--- title: The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs | TIME description: Patricia Mears, the deputy director at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, explains the historical context behind three of the Oscar-nominated costumes designs. canonical: https://time.com/video/8KndRSqD/ og:title: The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs og:description: Patricia Mears, the deputy director at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, explains the historical context behind three of the Oscar-nominated costumes designs. og:url: https://time.com/video/8KndRSqD/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8KndRSqD/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs twitter:description: Patricia Mears, the deputy director at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, explains the historical context behind three of the Oscar-nominated costumes designs. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8KndRSqD/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs [Watch (HLS stream): The History Behind Oscar Nominated Costume Designs](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8KndRSqD.m3u8) (2:52)  _Published 2016-02-24. Patricia Mears, the deputy director at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, explains the historical context behind three of the Oscar-nominated costumes designs._ --- Jul 27, 2023 7:40 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The Snubs, Surprises and History-Making Nods of the 2021 Oscar Nominations](/video/faD7Dwwx/) ### The Snubs, Surprises and History-Making Nods of the 2021 Oscar Nominations [Behind the Scenes of the 'Moulin Rouge\!' Musical With Its Star Costume Designer](/video/M15PV4Ox/) ### Behind the Scenes of the 'Moulin Rouge!' Musical With Its Star Costume Designer [Here Are the 2017 Oscar Nominations](/video/BXgyToYn/) ### Here Are the 2017 Oscar Nominations --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Probably the best compliment you can give a costume designer is wow, that film was so great. Not wow, she looks great in that dress. Play that stupid, stupid game. Please, [ UNKNOWN ]. Don't you thing this is a game? You don't have to be a fashion historian to immediately know the difference between a garment dating to the 1920s and to the 1950s. The 1920s come right after the devastation World War I and what we see is the rice of women. More women in the work place and even the rice of the women's right to vote. And this new liberation can be seen in the clothing. Many young women are discarding the corset and they are looking for freer more loose body enhancing types of clothes. The thing that I found interesting about the Danish girl was one particular costume. It was the costume that the main character uses to suddenly find and connect with his female identity. and interestingly it's the alternate silhouette of the 1920's. We think of the 1920's is the era of the flapper dress but the full skirted romantic style was also prevelent . >> Oh, God, don't. I look afright . >> You do not. You look wonderful. Stay like that The 50's were a totally different reaction. After World War Two, there was a sense of going back to a romantic period to erase those feelings of the war and deprivation and as America moved into this idea of living in the suburbs and the mother staying home, this more feminine style became more and more popular and had greater currency If you had money, you often would want to wear custom- made clothes, things that were made with luxurious fabrics, and often understated but important pieces of jewelry. And I think you see those elements very clearly in the costumes worn by Cate Blanchette's character. Gentlemen, may I present my daughters Anastasia, Gizella. Off you go! [ MUSIC ] One of the important figures in the history of fairy tales was [ UNKNOWN ] when he was writing his versions of these fairy tales during the reign of Louis XIV. When we look at one of the most glamorous periods in European history, 18th century France is it. [ UNKNOWN ] for example, the best furniture was made during this time period. And some of the most beautiful textiles woven in European history. So I think that period, along with writers like Rowe did a lot to solidify that the idea that the fairy tale is something that's connected to that time period. We see it even with the contemporary Cinderella. Which has just come out. It's a quality of her almost being transported by using that styling. I think it's something that we'll never give up on. 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