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Sandy Powell OBE
(born 7 April 1960) is a British costume designer. She has won the
Academy Award for Costume Design for Shakespeare in Love (1998), The
Aviator (2004), and The Young Victoria (2009). She has also received
nine BAFTA Award nominations, winning for Velvet Goldmine and The
Young Victoria. She won numerous other awards in costume design for
the latter film. She is frequently associated with Martin Scorsese,
having designed the costumes for six of his films.
Powell attended
Saint Martin's School of Art in London, before completing her degree,
due to offers of work from, amongst others, Derek Jarman. She was
appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2011 New Year Honours for services to the film industry.
Powell is a cousin
of the equally successful costume designer, Anthony Powell.
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Costume designer Sandy Powell on dressing Carol
Cate Blanchett’s
character in Carol speaks more through couture than what she says.
Karen Krizanovich talks to costume legend Sandy Powell about dressing
a movie into life
Director Todd
Haynes’ new film Carol – a vivid, swooning love story between two
people whom society wants to keep apart – is being heralded for its
costumes as much as its Oscar-worthy performances.
The stunning looks
were created by costume legend Sandy Powell OBE, a masterful
storyteller in her own right. Inspired by street and fashion
photography of New York City in the early Fifties, the multiple
Oscar-winner created accurate period clothing that could tell this
lyrical love story almost by fashion alone.
In 1952, New York
City looked more like an old European capital recovering from the
Second World War than a booming metropolis. Faithful to history,
Powell’s colour choices are both vivid and muted, sometimes
distressed and sour, as if upset at being trapped in the decade
before.
While Carol’s look
could have stepped directly from the pages of early Fifties Vogue,
both director Todd Haynes and Powell drew inspiration from street
photographers such as Ruth Orkin and Vivian Maier, while the overall
look was influenced by the expressionistic, almost abstract street
photography of Saul Leiter.
Carol
is particularly interesting because it is 1952, and 1952 is not the
Fifties people think of because it still looks like the Forties. It
is a transitional period
Sandy Powell
Powell and the
film’s star Cate Blanchett were determined to keep Carol as true to
1952 New York as possible. “I get excited by every period I work in
because you always learn something new,” Powell has said.
“Carol is a
particularly interesting one because it is 1952, and 1952 is not the
Fifties people think of because it still looks like the Forties. It
is a transitional period, so the silhouette was going from the
wide-shouldered look of the Forties to the more streamlined look of
the Fifties, so it was really really exciting to do.”
Blanchett adds: “The
silhouettes that were available, the new look, the Fifties versus, I
guess, the more Chanel silhouettes… These were aesthetic choices
that Sandy and I talked about a lot.”
Powell gives Carol
the wardrobe of a wealthy woman: gloves worn for formal daytime,
sailor necklines and dresses made with the “wandering” waistline
so popular in 1952 – in effect, a “sack dress” which was the
attractive yet comfy alternative to the snug fit of Dior’s frocks.
There are the
popular fitted Hattie Carnegie-styled suits, which have become
sought-after collectors’ items. One of the first creators of both
couture and ready-to-wear, Carnegie provided women of the Fifties
with one boutique supplying everything they needed from “head to
hem”. These looks are so of the moment that only a few years later
they would look overly formal and prim.
Blanchett and Powell
also discussed ways of unlocking the character of Carol through
physicality, deciding what to reveal. “We asked, ‘What is the
most erotic part of the body?’” reveals Blanchett. “We kept
saying that wrists are really erotic. The neck. The ankles.
“The way Highsmith
writes, she’s got this exquisite observation of detail that most
people would miss, but a lover’s eye never would. We talked a lot
about erogenous zones.”
For Carol, Powell’s
costumes needed to be distinctive but factual. Without them as a
guide, even a superb performer like Blanchett or her co-star Rooney
Mara could find it hard to create a believable character.
