In this movie, we can not only see the love full of gothic style, but also see those inspired costumes designed with fashionable looks.
The Phantom Sewn is a film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leslie Manville and Vicki Kripps, released in North America on December 25, 2017. On March 5, 2018, "The Phantom Sewer" won the Best Costume Design Award at the 90th Academy Awards. Set in London in the 1950s, it was a Gothic romance film and Anderson's first work shot outside the United States.
The title of the film, "Phantom Seamstress," is derived from a term used by Victorian East London female seamstresses to describe the inexplicable touch of the long, repetitive manual labor in the workshop—after returning home exhausted, the women workers find their hands trembling unconsciously, their fingers clasped, as if sewing invisible "netherworld" threads.
If you've seen the movie, you're bound to have a lot of ideas for markBridges' amazing Academy Award-winning costume work, or Daniel Day-Lewis' role as Reynolds Woodcock.
In Woodcock's life, countless women rushed by like smoke clouds in the past, and they provided Woodcock with the inspiration for his design, and only the charismatic Alma (Vicki Kripps) finally conquered Woodcock and became his muse and lover...
At the beginning of this film, we are shown what we were wearing in that era. Polished shoes, ironed pants, a brand new buttoned shirt, and a pair of fuchsia stockings all give the character a concept of creativity, or perhaps the uniqueness of personality.
The scene shifted to breakfast, which calmly added that Reynolds liked to do things in a certain way, even if the rest of the house wasn't on the boat. This time it was his tea. While others drink tea from a typical silver pot, Reynolds has his own Asian-style teapot and cup saucer. Of course, these things are nothing more than showing a person with a personality, but they begin to paint a picture.
In preparation for the film, Mike was able to enter the Victoria & Albert Museum, the second largest museum in the UK, and gained access to the costume designs that have made their mark on the fashion world, including Givenchy, Balmain, Balenciaga, Charles Frederick Worth, VictorStiebel and Norman Hartnell (designer of Elizabeth II's wedding dress in 1947 with a coronation ceremony dress in 1953).
A large number of fashion custom house scenes and a considerable scale of custom costumes appear in the film, which makes the characters more restored and the plot more credible.
Lewis plays a mid-century London fashion designer named Reynolds Woodcock. In order to play this role well, the perfectionist Lewis deliberately learned from a costume director in New York for a year in advance, and later he independently and perfectly copied a 50s day dress from Balenciaga to his wife. Such a professional attitude, as well as textbook acting skills, let Lewis in the film, with only one expression, one look, one posture, deeply portray the image of the fashion designer in the middle of the last century in the audience's heart.
Clothing, here is not only the cloth wrapped around the body, but also a symbol of identity and power, and it is a necessary way to shape the image of the character in film and television works.
"It's a chore, ostensibly designing skirts, but also paving the way for character development," explains renowned costume designer Bridges Bridges. In fact, the Oscar-winning costume designer, in addition to designing costumes for the characters in the play, also created a series of jewel-colored silk satin dresses and lace decorative evening dresses for the fictional Woodcock Fashion House in the film.
Bridges studied the memories of the fashion designers of that era, such as Norman Hatnell, Hubert de Givenchy, and especially The Left of Christopher Barencega (i.e. Balenciaga), an innovative Hispanic designer who lived an isolated private life but created countless elaborate costumes that amazed people.
The ill-fated Charles James was also one of the inspirations for The Phantom Seamstress.
This influence does not lie in his designs, but in his personality. The British-American designer's expensive clothing swept the high society of the 1950s, but his costly perfectionism, eccentric personality, and complicated private life caused his design firm to collapse in the late 1950s.
In addition to this, there are also costumes for supporting characters.
For example, played by Leslie Manville, Woodcock's calm and powerful sister – her costume reflects her unbridled efficiency. Then there's Rose, a wealthy American second-generation man who commissioned a luxurious green evening dress, but didn't respect the costume itself.
