It's a truism worth repeating: If you've done stellar costume design in a contemporary film, you might as well plan to stay home on Oscar night. It's been 30 years since the academy awarded a costume design statuette for work on a non-fantasy or out-of-period film, and that was for the fairly fantastic, if contemporary, “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” with the second most recent example being 1979's “All That Jazz.”
Films with contemporary costumes didn't even get a nomination 20 years ago. But the battle between multi-award winning veterans Sandy Powell (“The Aviator”) and Colleen Atwood (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”) made for a tense competition, as did the appearance of one of the most famous animated characters, “ Edna Mode from The Incredible, at the ceremony on February 27, 2005.
flying high
Pierce Brosnan, with his husky voice, presented the award along with the lively Mode, who took the stage and interacted with the actor, who had recently concluded his career playing James Bond. Mode wasn't just a character in the Pixar movie; was inspired, at least in part, by Edith Head, the costume designer who received the most trophies (eight) and nominations (35). It was a funny moment, with Mode totally upstaging Brosnan by calling the costume trophy the “most prestigious award” of the night and referring to the actors as “models.”
Four of the five nominees were already on stage when the nominations were read (Bob Ringwood was absent, having retired after working on “Troy”), but it was Powell who triumphed in the end. His speech was fairly brief and he largely thanked his “colleagues and accomplices,” but also gave a personal shoutout to “Marty” (as in “Aviator” director Scorsese) “for being the inspiration to us all.”
This was the second of three Oscars Powell received so far; She has one for “Shakespeare in Love” from 1998 and another for her work on “The Young Victoria” from 2009. The costume designer has been nominated 15 times, four of them for work on Scorsese films. They first collaborated on 2002's “Gangs of New York” and more recently on 2019's “The Irishman.”
“Marty is very interested in clothes,” Powell told W Magazine in 2016. “He responds well to menswear in particular. “Marty is also a clothes horse.” While filming “The Wolf of Wall Street,” she noted that he had become “obsessed with ties” and had become personally involved with certain garments. “Very often, on set, especially on something like 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' if Leo [DiCaprio] When he arrives on set in a new suit, the first thing Marty does is feel the fabric or feel the label.”
Dressed almost for success
Atwood went home empty-handed that night, but she won four Oscars and received 12 nominations. His trophies are for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2017), “Alice in Wonderland” (2011), “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2006) and “Chicago” (2003).
Alexandra Byrne (“Finding Neverland”) has earned six nominations in her career and won her first Oscar in 2008 for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” Sharen Davis was on stage for her work on “Ray” and would earn her second nomination for her work on “Dreamgirls.” “Troy” costume designer Ringwood, the only man nominated in the category 20 years ago, had previously been nominated for his work on 1987’s “Empire of the Sun.”
