Political Fashion Turns Perverse in “The Regime”
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
It isn’t a coincidence that HBO’s The Regime is premiering during an election year. In the new satirical miniseries, Oscar winner Kate Winslet plays Chancellor Elena Vernham, authoritarian ruler of an unnamed Central European nation that is unraveling at the seams. Not that you’d know it, from her perspective; this megalomaniac spends her days locked up in a Versailles-like palace, having her hair done and redone, and walking through vast lengths of hallways listening to the click-clack of her own stiletto heels.
Elena lives in a constant state of primping and polishing, while the world beyond her palace walls descends into unrest—perpetuating her own public image without actually ever doing much of anything except cultivating a culture of fear. In one scene early in the first episode, Elena walks to a meeting, her cabinet members fearfully observing that she is wearing a green dress—as if the color of her clothing is indicative of her mood, and therefore their fates. The genius of this show is how such comedic moments make us laugh—before we’re reminded of the political horrors of our present real-life world, which in turn forces us to consider what exactly is so funny.
Fittingly, The Regime’s costumes sprung from the mind of Academy Award–nominated costume designer Consolata Boyle, no stranger to envisioning how complex women might dress for their publics’ eyes: Her many credits include The Queen (2006), The Iron Lady (2011), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Victoria & Abdul (2017). We caught up with the Irish designer to learn more about how she brought the perverse, dystopian, funny, and ultimately disturbing world of The Regime—which premieres Sunday, March 3 on HBO and Max—to life through costume.
When I first watched The Regime, I couldn’t help but be reminded of politicians we see in our own world. Political fashion feels like its own form of costume design. Why do you think that is?
I’ve been lucky enough to design many “powerful women,” and there is always this element of performance, and this idea of wearing a “mask,” and being dressed for the public eye. … I think it’s all to simplify the message they’re sending, so people can completely focus and the message can be the center of attention. There is this simplicity with these color-blocky colors, and not too many fluffy prints. There is this simplicity. That’s a deliberate choice, I’ve noticed. But I think it’s also a feeling of strength. Clean colors give that feeling of “I am clear, I am strong, listen to me.”
What is your research process like?
The first weeks and months of research are about casting the widest net, even if it looks like you’re going off-piste, far from the subject matter of the script. You go very far and wide and then come back slowly to the center, after working out what is important and what is not. You go through fabrics and shapes, and you think about whether you’re dealing with a period, or an ambiguous period, or a non-period—all of that feeds in. But the main thing is to go far and wide and then pull right back in. Then you come to some sort of a center.
How would you describe the costumes you created for Kate Winslet’s character, Elena? And were there any real-life political influences on those designs?
There is this glamour and joy, but every time you see her, she is completely different. There is this feeling of unpredictability, of always moving and shifting. We went far and wide with references and delved into all sorts of Central European politics and Latin American politics. We drew from a lot of different sources, like Eva Perón, and some present-day Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, but also some Central European feeling. We wanted that Central European feeling because of how [Winslet’s] character uses tradition and nationality for manipulation. But there is always this element of glamour.
Are there references we’ll be able to see in the show?
None of what we do or try to do is a replication. It has to go through a completely imaginative process, even if in the end it looks close to reality. There’s always something strange in the costumes.
So it might look familiar, but ultimately feels perverse, or “off.”
One thing about what we attempted to do on The Regime was create a feeling of a reality that could really happen; so there was no letting the audience off the hook, but there was this slight shift in the reality. So it’s real, but it’s actually not real.
How did you capture that?
In the palace, a lot of the staff dress very uniformly, whereas Elena is completely chaotic. It creates this strange, uneasy world of paranoia and fear within the palace itself, and of people fearing each other. She creates this feeling of fear.
You mentioned this concept of Elena being unpredictable and chaotic, which can be unsettling in a leader.
It’s something that is dangerous, and dangerous in these times. This is a story that is very pertinent to our times.
How did you emulate that unpredictability through the clothes?
The more you observe and investigate her character, one picks up on her use of color and shape, and her use of seduction—and how important all of those are. There’s this underlying seducing of those in her audience within her sphere of influence. That is very important. We see this recurring use of strong, elemental colors, and strong, simple, graphic shapes. A lot of how we expressed her character was through the shape of figure-hugging. There was this clear silhouette that was important for me. Sometimes when Elena is being vulnerable and obsessing over germs, we see her dressing almost in hospital gowns. And there is a scene towards the end when she performs “Santa Baby” in a red Lycra, faux marabou and this Santa hat, and she is in this unreal, delusional state. Her emotions throw us from right to left.
How many of the costumes were built just for this show, versus how much came from collaborating with brands, or shopping, or sourced vintage?
I would say 95 percent were built. Maybe only some of the lingerie was sourced. Everything else was built from scratch. It sort of had to be. But it was incredibly important that everything was able to be controlled.
Were there any designers you referenced, or maybe you would imagine in Elena’s closet?
What I had to keep in my mind was the arbitrariness of her look. There was no particular designer that informed any one of her garments. They had to be completely her.
What is it like to work with Kate Winslet?
Kate is very collaborative and has an amazing instinct on what works on her. In that way, it’s a wonderful collaboration because she deeply understands the character. She has this flawless instinct for shape and what works.
Was there anything in particular you enjoyed creating with her?
We had great fun with pencil skirts. The character wears a lot of them, and they sit perfectly and hit at exactly the right level. You’ll notice a lot of that silhouette being repeated. Then there’s the eveningwear, the glamourwear, the military elements, and even the “Santa Baby” outfit. In all of that, you can very much see the essence of Kate.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
You Might Also Like