Although woodcock studio with a Christian style is inspired by Cristobal Balenciaga, and Reynolds' eccentric behaviors and requirements are reminiscent of Lafayette Karl Lagerfeld, and it is easy to find Charles James's shadow in the design of the costume style, all the costumes in the film are completely original works, and each set is designed and sewn according to the specific plot.
In less than 6 months, costume designer MarkBridges has produced more than 50 original costumes for films, including wedding dresses, dinner dresses and everyday wear. Most of the pieces are hand-sewn, using an average of 6-8 yards (5 to 7.3 meters) of cloth per garment, with female characters alone already hundreds of yards long.
London in the 50s and woodcock studios that did not appear in history are the background that PTA, especially Mark's clothing design, always keep in mind, even if Reynolds has its own tastes and styles, but it has not been able to complete and create works that can be classified into the history of fashion like Dior or Balenciaga, Woodcock is just an ordinary member of the post-war London custom tide, destined to drown in the fashion army.
But it is precisely this caution and positioning that does not allow the costumes themselves to affect the direction of the characters and plot too much, and they only need to carry the gothic love affair between Reynolds and Alma in the most elegant posture, that is, it is enough.
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Throughout the film, these sets of styling are particularly exciting.
This lavender purple evening dress is the most stunning, combined with the British style of the 50s with a hint of restoration period (1660-1685), using late 17th-century Flemish mallet lace, which is extremely precious.
Mark's team traveled all over London and dug up a piece of Flemish lace that was 3 meters long and only 7 centimeters wide and derived from the 17th century.
Flemish Lace is not only a lace craft in flanders (the fiefdom of the former European dukes, including parts of present-day France and Belgium), but also a cultural heritage of this unique region, which flourished from 1550 to 1750, characterized by spool lace (as opposed to knitted lace).
The lace from Antwerp, Mechelen, Bansch and Valenciennes is now collectively referred to as Flemish lace, and in the film Reynolds also says that it is a piece of lace that he rescued in Antwerp during World War II (in the film he is talking about the late 16th century). Because the number of fabrics is limited, Mark's knife is very deliberate, and once the cut is wrong, there is no way to turn back.
Alma was the first to walk to the audience in this crimson evening gown, officially establishing her status as the first muse in Reynolds' heart. Woodcock's most iconic lace is also used on the hem, and pockets are added to the evening gown. Before the 20th century, due to the aesthetic influence of the thin waist line, pockets became taboo for women's dresses for a very long time, because increasing the pockets meant giving up the smooth lines.
Mike here to give some new ideas to the addition of pockets, this is a style tailored for the hostess of the dinner party, the hostess who constantly shuttles throughout the party to entertain guests, the function of a small pocket is very critical, and the design of lace greatly improves the overall aesthetics.
Inspired by Balenciaga's embroidery craft, Alma's first vintage grape red evening dress on a london date also hid small discs under the embroidery to create a faintly luminous effect, a fabric that is more sculptural than the average silk, with a curved ivory pattern rolled up. It was like a love letter that Reynolds was willing to take her into his life as long as she accepted.
In the film, the Christian-inspired studio is Cristobal Balenciaga, and on a Balenciaga dress, Bridges discovers an embroidery technique that secures sequins on silk, which contributes to the details of alma designing her own dress, the silk cocktail dress she wears with the iconic Asparagus pattern.
In the play, Reynolds's sister Cyril Cyril is his agent and the "CEO" of the fashion house, although the clothing is not gorgeous, but from the careful selection of cuts, colors, and fabrics can reflect the image of a shrewd businesswoman.
Daniel Day-Lewis's costumes in the show were all custom-made by Anderson & Sheppard on Savile Row' Savile Row, with Mark slightly modifying the pants of the time in London in the 50s.
The costumes of this movie are not overwhelmed with dazzling. When you watch the film, it feels like standing in a museum and admiring those classicist paintings. There is no ostentatious color, but you can feel the impact on the heart. This may be the power and precipitation of the costumes, and it is also the true name of this movie.
(The picture and text originated from the Network, invaded and deleted)
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