'Birdman' Closes Out Dominant Season with CDG Win

The last industry group to announce its winners in advance of Sunday night's Academy Awards was the Costume Designers Guild. They sprang for Oscar frontrunner Milena Canonero's stylized pre-war European threads from The Grand Budapest Hotel in period design, Colleen Atwood's theatrically informed fairytale garb from Into the Woods in fantasy design, and Albert Wolsky's character-serving vestments from Birdman in contemporary design (the movie's tenth and final guild victory of the season).

All three of these costumers are legends in their field, each having already been honoured by the CDG and won multiple Oscars before last night. And I honestly can't protest any of them winning again. Well done!

One Category at a Time: Costume Design

For a while there, it looked like the Academy might never get over its obsession with Western European royalty in this category. A string of consecutive winners made up of Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Duchess, and The Young Victoria certainly cast the discouraging impression that Oscar voters had lost all their imagination when it comes to assessing the best dressed film of the year. Perhaps those complaints actually reached enough ears to initiate some kind of mini paradigm shift. Things have been looking up in Best Costume Design for the past few years, with the Academy branching out a bit in terms of the historical eras and geographical locales that the winning costumes have evoked. And with nary a stodgy royalty drama in sight, that trend looks to continue this year.

My Award Nominations: Best Costume Design

I unveilled my five picks for Best Hair and Makeup this morning, but that's only half of what goes into defining the look of a character on film. Costume designers have to do a lot of heavy lifting (or sewing, as it were) on that front too.

Similarly to my opinion of the Best Supporting Actor field, I can't help but think it's been a bit of a weak year. Not to say that any of the five costume designers listed below don't deserve the praise coming their way, but I found that there weren't that many worthy contenders to pick from, which I think is reflected in my ballot's similarity to the Oscar slate (again, like in Best Supporting Actor). Consensus is boring for awards watchers, I know, but sometimes it's because the best options really are that obvious. I suppose I should look at the glass as being half full and rejoice that costume designers branch mostly got it right this year.

Some for it's worth, here are my (and many other people's) Best Costume Design nominees for 2014:

My Award nominations: Costume Design

It's that time of year again. Time to think back on the dozens of films seen in 2010 and decide upon the best of the best in all the usual categories. As it was last year, I'll be announcing my nominees for my awards one day at a time, leading up to the 24th (the eve of the Oscar nominations) when my winners will be announced.

Today's category is Costume Design, and there was plenty to choose from in 2010:

Black Swan (Amy Westcott,
Kate Mulleavy, Laura Mulleavy):
Nina Sayres' girlish soft pinks and whites give way to greys and blacks as the Black Swan within her starts taking control. I especially loved how fabrics and accessories were stylized to resemble feathers and wings! That's to say nothing of the gorgeous ballet costumes.

Get Low (Julie Weiss):
The period attire is precise. Materials and patterns are used smartly to help distinguish character; scratchy wools for Robert Duvall, pinstripes and argyle for Bill Murray, leather and tweed for Lucas Black. Everyone even has their own hat style!

Inception (Jeffrey Kurland):
Slick corporate threads wonderfully define character quirks; prim three-piece suits for Arthur, smart casual clothes for Eames, Asian-inspired formal wear for Seito, and so on. It's not terribly flashy, but still represents intelligent contemporary costume design.

True Grit (Mary Zophres):
Features appropriately gritty period and character details: burnt-out Rooster Cogburn's battered duster, boastful LaBoeuf's ornate rodeo jacket, and Mattie Ross' ill-fitting coat and hat that visually accentuate how ill-fitting she is for the adventure on which she is about to embark.

The Wolfman (Milena Canonero):
Character specificity rules the costumes of this Gothic horror; the lavish fur-trimmed jackets of Anthony Hopkins' hunter, the no-nonsense trench coats of Hugo Weaving's Van Helsing, and the constrictive corsets of Emily Blount's love-lorn damsel are all a perfect fit.

Just missed: Harry Potter, The King's Speech, Made in Dagenham