2024 Oscars Best Costume Design overview: ‘Barbie’ takes on 4 period pieces
Best Costume Design is always a popular category at the Oscars since, unlike some other below-the-line categories, it’s more apparent to moviegoers at large which costumes are worthy of note and thus worthy of winning. This year’s category includes three previous Oscar winners and three first-time nominees, and though period pieces tend to do very well in this category, it’s two of the more unique films that mix contemporary, period and genre elements likely to get the most attention.
It might not be a coincidence that all five of this year’s nominations line-up with this year’s Best Production Design nominees. The two categories go hand-in-hand when it comes to crafting glorious-looking films.
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“Barbie”
Jacqueline Durran
Very much the grande dame of costume design, Jacqueline Durran has received nine Oscar nominations with two wins, most recently for Greta Gerwig‘s “Little Women” (2019). She has mostly worked with director Joe Wright over the years, winning her other Oscar for 2012’s “Anna Karenina.” One thing you can say about last year’s highest-grossing global blockbuster, once again teaming Durran with Gerwig, is that it’s very much about the costumes and fashion, much like the beloved Barbie dolls that inspired the film. Besides outfitting Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and all the other Barbies and Kens in a way that befits their roles within the popular brand, Durran designed many contemporary costumes for those in the real world, as well. It’s hard to imagine Durran not winning her third Oscar this year for that work.
SEE2024 Oscars: Costume and Production Design lineups are identical for only the third time ever
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
Jacqueline West
This Jacqueline has been nominated for five Oscars going back to “Quills” (2001), and her work on Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune” in 2021 was one of the few below-the-line crafts for which that film didn’t win. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is her first time working with Martin Scorsese, and her period costumes as well as the indigenous clothing of the Osage Nation characters helped make “Killers” one of the best-looking films of last year. For many viewers, it may have been the first time seeing some of the traditional garb, which was recreated with such a degree of authenticity that it was impossible not to predict her work to be nominated. West also has “Dune: Part 2” coming up in 2024, so expect her to receive her sixth nomination by this time next year.
“Napoleon”
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
This is Yates’s second Oscar nomination, following her win for Sir Ridley Scott‘s earlier historical epic, 2000’s “Gladiator,” which also won Best Picture. Many were surprised when Yates recently wasn’t even nominated for another Scott period piece, “House of Gucci,” especially since that film literally took place in the world of fashion. Yates is joined on this film by Dave Crossman, who handled more of the military garb for the epic battle sequences; this is his first Oscar nomination despite his exemplary work designing the bat suit for 2022’s “The Batman,” as well as designing costumes for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” But this film fits more firmly in the costume drama mold that this category has tended to nominate for many decades.
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“Oppenheimer”
Ellen Mirojnick
Although the costume designer for Christopher Nolan‘s biopic is a first-time Oscar nominee from her first time working with Nolan, the New York City-born Ellen Mirojnick has been working in costumes going back to the ‘80s. She is a three-time Emmy nominee, including a win for her costumes for the 2013 mini-series “Behind the Candelabra” and a nom in 2021 for Netflix’s “Bridgerton.” “Oppenheimer” is a straight-up period piece with costumes recreating looks from the ‘30s and ‘40s, which mostly involves sharp suits of all varieties, but it may not get as much attention as much flashier movies in the category, such as …
“Poor Things”
Holly Waddington
Holly Waddington was previously nominated for Yorgos Lanthimos‘s “The Favourite,” which was more of a conventional costume drama. Lanthimos’s latest is a more absurdist comedy where Waddington mixes period costumes with fantasy, another genre that’s popular in this category. Waddington created unique designs for the characters played by Oscar nominees Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, as well as all the characters they encounter on their journeys from all walks of life.
I previously wrote about a potential battle between “Barbie” and “Poor Things” in this category, but the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) won’t be much help when they hand out their awards on February 21, since the two movies are in different categories there. Even so, it seems very likely that this category goes to “Barbie,” not just because of Durran being so well known for her work, but also because Barbie as a brand has always had a focus on fashion.
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