What Were the Best Costumes of 2023?
+ the five best fits of the year
First: if you missed it, I wrote about the opposite of body horror for Ann Friedman’s newsletter.
Last month, I talked about my least favorite movie trends, and for part two of my year-end series, I’d like to focus on what has always been a pet fascination of this newsletter: costumes.
Costuming is one of the most visible elements of a movie while being one of its most undervalued. The continuous dismissal of the talent, skill, and taste of the people who dress us has made clothing cheaper than ever: costume designers are still seriously underpaid for their work.
While I am not a fashion expert, I am an enthusiast. These are just some of my favorite costumes of 2023. Share your thoughts in the comments, and let me know what I missed!
Mary’s Royal Blue Holiday Dress in The Holdovers
Alexander Payne’s latest feature about three lonely people stuck at a boarding school over Christmas has emerged as a critical darling, but for me, the costuming was by far the star of the show. In particular, the sumptuous blue dress that the school’s cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), wears to a coworker’s holiday party.
Most of what Mary wears is simple: cafeteria uniforms, housecoats, things that you can get dirty and easily launder. She is on her feet all day working and cleaning, and lives a quiet life alone on campus where the only other Black people are janitors and maids. She might not have a closet full of formal gowns to wear to various social engagements, but she has the grace to dress appropriately in an environment that might be hostile to her.
I got in touch with the costume designer for the The Holdovers, Wendy Chuck, who told me, “I knew it had to be a quiet statement as this is where we see the depth of her despair. Inspiration came from photos of people like Diahann Carol, Shirley Chisholm, and other proud working women. It’s a beautiful silk chiffon custom made for Da’Vine by my team in Massachusetts.”
The deep blue also reminded me of a military uniform, a gesture towards Mary’s son who was killed in action. The Vietnam War is a distant news event for the wealthy students at Barton Academy and their foppish teachers: for Mary, it’s a personal tragedy she still wears.
Paris’s Military Jacket in Mission Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning, Part One
Every action franchise gets an edgy action girl, and the gleeful Paris (Pom Klementieff) is one of the best. I loved a lot of her outfits, but this bandleader jacket, paired with mime-casual makeup, is a stand-out.
Eileen’s Strawberry Pink Coat in Eileen
“She was a bit of a clothes horse,” Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) remarks about her deceased mother, who was the previous owner of this pink coat. Eileen mostly wears heirloom sweaters with decorative metal clasps I can imagine finding in my grandmother’s closet in Connecticut. Her nicer clothes are clearly hand-me-downs, their ill fit emphasizing her immaturity and uncertainty, in comparison to the impeccably put-together Rebecca (Anne Hathaway).
Costume designer Olga Mill told me of the coat, “The pink color and especially the fur choice represents where Eileen starts from: girlish and mousy. The coat is from her dead mother's closet so I had to think a lot about who Eileen's mother would have been. What kind of shopper was she? We imagined that if she were around in the 90's, she would have been a QVC shopper, someone with aspirational fashion.”
It’s in this coat that Eileen’s abusive father makes a drunken, confused pass at her while mumbling Eileen’s sister’s name. When the film later explicitly discusses the sexual abuse of a child by his father, the tension around Eileen’s role as her father’s constant caretaker begins to boil over. The coat was originally a gift from Eileen’s father to her mother when she was released from a psychiatric facility. It’s a symbol of her mother’s halted liberation — the prison of a midcentury institution traded for a dysfunctional marriage — and of Eileen’s own interrupted potential.
Mollie’s Wedding Outfit in Killers of the Flower Moon
It is hard to pick just one from this movie, but I am fascinated by how costume designer Jacqueline West transformed an American military coat into a wedding outfit for Mollie (Lily Gladstone). The coat and top hat has been adorned with Osage trappings, transformed from standard menswear into bridal dress. It’s both a comment on the Osage’s relationship with American industry and militarism, and a forewarning of what’s to come in this marriage.
Tomas’s Seafoam Sweater in Passages
What better color for a character as mercurial and unpredictable as Tomas (Franz Rogowski) than this Peter Pannish sea green? Tomas seems to have never met a loose-knit fabric he doesn’t like, and there is something mundanely devastating about a man who destroys peoples lives while dressed like a child who has never been told “no.” His fluid, maximalist style of dress is just another expression of his immaturity and unsatisfiable desire.
Honorable mentions:
All of Bella Baxter’s (Emma Stone) puffs, ruffles, and frills in Poor Things
Farleigh’s (Archie Madekwe) Youths in Balaclava playing card sweater in Saltburn (anachronistic, but still fun)
Most of Barbie except that ugly ass pink tweed Chanel minidress and chunky costume necklace
Rebecca-Diane’s (Molly Gordon) hair ribbons in Theater Camp
John Wick’s (Keanu Reeves) battered black suit in John Wick: Chapter 4
Love love love the blue dress. I noticed it also.
LOVE THIS. Honorable mention: Emma Stone's white boots / yellow shorts combo in Poor Things