The Best Costumes of 1998

by Cláudio Alves

It's time to say goodbye to 1998 and move on to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown year, 1986. However, before that, let's take a look at the Best Costume Design race that saw Sandy Powell receive her first double nomination, a face-off of Elizabethan fashions, two movies whose only nod was in this category, and a riff on midcentury sitcoms. The ceremony's host, Whoopi Goldberg, even modeled pieces from each nominee, opening the show in Queen Elizabeth I drag.

All in all, it's a rather conventional costume design lineup seeing as it's entirely composed of period work. However, some of these individual achievements deserve special attention for their playful glamour, radical visions of marginalized histories, and parodical referentiality. The nominees were:  

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Would you rather?

We haven't done one of these in a month or two. So let's gaze at pretty Celebrity instagram pics.

Would you rather
...meditate with Chris Hemsworth?
...take a hike with Helen Hunt and pup?
...go horseback riding with Hilary Swank?
...relax in Mexico with Tessa Thompson?
...get a face mask with Alan Cumming?
...attend storytime with Sandy Powell and Glenda Jackson?
...hit the waterfall with Luke Evans? 
...admire Stacey Abrams with Kerry Washington?
...get fit with Viola Davis?
... or revive Cruella DeVil with Glenn Close?
...do a press day with Nicole Kidman?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide. 

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Sandy Powell ❤️ plaid

Powell on the set of "The Irishman"by Cláudio Alves

Some auteurists would have you believe that only directors among filmmakers have a distinctive style, a visual language transversal to all their projects. People like Sandy Powell, one of AMPAS' favorite costume designers, defy this logic. Her films share an aesthetic ethos and her taste is ever-present. Notice, for instance, how Powell has a penchant for saturated contrasting colors and bold patterns, often filling the frame with a cacophony of clashing prints. Her approach is so characteristic, in part, because busy textiles aren't something that normally works on camera.

Too much visual information can often distract the audience, dispersing the focus instead of guiding the eye with careful purpose. Powell, however, is capable of making it all work and her films are always bursting at the seams with complicated motifs, be it moiré silks or paisley wools, sequined brocades or floral cotton. Most of all, Powell loves plaid...

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YNMS: The Glorias

From guest contributor Matt St Clair...

Oscar Winner Julianne Moore stars in the latest entry of what’s suddenly become the Gloria Cinematic Universe. Mrs America starring Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem is still fresh in the memory (and competing at the Emmys on Sunday). And after playing the titular heroine in Gloria Bell, Moore now plays the iconic Gloria Steinem in the upcoming biopic The Glorias, which once again has Moore playing a Gloria in glasses, and has a “glorious” new trailer. Let’s give this preview the Yes No Maybe So treatment and see whether you think it’s bound for “glory.” (Sorry)

The official IMDB synopsis:

The story of feminist icon Gloria Steinem's itinerant childhood's influence on her life as a writer, activist and organizer for women's rights worldwide.”

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Atwood vs Powell: Battle of the costuming titans

by Cláudio Alves

Our look back at the cinematic year of 2005 and its Academy Awards continues. This time, we're examining the work of two titanic talents who battled for the Oscar in the Best Costume Design category as they were prone to do. We're talking about the magnificent Colleen Atwood and the sublime Sandy Powell…

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