“It’s a deeper,
more formative process for actors than people often may know,” says
Blanchett. “Even the girdles and the underpinnings and the
stockings and the heels affect the way you move, the way your body
feels in space.”
Because Carol is a
love story about looking, its most powerful moments are often
wordless. This puts more emphasis on movement, glances and
hesitations. “The way the gestures that become possible within
those constraints help inform the actor’s process of finding the
characters.”
“My job was to
create the characters and make them believable to each other and
audiences,” Powell says. “I wanted Carol to be fashionable but
understated, somebody a character like [Rooney’s] Therese would
look up to and be impressed by as well.”
Powell, who says if
she had a signature element it would be the use of colour – “I
don’t think I’ve ever done beige” – dressed Carol in rich
reds, warm furs and gave her the strong, figure-shaped suits and
dresses.
Carol is a woman of
privilege and wealth who impresses Therese by leaving a pair of
luxurious if conservative leather gloves on the department store
counter where the younger woman works. As love blooms, the types and
colours of the characters’ clothes change, reflecting their
evolving emotions.
Powell’s costumes
tell you everything about Carol: rich, confident and discreet.
Therese’s wardrobe reflects her youth and uncertainty: we feel
sorry for her when she’s forced to wear a fluffy elf hat at work
during the holiday season.
“There’s a
reference in the film to the fact that Therese is a photographer but
she’s uncomfortable taking pictures of people [until] she starts to
take pictures of Carol,” says Blanchett. “I think the clothes
play a foundational role in that process.”
• Carol, directed
by Todd Haynes and starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, is
released in UK cinemas on 27 November. Find out more at
carolfilm.co.uk
IN 'CAROL,' COSTUME
PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN CATE BLANCHETT'S SEDUCTION OF ROONEY MARA
Oscar-winning
designer Sandy Powell discusses the film's '50s-era look and
plot-enhancing pieces.
FAWNIA SOO HOO NOV
18, 2015
Cate Blanchett is
absolutely mesmerizing in Todd Haynes's latest movie, "Carol,"
based on the Patricia Highsmith novel "The Price of Salt."
She is, after all, the beautiful, supreme, Oscar-winning Cate
Blanchett, but the stunning period costumes by the triple Academy
Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell can surely take some
credit for that 'mesmerizing' factor.
In the film,
Blanchett plays a wealthy New Jersey wife and mother, Carol Aird, who
is challenged by the societal limitations of the 1950s and her
buttoned-up, country-club-loving husband, Harge (played by the
ever-versatile Kyle Chandler). While Christmas shopping for her young
daughter, Carol meets and embarks on a slow-burning love affair with
a 20-something shopgirl, Therese (Rooney Mara), who's on her own path
to self-discovery. Powell — who most recently dressed Blanchett for
her role as the stepmother in "Cinderella" — skillfully
helps tell each woman's story through a series of striking,
period-specific costumes.
The costume designer
took a break from filming her latest period piece (more on that
below) to chat with Fashionista about finding inspiration from
vintage Vogue issues, sourcing Carol's spectacular jewelry sets and
dressing Blanchett in a body-hugging '50s silhouette as opposed to
Dior's New Look, which was given considerable treatment in the
recently released movie "Brooklyn."
Where did you look
for inspiration for both Carol's [Cate Blanchett's] and Therese’s
[Rooney Mara's] costumes?
For Carol, I looked
at a lot of fashion magazines, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar,
from the period exactly from the months that we were shooting — the
winter months in 1952 going into 1953 — and that pretty much that
gave me all the shapes, all the color tones, everything that I
needed. For Therese, I looked a little bit at fashion, but she’s
not very fashionable. [I tried] to find pictures of real people, real
young women, students and arty types in the street.
And then next, I
looked at a lot of actual vintage clothing. We’d go to the actual
costume rental companies and start pulling and looking at the real
clothing of the period and that really is the best thing to see the
real stuff and then I tried them on the actors.
