Oscar Volley: ‘Cruella’ is the one to beat in Best Costume Design

Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience.  Cláudio Alves and Glenn Dunks discuss Best Costume Design

Cláudio Alves: This is my favorite Oscar race! I studied Costume Design in college and still design for theater. However, that doesn't necessarily correlate to my appreciation of the Oscar category. That admiration stems instead from this branch's propensity for lone nominees, the recognition of films with little to no hope of breaking into other races. Sometimes, that lonely contender even wins, though it's been over a decade since that last happened – 2006's Marie Antoinette with costumes by Milena Canonero.

Truthfully, I could envision that occurring this year with Cruella. Beyond that Disney fashion show, one wonders if there'll be any surprise single-category nominees. Honestly, I'm having trouble coming up with a potential candidate unless it's Cyrano or House of Gucci drastically underperforms. What about you, Glenn? 

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CDG Nominations: 'Gucci' is IN, 'Spencer' is OUT

by Cláudio Alves

My reaction, seeing SPENCER snubbed, yet again.

The Costume Designers Guild announced its nominations for the 2021 movie and TV year. Some trends continue to accentuate, including the industry's lack of passion for Spencer and the resurgence of Nightmare Alley as an awards contender. House of Gucci is also getting a boost, as is Spider-Man: No Way Home, which scores an inexplicable nomination here. Overall, though, this was a good day for the Marvel industrial complex, scoring nods across the board, both for their big screen and small screen fare. As far as victory predictions go, Jenny Beavan's Disney couture for Cruella seems like the obvious choice. 

Come check out the full lineups and additional comments after the jump…

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Contemporary Costume Design - an FYC overview

by Nathaniel R

We don't get "finalist" lists for half of the craft categories so theoretically everything is still in the running for the visual categories of Cinematography, Editing, Costume, and Production Design. Today let's focus on Best Costume Design options for awards voters. While two-time winner Jeanny Beavan's work on Cruella has been looking like a potential Oscar-winner since way back in May, plenty of competition has arrived since. Our first clue as to what the industry might go for here will be on January 26th with the CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards) nominations which divide movies up into period, sci-fi/fantasy, and contemporary. That's a handy way to do it, since it's too easy to fall into "Most Costuming" otherwise and entirely ignore the breadth of what is possible in this field. 

What follows are NOT predictions as to what the Guild or the Oscars might choose (craft predictions are here) but FYCs if you will, highlighting six options we think are interesting in the realm of "contemporary" (mostly)...

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Spencer: Dressing an Icon

by Cláudio Alves

Spencer is proving itself a divisive picture. Even among The Film Experience team, some hate it, and some love it. Still, reading through plenty of negative reviews, one can find some elements capable of surviving the criticism, joining the two factions of the discourse around Spencer. So far, the costumes seem to be earning quasi-unanimous praise. Two-time Academy Award winner Jacqueline Durran is a beloved artist, capable of facing the challenge of dressing an icon with obstinate virtuosity. Evoking the ghost of Princess Diana, or rather a stylistic impression of her, the designer has created one of the most ravishing wardrobes of the cinematic year, a masterpiece of sartorial indulgence that befits the movie's melodramatic verve…

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The modernity of Little Women's costumes

by Cláudio Alves

Last Sunday, the great Jacqueline Durran became a two-time Academy Award winner thanks to Little Women. As the umpteenth costume designer to tackle Louisa May Alcott's classic tale, Durran had the challenge of dressing these well-known characters in a bold reinterpretation. Eschewing the strict historical accuracy with which Collen Atwood tackled the subject in 1994, Jacqueline Durran evoked the fashions of the 1860s by infusing them with character-specific idiosyncrasies and a general sense of 21st-century modernity.

Her designs are not as bound to their filmmaker's contemporary styles as the Little Women of 1933 or 1949. However, there's no denying that the current iteration of the March sisters is filtered through the sensibilities of artists living in the 2010s… 

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