Based on the 1912 accident, Titanic came out in 1997 starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. This was a fixation movie for me as a child and part of that is due to the costume design. Each outfit Winslet was put in was historically accurate and visually stunning. Deborah Lynn Scott, costume designer for the movie, researched the period extensively to make sure of it. Since Rose was a wealthy character, there was freedom to make her fashionable throughout the movie which led to some gorgeous looks.Â
Since these movies were made over a long period of time, multiple costume designers were used for the movies. John Mollo is to thank for the original trilogy, Trisha Biggar did the prequels, and Michael Kaplan did the sequel trilogy. Though I appreciate all of the costume design throughout the movies, my favorites were the prequels by Trisha Biggar. Padme, played by Natalie Portman, is an iconic fashion figure because of Biggar’s genius. She wasn’t sexualized with her clothing as Princess Leia was in the original trilogy, which was appreciated. Instead, she was presented with grace and respect while still looking beautiful. This, I feel, is a harder feat to accomplish with female characters.Â
Released in 2004, Karyn Wagner oversaw the costume design for this film and did a damn good job at it. Both main characters, played by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, were dressed appropriately for the time and their personality. McAdams was classy, fun, and fashionable in this movie which fit perfectly with her character. Even Gosling was dressed well, and I rarely pay attention to the design of male characters. They both felt like very real people through their costumes; Wagner did a fantastic job with this movie. Even towards the end when the decades pass, the older versions of our main characters still feel like them–just older.Â
Alice In Wonderland- Live ActionÂ
The 2010 live action of the animated Alice in Wonderland was a phenomenal expression through design. Colleen Atwood gave us plenty of fun and whimsical looks throughout this movie. The Red Queen, White Queen, Mad Hatter, and Alice herself were given intricate costumes for the odd-ball characters they played. Each and every costume in this movie was wonderful and brought life into the live action in ways the animated original did not. This may have been one of the first movies I’ve watched and consciously thought about how wonderful the characters were dressed. Considering I was only seven years old, I feel as though that says a lot about the design itself. Kudos to Colleen Atwood for this display of creativity via costumes.Â
The four-season long series Reign is one of my favorites. These costumes may not be historically accurate, but they are certainly visually appealing. Meredith Markworth-Pollack was the costume designer and aimed to appeal to a younger audience by mixing 16th century fashion with more modern design. I would say she succeeded and managed to create beautiful costumes throughout all four seasons. This show gave my fashion brain a lot of food for thought, especially when I was younger. It got me into historical fashion and created an unhealthy obsession with the gowns from this show. I recommend this show to everyone, but especially to fashion girlies who focus more on new interpretations of historical fashion and not just accuracy.Â
Through my research for this article, I found that the costumes I admired most were created by women. Luckily for women everywhere, we dominate the majority in this field, but it makes it quite easy to spot some shows and movies where female characters are dressed by male designers. Women are still the minority in most behind-the-scenes roles in film production but at least we hold the majority in costume design–and do a damn good job at it.