Horror Costuming: Black Swan (2010)

by Cláudio Alves

Unintentionally, this year's Horror Costuming miniseries has featured a lot of designers' partnerships. In both Hellraiser and The Cell, we explored how one person created a fantasy world while another cared for the mundane existence and its subtler evils. Those films showed how exemplary collaboration could produce unforgettable movie wardrobes. Now, with Black Swan, we arrive at a more disharmonious sort of alliance, one that fell apart after the fact, as the media celebrated some designers' work while ignoring the other, and the awards bodies did the reverse. It's a pity how much the controversy came to dominate conversations on the film's costumes. But, beyond the acrimony and scandal, Black Swan is a superbly designed horror movie whose costumes deserve analysis, applause, awards too…

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Move Over Natalie, Rodarte's Dressing Elle Fanning Now.

Rodarte aka the Mulleavey sisters,who recently won lots of press (some of it unwanted) for their featherly jeweled contributions to Black Swan, continue to make Hollywood inroads. Elle Fanning is now wearing their Spring Collection creations exclusively in a fashion short. If you didn't get enough of hazy leisurely shots of Elle Fanning lolling about in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, you're in luck.

Dakota's little sister stars in Todd Cole's short film for Rodarte called "The Curve of Forgotten Things" which debuted on Nowness this morning. The look is golden 70s, referencing dusty films like Badlands. But since it's a fashion short, Fanning gets a bigger wardrobe than Sissy had in that seminal classic. (In reality Fanning is a fashionista and collects vintage wear, the 1950s being her favorite.) The droning eery Lynchian soundtrack might be a bit much but it's beautifully shot and the transitions between outfits are amusing.

Short fashion/merchandise films are all the rage these days (you'll remember Marion Cotillard's Lady Dior vehicles, surely). Still, we have yet to see the likes of The Hire repeated. That series starring Clive Owen as "The Driver" was just so special.