Thursday, January 09, 2025
Corsets, Crushed Buttons, and Vampire Fashion in Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu'
No Film School: You know Linda Muir’s work.
She’s one of the most meticulous and thoughtful costume designers working today, bringing an extraordinary level of historical detail and character insight to her collaborations, particularly with writer/director Robert Eggers.
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I saw Nosferatu in December and the production quality was outstanding. I find her comment about designing for stage vs. film interesting because theater design (at least for costumes) I feel tends to be about big, noticeable shapes that read well from far away. Color is also an important part of designing costumes for stage because its an easy way for the audience to distinguish characters from another when they can't really see the actors' faces clearly. That being said, its interesting that this designer says she designs the same way in both film and theater. It was also interesting her choice in making Ellen free of a lot of restrictive clothing, although not in a freeing way but instead in an ethereal, ghostly way. It was also interesting that she mentioned Ellen's makeup look, and costume-designing in line with that makeup look. I wonder when the makeup designer has to have the design finished for the makeup. It seems like that would be a RELATIVELY last minute thing, compared to creating costumes.
I really loved how Muir mentioned how she designs TV and theater costumes the same way, and her habit of having incredibly intricate details in theatrical costumes that she is told “nobody will see.” Theater definitely has a really strong “well, the audience is 20 feet away, so it’ll be okay,” culture, and that’s a statement I’ve definitely said many times to reassure myself in a moment of crisis. However, I think details and intricacy are still incredibly valuable in theater. Maybe an audience member can’t see everything up close, but I feel like one can really feel when all of the details on something are put together since it just creates such a feeling of fullness. Well thought-out set decoration comes to mind as an example of that, sure, audience members sitting in the back row probably can’t see the titles of every book, but it still creates such a feeling of reality. And also, I would say that a lot of movie attendees probably miss a lot of details too, so the percentage of audience members “seeing the details” in both theater and film is honestly probably not too different.
I found Muir’s experiences and thoughts on costuming for this film to be very interesting. There are a good number of former theatre professionals who end up in the film industry, so it’s always neat to hear about the differences between the two fields. Obviously there’s the difference in what level of detail the audience can see, but Muir also talks about how in film she is involved in the creative process earlier on, whereas in theatre she has more time with actors themselves, a difference I wasn’t aware of. I also really appreciated that Muir pushed back against the idea that corsets are always symbolic of the repression of women, because I think it’s a bit overdone and undermines the talents of costumers who build corsets in the modern day. I think it’s so much more interesting to demonstrate Ellen rejecting the demands of society through her wearing fewer outfits, which is a more subtle and realistic way to reflect that theme.
I haven’t yet seen the 2024 Nosferatu, but I have seen the 1922 F. W. Murnau Nosferatu. In the 1922 film, German Expressionism drives all design choices, including the costuming. The gothic style that results seems to be present in the 2024 film as well. It exudes darkness in its reality through Linda Muir’s work. Her vision succeeds in its subtlety, allowing for the actions of the characters to push forward the details, indicating their motives and traits. For example, the simplicity of Ellen’s wardrobe reflects her isolation from the greater societal norms. I think Muir’s journey with film and theatre is particularly interesting, and as she implies, it certainly enhances her work in both fields. I also believe that the collaborative efforts with the director, Robert Eggers, destined the costume design and execution to be as high-quality as is seen in the final cut, as synthesis is a crux of a production’s costume design.
I saw this move over winter break with some friends. I was immediately struck by the atmosphere created by the scenery, lighting, and especially the costumes. Linda Muir captured each character excellently while fitting into the time seamlessly. When Count Orlok was finally fully shown, I did note how regal and regular he looked as opposed to a mystical or fantastical take. Reading about the process for the costumes highlights that I picked up what they were trying to communicate with the costume choices. I appreciate how intentional every piece of the clothing was. Going as far as to break and weather the button in Orlok’s costume shows a dedication to the quality of the costume that many don’t have. Moreover, the motifs and themes expressed in clothing added to the story in an incredible way. My favorite was the use of corsets and how it was used to restrain the protagonist, Ellen. This gave me a strong sense of symbolism and how clothing can literally restrain women then and even now. I am happy to read that this was what Muir was going for in her costume design and usage. I hope to see more of her work in the future in horror and other works.
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