The Costume Designers Guild loves themselves some Witches
Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 2:00PM
Cláudio Alves in Amy Westcott, CDG, Colleen Atwood, Costume Design, Drag Queens, Jacqueline West, Janty Yates, Jenny Beavan, Oscars (24), Paul Tazewell, Punditry, TV

by Cláudio Alves

Paul Tazewell is dancing through the season, toward an Oscar win for WICKED.

PGA this, DGA that, SAG whatever. The most important guild in my heart is the Costume Designers Guild (CDG), formed by those great artists who clothe our movie stars and style the pictures we love so dearly. This year, they're feeling especially witchy with their nominations, somehow bestowing three nominations on Agatha All Along and two for the Dune universe and the formidable Bene Gesserit sisterhood. And, of course, there's Wicked with its aesthetically opposite duo – green does go well with pink. I imagine Paul Tazewell is about to win his first Academy Award for the blockbuster musical, this CDG nod and likely victory a stepping stone on his path to Oscar gold. 

But enough about magical women. Let's assess the complete CDG nominations…

 

Excellence in Contemporary Film 

Challengers and The Substance continue to be popular with the Hollywood guilds. This may mean the industry is fond of the two titles, presaging a good haul come Oscar nomination morning. The same can be said of Emilia Pérez and Conclave, though their status as season favorites is less surprising. Overall, this is a stellar lineup, encompassing many styles of contemporary costume design, from the realistic and character specificity of Tash Duncan and her two bisexual kings to the hyper-stylized spectacle of Elizabeth Sparkle, going through the Catholic finery of Conclave. Even The Fall Guy has amazing costume design, both in terms of the movies within the movie and the gaudiness of the characters beyond the plateau.

I mourn the absence of Babygirl, whose Kurt & Bart costumes are some of the year's best and unlikely to be nominated elsewhere since awards-giving bodies are allergic to contemporary costume design unless given a whole category to honor it. The same could be said about Bird with costumes by Alex Bovaird, the colorful madness of Catherine George's Problemista fits, Bina Daigeler's Vogue editorial-ready styling in The Room Next Door, and Jacqueline Getty's Las Vegas glamour in The Last Showgirl. But as far as snubs go,  one must mention Anora, whose Jocelyn Pierce costumes seemed like catnip for the CDG contemporary category. Is Sean Baker's film less liked than we might presume?

 

Excellence in Period Film

The Book of Clarence is the big surprise here since it seemed like the film had been all but forgotten going into the awards season. Janty Yates gets her vengeance here, after being snubbed for the first Gladiator at the CDG, though she did win the Oscar. Along with Nosferatu and Maria, the team behind Ridley Scott's Sword and Sandal sequel feels like the likelier candidates to translate their guild success with AMPAS. I am more doubtful in regards to Glicker, but Saturday Night may do well with the industry. I confess I'm a bit bored by it, both as a film and as a costume design showcase. The historical recreation is solid but hardly seems to go beyond that. Parrini does much more inspired work while also negotiating a performer's private and public image. Then again, Maria Callas is a much more glamorous subject than the original SNL cast. 

I'm sad to see Michael O'Connor's work in Firebrand and Lee forgotten by the guild. Jacqueline Durran's absence for Blitz is similarly tragic but much more expected – the CDG is sometimes weirdly anti-Durran. I can't find much grief over Queer's no-show here since Anderson got in for Challengers, anyway. And a final round of applause to the season's other magisterial feats of period costume design, including Fly Me to the Moon, Here, The Bikeriders, The Brutalist, and The Piano Lesson. Oscars-wise, the most critical snub is A Complete Unknown, whose Arianne Phillips-designed wardrobe felt like a better fit for the lineup than Saturday Night.

 

Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film 

I've been wondering – is Atwood a dark horse contender for the Oscar nomination? We know the Academy's costume branch adores her, so she's always a possibility, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been doing awfully well with the guilds. Still, Tazewell is the frontrunner, and West is a likely nominee, too. She's about to extend her record as the most nominated costume designer in Oscar history without a single win. Jenny Beavan fully deserves this honor – little Furiosa's bells and Dementus' cape! – but Orlandi is something of a surprise even though we adore the man, here at TFE. 

Where is Milena Canonero's extraordinary mix of sci-fi and Ancient Roman imagery in Megalopolis? Where are the gorgeous jewel-toned creations Frauke Firl designed for The End's exploration of evil in Humanity's last chapter? Where are Lisa Frankenstein's 80s meet classical horror ensembles? Oh well, it wouldn't be the awards season without some bizarre decisions along the way.

