In their case, Boyle has created costumes for films including “Mary Reilly” (1996), “The Queen” (2006) and “Philomena” (2013). But despite the duo’s comfort level, complacency never sets in, says Boyle. “Every project is so completely different, each to be rediscovered and imagined anew,” she notes.
4 comments:
This movie looks so exciting. The story looks great, the era lends itself to beautiful costumes, and hearing the designer talk, makes me want to look for all of the hidden meaning that she is imparting. I loved how she talked about authenticity. I think sometimes designers get either too bogged down in “This actually happened- I found the research to prove it!” or “This doesn’t look good to a modern eye; let’s just tweak all of these things”. She seems to have hit a wonderful happy medium between those two extremes. I really appreciated how she said that if she created a world that was cohesive and all elements were to serve the story, authenticity would follow.
I am very excited to see the costume design of this movie! Boyle's work is always beautiful and I like that she always puts the needs of the story ahead of what is precisely "period." Her use of color and texture is both subtle and deliberate and is always a beautiful indicator of a character's emotional state. I also like that she has tried to sneak in some color into Victoria's wardrobe since fashion throughout time has never had as hard and fast rules as people like to believe. Her designs also are crafted in such a way that they both blend into the period and stand out starkly on the screen as beautiful and evocative parts of the storytelling. Both her and the actors she works with acknowledge that authenticity has many different meanings and try to find its individual meaning for each story.
The costume designs done by Boyle for this film sound absolutely incredible, and I can’t wait to see how they further develop the show. Her research (paired with the conversations she has had with Stephen Frears) has been incredibly extensive, in the ways she found the true garment colors of the queen that contrast what is perceived by the general public. She incorporated varying textures into her work, while subtly adding in colors that both match the public’s historical opinion of Queen Victoria’s garments while incorporating the black-grays, greens, purples, and heliotrope that she discovered in her research. Since Victorian era fashion is so structured, it will be nice to see this contrast in the usual concept of Victorian style. I am truly so excited to see this film and observe how the costumes build on the incredible story.
This article delves into the innovative way that this film used costumes as a way to accentuate, cultural, racial, and class division between two people. The visible quality of the costumes relative to each other, combined with the ornate jewels of Judi Dench’s costume serve to show the viewer that these people are from two different worlds. Using costumes to such a degree allows the viewer to gain a special appreciation for the different worlds that these characters were coming from, and serves to further stress what an unlikely relationship this was. Victoria’s continued wearing of black demonstrates her Western tradition of wearing black during mourning periods, and also shows the audience where her character is on a personal level. She is feeling loss and searching for a meaningful relationship in her life. Abdul serves to fill that void despite their cultural differences.
Post a Comment