What do you see even before a character opens their mouth to speak? The costume. Clothes tell you what a character is about even before they take their first step.
At times, fabric can convey a character’s desires, style, status, history, and state of mind. Through their silent visual power, they can elevate a director’s storytelling, reeling the audience into the fantasy world.
Costume design has been one of the key elements in making a movie. The best films prove that fabric, with intention, can be as powerful as dialogue. Here are some great movies that employed the art of costume design to its highest level with highly talented designers in the industry.
8 Movies That Became a Benchmark for Costume Design
1. Barry Lyndon (1975)
Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon is arguably one of his best movies to date. In the movie, an Irish rogue, Barry (Ryan O’Neal), strikes a romantic relationship with a wealthy widow, Lady Honoria (Marisa Berenson), and rises to the top of 18th-century British society.
Although Kubrick leaves no stone unturned in his meticulous direction, Barry Lyndon’s storytelling is influenced by its incredible costume design by Milena Canonero and Ulla-Britt Söderlund. The garments reflect the protagonist’s journey through several social classes, going from rough to tailored clothes. Moreover, the efforts brought home an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for this outstanding period drama.
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
When you can’t figure out where the designed costume ends and the stealthy armor begins, you know these are the costumes done well. Both Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor shared the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Dickson and Taylor’s work throughout the LOTR franchise has been an integral part of drawing the audience into Middle-earth. Whether it’s the Rohirric horse armor glinting in the dawn light or the tattered rags that Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) wear, the scope of costume work is staggering and so detailed in the movie that every character is instantly recognizable to us. There have been many fantasy epic movies, but none matched how real the characters looked in the series, courtesy of Dickson and Taylor.
3. Black Panther (2018)
Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther was a one-of-a-kind and a cultural milestone in the world of Marvel. The studio brought costume designer Ruth Carter on the project, who became the first Black woman to win an Oscar in the category.
Her colorful designs were inspired by African cultures and elevated the aesthetic game of Marvel. The concept they wanted to apply was Afrofuturism for the fictional world of Wakanda. The result was beautiful, stylish, and hand-crafted. During the coronation ceremony of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the adopted designs, which incorporated five tribes–River, Merchant, Mining, Border, and Mountain—truly came together. However, Carter was specifically praised for creating costumes of female empowerment for Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and many others.
4. Phantom Thread (2017)
Mark Bridges is the brilliant costume designer who collaborated for the eighth time with director Paul Thomas Anderson to produce the mesmerizing results in Phantom Thread. After all, it was a movie about a fashion designer, Reynolds Woodcock’s (Daniel Day-Lewis) obsession with his work of designing, and how it slowly cracks his romantic relationship with Alma (Vicky Krieps).
The trick was how to fit costume designer Reynolds Woodcock in the same realm as the real-life legends like Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior, along with several others. So, Bridges inspired most of his designs from big names, but also gave Woodcock his own authoritative voice. Between the 50 exquisite garments designed for the House of Woodcock and his own clothes, Phantom Thread is a feast for the eyes.
5. Sabrina (1954)
Released in 1954 and directed by the acclaimed Billy Wilder, Sabrina is one of Audrey Hepburn’s most remarkable roles. The story focuses on a chauffeur’s daughter who, after returning from school in Paris, falls for a playboy, David (William Holden), whom she had a crush on. But the elder brother, Linus (Humphrey Bogart), threatens their relationship by intervening in the affair.
Sabrina is a frequently revisited movie among fans across the world, partly due to the story and partly because of its costumes, done by Hubert de Givenchy, who later became Hepburn’s long-time collaborator. The designs in the movie were so charming and elegant that Hepburn became a fashion icon after the movie’s release, thanks to her glamorous wardrobe.
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Jenny Beaven is one of the most talented costume designers in Hollywood. George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road is an unhinged movie that delves into the most edgy and risky territories of a dystopian badland. The costume needed to reflect that for the movie, which promised a limited palette to work with.
The costumes in the movie were so well constructed that they became the characters’ identity and the medium through which we perceived them. Beaven uses a blend of fabric and leather, which makes both Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) look the right amount of hardened survivors and softness when the situation calls for it. And who can forget the iconic Doof Warrior! With an apocalyptic punk twist, Beaven’s work makes Fury Road so much more enjoyable.
7. The Great Gatsby (2013)
Adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann’s movie earned costume designer Catherine Martin the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
As every character in the movie faces some kind of disappointment or impostor syndrome, Martin had integral elements attached to them that affected the story. Different shiny bandeaus around Carey Mulligan’s head as Daisy Buchanan tells us where the character is within the narrative. Moreover, the tuxedos have very subtle differences, and it’s that attention to detail that earned The Great Gatsby high praise for its glittering design.
8. Marie Antoinette (2006)
Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette focuses on the life of Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) and her frivolous lifestyle after she marries into the French royal family to become the Queen herself, as a revolution follows.
Marie Antoinette wasn’t only a nuanced study of a historical character, but a masterclass in complex costume design. The most talked-about article of clothing in the movie is not something Kirsten Dunst’s character wears, but a pair of baby blue Converse sneakers seen in the “I Want Candy” sequence—it conveys that the very young Queen is at heart just a kid, despite living in a world full of extravagance and decoration. Costume designer Milena Canonero’s costumes brought about hundreds of wigs and hairpieces, along with 10 rental houses, to find the perfect outfits for the royal women of the house.
Summing It Up
Which of these films elevates the storytelling more with its costume design?
Let us know in the comments.