For women
especially, the '50s was a period of restraint. Watching the movie,
you can feel how Carol is so stifled and how much she wants to break
free. How did you express that through what she’s wearing?
The clothing in
itself does have an air of restraint. That is actually what was
fashionable at the time, but I could have given her the other very
fashionable look of the period. The Dior New Look, which was much
fuller skirts, had just come in. [The style] does give a bit more of
an air of extravagance and freedom, even though it's got the tiny
cinched-in waist and uncomfortable underwear. So I decided against
that and gave her this streamlined silhouette instead.
The silhouettes on
Cate Blanchett are so beautiful and fit her so well. What were your
style reference points?
I looked at the
specific fashion photographers like Gordon Parks, Clifford Coffin and
Cecil Beaton, and if you pick up any magazine from 1952, that is the
silhouette you will see. In order to create that silhouette, I had to
start with the undergarments. That's not Cate’s natural silhouette
— she doesn't have pointed bosoms [laughs]. Believe it or not, a
lot of the jacket shapes are actually padded over the hips to give
that hip shape and the small waist and the bras provide that shape of
the bosom. So you create the silhouette from the foundation garments
and build the clothing over the top.
When you see the
Carol and Therese first meet in the toy section of the department
store where Therese works, it's almost love at first sight. What went
into choosing the wardrobe pieces for that important moment?
For Carol, I wanted
very specifically to have [her wear] something that would stand out
from everybody else [in the department store] without looking like
she wandered into the wrong shop. The fur coat was completely normal
for the period and that's one of the things that came directly from
the book. In the script, she's seen wearing the fur. But the color of
the fur to me was really crucial in that I wanted a fur that was a
slightly unusual color. It's pale, it's not a normal darker brown,
and I think there's something rather luxurious and sophisticated
about a pale color fur and [it also goes] with [Blanchett's] blonde
coloring. Then I used the coral color for the scarf and the hat to be
seen against that fur from the other side of the room.
The leather gloves
that Carol leaves at the department store counter for Therese to
return leads to their developing relationship. The gloves are a
pivotal plot point...
Yeah, the gloves are
a key, key feature. And the gloves are tonally the same color as the
taupe dress Carol wears underneath [the fur]. She does have a pair of
coral gloves that she wears later and I was toying with the idea of
using those, but then I thought that would be too obvious. I don't
know why. Maybe I should have used the coral, but we used the taupe,
which were just expensive-looking gloves.
Carol looks so put
together and her jewelry and accessories are so impeccably matched.
Where did you find those pieces?
I made the scarves
and the hats. The scarves I dyed because I wanted that specific coral
color and then they matched [Carol's] nails and lipstick. Her jewelry
was loaned from various estate jewelry [collections, plus] Fred
Leighton and Van Cleef & Arpels lent us pieces. All her shoes are
made by Ferragamo based on their original 1950s and 1940s shapes and
original patterns. I bought vintage bags from the period as well.
And what are you
working on now?
I'm working on a
film in London called "How to Talk to Girls at Parties,"
which is directed by John Cameron Mitchell and it's set in 1977
against a punk music background. But with an added twist of visiting
aliens.
"Carol"
premieres in U.S. theaters on Friday, Nov. 20.
This interview has
been edited and condensed for clarity.
BY FAWNIA SOO HOO
Carol
review – Cate Blanchett superb in a five-star tale of forbidden
love
5 / 5 stars
Todd Haynes’s
50s-set drama in which Blanchett’s divorcing woman falls for Rooney
Mara’s doe-eyed shop assistant is an intoxicating triumph
Peter Bradshaw
@PeterBradshaw1
Thursday 26 November
2015 15.30 GMT
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/26/carol-film-review-cate-blanchett-todd-haynes-rooney-mara
The cigarette that
bears a lipstick’s traces … the tinkling piano in the next
apartment. Todd Haynes’s narcotic and delicious film Carol is in
love with this kind of detail: the story of a forbidden love affair
that makes no apology for always offering up exquisitely observed
minutiae from the early 1950s. It is almost as if the transgression,
secrecy and wrongness must paradoxically emerge in the well judged
rightness and just-so-ness of all its period touches. The movie finds
something erotic everywhere – in the surfaces, the tailoring, the
furnishing and of course the cigarettes. It revives the lost art of
smoking at lunch, smoking with gloves, and the exotic moue of
exhaling smoke sideways, out of consideration for the person in front
of you.
