Hustlers, Rocketman, Star Wars, more receive Costume Designers Guild Awards nominations

Joey Nolfi
Hustlers, Rocketman, Star Wars, more receive Costume Designers Guild Awards nominations

A “stripper ice cream truck,” pop music royalty, fierce drag queen couture, and the far reaches of outer space facilitated some of the best cinematic fashions of the year.

The Costume Designers Guild Awards announced its annual list of film and television honorees on Tuesday, with popular projects like Hustlers, Rocketman, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel, Game of Thrones, and RuPaul’s Drag Race scoring major nominations from the industry union.

Among contemporary film nominees include Hustlers‘ Mitchell Travers, who intricately crafted barely-there designs for a cast of women playing strippers in Lorene Scafaria’s $100 million box office hit, and Arjun Bhasin’s take on Mr. Rogers’ wardrobe (including real pieces from the actual icon’s closet) for Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Elsewhere, reigning Best Costume Design Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter received a CDGA nomination for her self-described “pimp style” contributions to frequent collaborator Eddie Murphy’s Netflix dramedy Dolemite Is My Name, as did Rocketman‘s Julian Day (for his Elton John-approved outfits inspired by — but not direct copies of — designs from the pop star’s peak performative years) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Arianne Phillips, who crafted 1960s-era garments worn by Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie in Quentin Tarantino’s blockbuster hit set against the backdrop of the Manson murders.

“I hadn’t seen a really good ’70s film addressing black culture in a very long time, so it was important to me that I addressed some of the problems from the past. Somehow the ’70s got pushed into a laughable corner with big bell bottoms, afros, and Elton John glasses,” Carter recently told EW of working on Dolemite. “[What I created] is what I remember seeing in my neighborhood, and I wanted to bring that into this movie so that when we see Dolemite and his antics, we could take that over the top and he would stand out, whereas everybody else [on the street] felt more real. It feels like we’re doing it right, like we’re addressing part of black culture and black history in areas that have been ignored.”

On the television side, Game of Thrones will compete against other sci-fi and fantasy contenders like The Handmaid’s Tale and Watchmen, while the contemporary and period class includes nominees like Big Little Lies, Chernobyl, The Crown, Fleabag, and Killing Eve. Drag Race scored a follow-up nomination this year after RuPaul’s frequent collaborator, Zaldy, won the CDGA last year for his work in crafting Mama Ru’s glamorous judging outfits last season.

“It’s a very loose communication. It’s hard to pinpoint that creative place that Ru and I connect on,” Zaldy previously told EW. “But, it’s almost like an intuitive and telepathic thing.”

Mindy Kaling will host the Jan. 28 CDGA ceremony, where winners will be announced amid previously revealed honorees including Mary Ellen Fields (Distinguished Service Award), Michael Kaplan (Career Achievement Award), Adam McKay (Distinguished Collaborator Award), and Charlize Theron (Spotlight Award).

Read on for the full list of 2020 Costume Designers Guild Awards nominations below.

FILM

Excellence in Contemporary Film

  • A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Arjun Bhasin

  • Hustlers – Mitchell Travers

  • Knives Out – Jenny Eagan

  • The Laundromat – Ellen Mirojnick

  • Queen & Slim – Shiona Turini

Excellence in Period Film

  • Dolemite Is My Name – Ruth E. Carter

  • Downton Abbey – Anna Mary Scott Robbins

  • Jojo Rabbit – Mayes C. Rubeo

  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Arianne Phillips

  • Rocketman – Julian Day

Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Film

  • Aladdin – Michael Wilkinson

  • Avengers: Endgame – Judianna Makovsky

  • Captain Marvel – Sanja M. Hays

  • Maleficent: Mistress of Evil – Ellen Mirojnick

  • Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Michael Kaplan

TELEVISION

Excellence in Contemporary Television

  • Big Little Lies: “She Knows” – Alix Friedberg

  • Fleabag: “2.1” – Ray Holman

  • Killing Eve: “Desperate Times” – Charlotte Mitchell

  • Russian Doll: “Superiority Complex” – Jennifer Rogien

  • Schitt’s Creek: “The Dress” – Debra Hanson

Excellence in Period Television

  • Chernobyl: “Please Remain Calm” – Odile Dicks-Mireaux

  • The Crown: “Cri De Coeur” – Amy Roberts

  • Fosse/Verdon: “Life is a Cabaret” – Melissa Toth & Joseph La Corte

  • GLOW: “Freaky Tuesday” – Beth Morgan

  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: “It’s Comedy or Cabbage” – Donna Zakowska

Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Television

  • Carnival Row: “Aisling” – Joyce Schure

  • Game of Thrones: “The Iron Throne” – Michele Clapton

  • The Handmaid’s Tale: “Household” – Natalie Bronfman

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: “Penultimate Peril: Part 2” – Cynthia Summers

  • Watchmen: “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” – Sharen Davis

Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television

  • Dancing with the Stars: “First Elimination” – Daniella Gschwendtner & Steven Norman Lee

  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: “Crosswalk the Musical: Aladdin” – Lauren Shapiro

  • The Masked Singer: “Season Finale: And the Winner Takes It All and Takes It Off” – Marina Toybina

  • RuPaul’s Drag Race: “Whatcha Unpackin?” – Zaldy for RuPaul

  • Saturday Night Live: “Sandra Oh / Tame Impala” – Tom Broecker & Eric Justian

Excellence in Short Form Design

  • Katy Perry: “Small Talk” music video – Phoenix Mellow

  • Kohler Verdera Voice Smart Mirror: “Mirror, Mirror” commercial – Ami Goodheart

  • Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road” music video – Catherine Hahn

  • Madonna: “God Control” music video – B. Åkerlund

  • United Airlines: “Star Wars Wing Walker” commercial – Christopher Lawrence

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