Queering the Oscars: The Costumes of "Orlando"

by Cláudio Alves

Sandy Powell's career has been closely tied to queer artistry since its genesis. After completing her education, the costume designer soon started collaborating with multi-hyphenated gay icon Lindsay Kemp whose stage work she had long admired, and, later, her jump from theater to film would be predicated on another queer genius, Derek Jarman. They'd work on four projects – Caravaggio, The Last of England, Edward II, and Wittgenstein – and the costumer would continue, keeping his memory alive after the director's death in 1994. Since then, even as her profile grew into the mainstream, Powell remained faithful to the idea and ideals of queerness in cinema, often joining forces with artists under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, Todd Haynes most of all.

As Pride Month 2023 reaches its end, let's remember this Academy darlings' first brush with Oscar. It was in 1993 when Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando earned Sandy Powell a Best Costume Design nomination…

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Queering the Oscars: "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"

For Pride Month Team Experience is looking at queer and queer-adjacent moments in Oscar history...

by Cláudio Alves

It was the night of the 67th Academy Awards when a Vera Wang-clad Sharon Stone stepped on stage to present the Best Costume Design Oscar, the second category in an evening most remembered for its Forrest Gump lovefest. And yet, amid celebrating that epic of political passivity and proto conservatism, the Academy found time to tip its metaphorical hat at two classics of 1990s queer cinema. The second such picture, Trevor, would have its moment later when the Live-Action Short race resolved itself in a shocking tie. For now, slotted after a resplendent Dianne Wiest accepted the Supporting Actress trophy, it was time to honor The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert…

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"Emily" and the mastery of Michael O'Connor

by Cláudio Alves

Frances O'Connor's directorial debut is available on PVOD starting today. Emily is a modern twist on the biography of Emily Brontë, regarding the Wuthering Heights author through a fictionalized prism. There are many reasons to watch the film, from Emma Mackey's performance in the titular role to Abel Korzeniowski's bewitching score. For costume aficionados, however, it's all about the Michael O'Connor-designed fits. As ever, the Oscar-winner blesses the project with a commitment to period veracity, capturing the detail and idiosyncrasy of the past even when it looks silly, fussy, or unattractive to contemporary eyes. He even pays the same attention to main actors and background players, upper-class characters and the poorer circles of society. The result is dramatic immersion, a sort of realism supported by on-screen materiality that's rare even in the most lavish of period pieces...

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All hail the glorious Ruth E. Carter!

by Cláudio Alves

With her latest victory, costume designer Ruth E. Carter became the first Black woman to win multiple Academy Awards. Breaking barriers and setting Oscar records isn't new to Carter, mind you. In 1992, she became the first African-American nominated in the category, and later was its first Black winner, thanks to 2018's Black Panther. Having won again for the sequel, Wakanda Forever, she's also the only person to earn multiple Costume Design Oscars for the same franchise. Considering she's dedicated so much of her career to the representation of Black history on screen, it feels correct that Carter's name should forever have a place in the history books… 

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Costume Designers Guild Nominations: "Top Gun" soars, "The Fabelmans" flounder

by Cláudio Alves

Worry not, "Fabelmans" fans. Mark Bridges may still get an Oscar nomination.

For the past two years, all the Oscar nominees in Best Costume Design were also recognized by the Costume Designers Guild, but that's not always the case. Indeed, in 2019, they didn't nominate three of the eventual Oscar nominees, including the winner – Jacqueline Durran for Little Women. All this to say that you should take this year's nominees with a grain of salt in terms of Oscar, especially regarding two big omissions – Mark Bridges for The Fabelmans and Sandy Powell for Living. Both designers have secured Oscar nominations with no corresponding guild support in the past – he for Joker, she for Gangs of New York, Mrs. Henderson Presents, and The Irishman. In any case, their lack of recognition proves that the industry may not be as into their films as previously anticipated. We shall see.

After the jump, the complete list of nominees and some further comments… 

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