Cate Blanchett plays
Carol, an unhappy, divorcing woman who falls instantly in love with
department store assistant Therese, played by Rooney Mara, who is
selling Carol a toy train as a Christmas present for her daughter. A
counterintuitive present for the 50s, of course, but the point is
that it’s large, so it has to be delivered; Carol must therefore
give Therese her address and then, accidentally on purpose, she
leaves her gloves behind on the counter.
Blanchett’s
performance is utterly right, her hauteur and elegance matched with
fear and self-doubt. When I first saw Carol at Cannes this year, she
reminded me of a predatory animal suddenly struck with a
tranquilliser dart. On watching it again, what I noticed was
Blanchett continually touching her face and stroking her hair as she
speaks to Therese: a “poker tell” of desire. Rooney Mara is
doe-eyed and callow, submissive yet watchful (she is a would-be
photographer), her faintly dysfunctional fringe often schoolgirlishly
framed in a sweet pom-pommed beret.
Screenwriter Phyllis
Nagy has superbly adapted Patricia Highsmith’s original 1952 novel
The Price of Salt, a bestseller at the time under the pen name Claire
Morgan. Nagy’s version brings out both the drama and the swoony,
ambient mood; Haynes’s direction and Affonso Gonçalves’s editing
take her script at a cool andante. The screenplay slims down the
novel’s tendency to oblique talkiness; it cuts down on use of the
phrase “I love you”; and interestingly it does not hint at
Carol’s rather Hellenic suggestion in the original that gay love is
a higher form than straight, a more balanced relationship.
How Patricia
Highsmith's Carol became a film: 'Lesbianism is not an issue. It's a
state of normal'
Read more
There is a shrewd
homage to Brief Encounter, and the film also allows you to see the
lineaments of classic Highsmith crime. The two women’s discontent
casts light on a structural homoeroticism in Highsmith’s Strangers
on a Train, famously filmed by Hitchcock: two men collude in a
transgression to be rid of their respective encumbrances. Carol takes
this through the gender looking glass, although here the
transgression is a matter of love and free will. Therese is no
Ripley: she is not manipulative or parasitical in the way she might
be in another sort of story – the sort, in fact, that might want to
insist on an unhappy ending for gay love – but the two lovers take
off together, on the lam almost. There is the Nabokovian flourish of
a revolver.
Sarah Paulson gives
a smart supporting performance as Carol’s easygoing confidante and
former lover Abby. Kyle Chandler is superb as her furious husband
Harge – short for Hargess, but here suggesting an unsexy
combination of “hard” and “large”. He is angry and unhappy,
boorishly hating himself for not having punished Carol more for her
previous infidelity. His contribution amplifies the complex dynamic
of this new love affair: she is in revolt against his domestic
mastery and he is on the point of taking Carol’s infant daughter
away from her in a custody battle. Therese is not merely to be
Carol’s lover but quasi-daughter, someone who will come under her
protection.
The film shows us
the corsetry and mystery with which gay people in the 1950s could
manage their lives with dignity, but it also inhales the clouds of
depression and self-control into which Carol has had to retreat and
from which she is now defiantly emerging, a prototypical version of
Betty Friedan’s feminine mystique, announced a decade after this.
The writing and
performances are superb, the production design and costumes by Judy
Becker and Sandy Powell tremendous. And the effect is intoxicating.
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