en en en en fr en en en en en pt en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en
Fans have passionately championed what they believe is the best movie in this year's Oscar race. But have you had a glimpse inside those films?
This USA TODAY AR experience has everything: the ability to explore famous costumes as though you’re standing right in front of them, interviews with the films' acclaimed costume designers and new celebrity tidbits! Here’s a taste of the stories we discovered behind the seams.
To view “Oscars: The Costumes and Creators,” download the latest version of the USA TODAY mobile app, and click from mobile devices to view on Android and iOS or find within the USA TODAY Life section.
You were right to be amazed by the costumes of "Black Panther." Oscar-nominated designer Ruth E. Carter drew inspiration from ancient Africa, and propelled the aesthetic of Wakanda forward with wearable art and futuristic details.
“When you look at the art of Africa, you see so many unique shapes, spiritual meanings – you see history, but overall, you see their version of beauty,” she says.
And she made sure the formidable Dora Milaje warriors weren’t sexualized. “We wanted to honor the female form and not exploit it. So the costume is covering the vital organs. It's devoid of high heels. We wanted the Dora Milaje to be taken very seriously as the highest-ranking female fighting force in Wakanda.”
Disappointing Queen fans was not an option. “One of the challenges in representing Freddie Mercury in this film was to make sure that the fans were happy,” says costume designer Julian Day. “Freddie was very loyal to his fans as well, so I wanted to make sure that they were happy with his look.”
Even a simple outfit, such as his famous Live Aid costume (Adidas sneakers, jeans and a white tank top), "was actually one of the biggest challenges,” says Day, calling star Rami Malek’s involvement “extraordinary.”
For the first fitting, “we’d bought a few pairs (of jeans) and they weren’t quite right. Rami went back to the States and found a pair and brought them back,” he says, “Then we approached Wrangler and then they found lots of pairs in their archives and sent as many pairs as we needed.”
Talk about artistry: Emily Blunt wore gowns that were hand-painted with watercolors for a portion of "Mary Poppins Returns."
For the Royal Doulton Music Hall song-and-dance sequence, the live-action and animated characters needed to be integrated, "which is why I had the idea to maybe make them look as if they are painted in the same way," says Oscar-nominated costume designer Sandy Powell.
It was an unbelievably involved timeline. “That actual process will take several painters a good couple of weeks to do, and then the costume makers work a few days on top of that," she says. "So each costume would have taken weeks to make.”
Focusing on a palette of black and white for Emma Stone’s social-climbing scullery maid in “The Favourite," Powell (also Oscar-nominated for this film) decided to slowly lighten Abigail's wardrobe, "adding more and more white to the costume."
As Abigail climbs rank inside the royal household, her outfits proceed to have "a little bit more white and the one after that has a bit more white until we end up with her final costume, which is mostly white with the bits of black, and actually a bit more decorated than anybody else is," she says. "I wanted to show her sort of determination to succeed and rise up the social ladder.”
And, yes, corsets were required. Unlike co-stars Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz, Stone "had never worn a corset before,” says Powell. Between the underpinnings and the boning, "it was a new thing to get used to.”
While building the '70s-infused wardrobe for undercover detective Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington), who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, costume designer Marci Rodgers went thrifting, seeking out Stallworth’s groovy walking suits, platform shoes and jewelry.
Thrift stores in and around New York "have a lot of '70s clothing," she says, but you have to “make sure the lapels are wide."
Dressing Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace) brought its own challenges. Rodgers describes high emotions during the shooting of the film's cross-burning scene, and how director Spike Lee forbade any phones being out.
Even in dressing Duke, she strove for accuracy. "I would hate as an artist for him to say ‘That wasn't me,’ or ‘That didn’t look like me,’ or, ‘My clothes look terrible,’ ” she says.
'Mary Queen of Scots'
Royals would often wear the same ornate gowns over the course of their entire life.
Ornate gowns would be altered as monarches aged or their weight changed, so “it’s hardly surprising that nothing really exists of the fabric of her clothes because they were worn so heavily,” ” says Oscar-nominated costume designer Alexandra Byrne, who adorned Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I in "Mary Queen of Scots," which pits her against the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart (played by Saoirse Ronan). “They were stitched into, they were altered. The fabric would have been destroyed just by the day to day of it.”
Months of research went into each look. “It's not as if I walk into a fitting room with this big Elizabethan dress and say ‘Here you are, Margot, put this on,’ ” says Byrne. “It's very much an incremental stage where you're building the silhouette, you’re building the layers, the proportion, the balance, and how the movement works.”
Did you know gems were actually sewn onto royal gowns?
Elizabeth’s lady of the bedchamber "was in charge of the jewelry,” says Byrne. “One of her duties when all the clothes were taken off was to sweep the floor to pick up all the stones that had fallen off. We used fake stones but they were real stones. These dresses were crusted with jewelry.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oscars costume party! Get up close to 'Black Panther,' 'Bohemian' and 'Poppins' costumes
Careers Staff Directory Accessibility Site Map Legals Our Ethical Principles Terms of Service Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy PolicyDo Not Sell My Info / Cookie Policy
Contact Us Support Local Business Advertise Your Business Advertising Terms and Conditions Licensing & Reprints Help Center Subscriber Guide My Account Give Feedback