According to the Herd, the surest Oscar bet, even more of a lock than Frances McDormand, is Mark Bridges for Best Costume Design. This observer, whose wife buys all his clothes, distrusted his doubts about the dresses in Phantom Thread, and aired them to a noted costume designer.
NOLAN POWERS When I saw Phantom Thread, I wondered about the clothes he was designing for these aristos. They didn’t look beautiful to me, but that’s how Paul Thomas Anderson describes them in his script.
NOTED COSTUME DESIGNER I thought everything that wasn’t “couturier” was fine: Daniel Day-Lewis’s outfits, everything seemed true to the period. But supposedly the character’s based on Charles James, so I was expecting genius. But the designs in the movie…ho-hum. And the whole point was that he had all these followers.
NP The movie’s about a designer. That also helps nail an Oscar.
NCD Mark Bridges is very talented, but he’s not a genius. And that kind of genius, the couturier kind of genius, doesn’t define a costume designer. There are all sorts of other issues: social class, and period, and whether the whole look of the movie is real or extreme. Sometimes the best costumes are the ones you barely notice.
NP What did you like this year?
NCD I really liked I, Tonya. I thought that was brilliant.
NP I haven’t seen that mentioned anywhere.
NCD Her costumes were all hand-made, and had to reflect her taste, or lack of it. The Florida Project. The clothes were tacky, and rumpled…what drives me crazy is when the costumes are immaculate, no spots or creases.
NP Like movies with classic cars, and they’re all shiny, not a dent anywhere.
NCD Exactly. And Three Billboards.
NP Also not mentioned.
NCD Well, what I like in contemporary films is that the characters repeat what they wear, just like in life. She had that jump suit, and that’s what she wore, that was her outfit. But contemporary movies don’t stand a chance. That’s why I always vote for them. But let’s face it…the actors are the largest branch. Those are the people who are deciding everything, at the end of the day.
NP You’d think actors would have a feeling for costumes. Sometimes they base their whole characters on what they wear.
NCD A lot of actors have really bad taste. In my experience.
NP What did you like at the Globes?
NCD I liked the tuxes…Claire Foy and Susan Sarandon.
NP On our TV, Sarandon looked like she was wearing a T-shirt.
NCD It was a white shirt. Maybe she didn’t pull it down all the way. You go from sitting to walking, that can be a problem. A lot of these dresses, the women who made those long walks, they had to lug those heavy things all the way to the stage.
NP What about all the plunging necklines?
NCD It’s a problem. Their breasts have to be taped, and still you worry about a wardrobe malfunction.
NP Not to mention the mixed signals.
NCD Look, don’t touch.
NP If you’re aroused, deal with it.
NCD Oh God. So counterproductive.
First published in The Ankler.