DRESSING THE PART

from Hubert White Spring/Summer 2020

Style Pros

dressing for THE PART

Academy Award–winning costume designer Sandy Powell outfits some of the silver screen’s biggest names, inspiring audiences around the globe. By Darcey Gohring

Great costumes can bring a story to life. Before an actor even utters a word, his or her clothes can convey a time period, a location, a personality and an overall mood. In the right hands, a lm’s wardrobe can not only transport audiences but also inspire real-life fashion trends. And when some of Hollywood’s biggest names are looking to make a statement, one woman is on the top of the list: award-winning British costume designer Sandy Powell.

e London-born creative has worked on almost 40 lms since the 1980s. In that time, she has garnered 14 Oscar nominations (even competing against herself one year), making her the most nominated living artist in her eld. To put it in terms most of us can understand, Powell has won the same number of Oscars (three) as Meryl Streep. (Wins were for 2009’s e Young Victoria, 2004’s e Aviator and 1998’s Shakespeare in Love.) A favorite of director Martin Scorsese, the 59-year-old has collaborated with him on such lms as Gangs of New York, e Wolf of Wall Street, Hugo and last year’s e Irishman. A master at her cra, Powell has a knack for making wardrobes in period lms somehow feel fresh and current. ere is always a bit of an edge to them. When she begins a project, she says her process is much the same whether it is a blockbuster or an indie lm. e rst step is to read the script and meet with the director. en the real work begins—research, research and more research. “I have an extensive collection of books and photography: contemporary and period fashion, street photography, photojournalism,” she explains. “I plow through those, building up catalogs of images directly related to the period or just looking for pure inspiration.”

In truth, for Powell the actual designing of the clothes is the smallest part of the process. She cites one example from her work on 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns. She created a whopping 448 looks for the movie, but it was the details that were most time-consuming. In the lm, Meryl Streep’s character, inspired by the artistic bohemians of the early 20th century, had a scene that required a lot of movement. For the character’s complicated, handmade costume, the challenge Powell didn’t see coming was nding a material from which to fabricate bracelets that would not make a lot of noise. Aer much trial and error, Powell’s solution was to cast them in rubber. In the 2018 dark comedy The Favourite, she had the challenge of dressing stars Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in over-the-top versions of 18th-century English clothes—with a slim budget and a tight timeline. “We weren’t making a conventional historical film,” Powell told British Vogue in 2019. “Silhouette-wise, there is nothing wrong with how the costumes were made. But, fabric-wise, artistic license was taken. It adds to the general feeling of the film.” She also kept the palette to mostly black and white, and with her creative vision the result was what Powell describes as a punk-rock version of a royal court.

e latest Powell work to hit the big screen is e Glorias: A Life on the Road, a look at the life of feminist activist Gloria Steinem. For that 2020 release, Powell designed looks beginning in the 1940s and extending all the way to the present day. Once again, her costumes don’t exactly steal the scenes—they’re not supposed to do that—but they surely make her talented presence felt.

A favorite of director Martin Scorsese, Oscar-winning Sandy Powell has designed costumes for many of his films, including Gangs of New York, 2002 (above); The Aviator, 2004 (left); and Hugo, 2011 (below).