 

Excellence in Contemporary Television

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but I struggle to see what's so special about the Baby Reindeer costumes, even though I understand the public's general affection for Richard Gadd's autofiction effort. Hacks and The Gentlemen make for much better nominees in my book, while Emily in Paris is questionable mostly on a taste level. And then there's Agatha All Along which somehow managed to submit different episodes in different CDG categories. So, that means its early, less magical hours get to compete as contemporary rather than fantasy. I don't think that's fair, but there's no denying Daniel Selon's great work. 

Snubs-wise, The Penguin would have made a strong nominee based on Sofia Gigante's ever-transforming personal style, while Only Murders in the Building could have been a just repeat nominee. Same goes for Under the Bridge, though that narrative might be closer to the period category. After all, it's set in the late 1990s.

 

Excellence in Period Television

Lou Eyrich's work continues to be the best reason to watch any Ryan Murphy production, so her nomination for Feud brings me nothing but joy. Palm Royale and Shogun are similarly strong, while Ripley is sometimes a tad too tasteful for its own good. Maurizio Millenotti is a living legend of costume design, a period drama specialist whose attention to detail has resulted in many visual feasts. This Patricia Highsmith adaptation offers solid opportunity for midcentury glamour but tends to choose a minimalist approach, depurating the historical fashions until all that remains is their bare essentials. It's an understandable if singularly unspectacular approach. Bridgerton remains a work of appreciable costume design I can never fully love because its aesthetic choices, while valid, aren't to my taste. That aside, I don't like that the guild is honoring a production that has been open about using generative AI in its design process.

Now, let's talk snubs. The most glaring to me is Mary & George, whose early 17th-century costumes are a delicious mixture of period specificity and modern storytelling. Moreover, for fashion history geeks, it's delicious to see this particular era represented since so few productions seem to tackle it. If it were up to me, Annie Symons would have won all the available costume design awards under the sun. The other big snub, for me, is Interview with the Vampire. What Carol Cutshall and Lex Wood are doing on that show is nothing short of miraculous. Though, perhaps they submitted in fantasy rather than period?

 

 

Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Television

So, Agatha All Along weaponized the CDG rules and got itself two nominations. Good for Daniel Sola, I suppose. It's hard to argue with any of the nominees here. House of the Dragon showed a significant sartorial improvement in its second season and Rings of Power kept its quality – ignore the naysayers and nitpickers out there who decided to hate the show before they ever laid eyes on it. Fallout is solid, and Dune: Prophecy is fun, if a bit chintzy-looking at times. Honestly, it makes for a nice contrast with the movies' self-seriousness and vaguely ascetic approach to design.

And yet, my heart yearns for some Doctor Who love. Just this year, there was the pastel planet of racist iPad babies and the glory that was Jinx Monsoon's Maestro. Just those music-themed villain outfits deserved a nomination. Oh well, for those who love drag, there's another CDG lineup to quench our thirst for recognition.

 

Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television 

This marks the first time Dragula and We're Here are nominated by the CDG, though RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race already nabbed a nod back in 2022 and the main Drag Race show did the same a couple of times before, including a win in 2018. I'm just happy such brilliant designers as Diego Montoua and Marco Morante are recognized by their guild after having already been honored by the Emmys. Still, as much as I'd love a We're Here victory, the three other shows are CDG favorites through and through.

 

 

Excellence in Short Form Design

Turini gets two nominations here for her work with Beyoncé. She was previously nominated in the feature film categories for Queen & Slim. Jenny Eagen will be familiar to readers for her work in the Knives Out movies, Widows, Beasts of No Nation, and True Detective. She's one of the guild's favorite designers, having won four times. Samantha Kuester has been nominated before for The Killers' "Caution" music video, while Raffaela Rabinovih is the rare first-time nominee.

 

Excellence in Costume Illustration 

This category was introduced last year and serves as an opportunity to celebrate an oft-forgotten part of the costume design process. After all, many designers don't do their illustrations, depending on other artists. That being said, I'm not quite sure how this category works since Shogun's James Hollard is apparently nominated twice. Does that mean he's recognized for two different episodes or two different specific illustrations? If it's for two episodes, why aren't they specified by the guild the same way they do in other television categories? In any case, it's worth pointing out that Joker: Folie à Deux is the only sole nominee here, having been ignored in the primary feature film races. It would be a great shock if it won despite it all. Then again, surprises are always fun.

 

What do you make of the CDG nominations? And are there any other contenders you'd like to mention beyond the ones I already pointed out?

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