  3. THE GREAT GATSBY (1974), Theoni V. Aldredge
  4. CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981), Milena Canonero
  5. CHICAGO (2002), Colleen Atwood
  6. THE ARTIST (2011), Mark Bridges
  7. THE GREAT GATSBY (2013), Catherine Martin
  8. MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM (2020), Ann Roth

I must add some important caveats to this one. Travels with My Aunt is mostly a contemporary-set narrative. Still, I assume the Oscar win was a response to the fabulous 1920s fashions Maggie Smith gets to model in the flick's multiple flashbacks. Furthermore, if I had included Colleen Atwood's fourth victory, for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the 1920s would take gold in this little pseudo-competition.

 

THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WAR YEARS (1929-1945)

  1. THE STING (1973), Edith Head
  2. DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), Anthony Powell
  3. BUGSY (1991), Albert Wolski
  4. THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996), Ann Roth
  5. THE AVIATOR (2004), Sandy Powell
  6. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014), Milena Canonero

Considering the amount of World War II movies the Academy regularly nominates, it's impressive that so few of them won the Best Costume Design honor. Only The English Patient has done so at this point.

 

MID-CENTURY (1945-1959)

  1. PHANTOM THREAD (2017), Mark Bridges

No films set at a later date have ever won this Oscar as period films. Some were set in the 50s and 60s, but they were contemporary at the time of their filming and their victories. As evident and pre-ordained as Phantom Thread's win might have seemed in 2017, it was an anomaly for the Academy.

 

Looking over this data, it makes sense that Ma Rainey's Black Bottom won over Emma., Mulan, Pinocchio, and Mank. AMPAS loves the roaring twenties and its jazz age fashions. When the nominee is as legendary as Roth, the work so exquisite, and the film's up to multiple other prizes, it's hard to imagine another contender taking home the gold. In any case, it was a great win.

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