2016 Oscar Predictions: COSTUME DESIGN

The 1950s, 1920s, Shakespearian drama and wild, post-apocalyptic fantasy highlight the Costume Design race and its filled with big names like Oscar winners Sandy Powell, Jenny Beavan and Jacquline Durran. In fact, Powell is primed for yet another set of dual nominations, having dressed the actors of both Cinderella and Carol. Those two films are the top two contenders here and deservedly so. Powell, a 3-time Oscar winner, has already won in a year when she was up against herself (in 1999 when she was nominated for both Shakespeare in Love and Velvet Goldmine, winning for the former). It remains to be seen if she’ll ever be able to catch up with Edith Head’s 34/8 trophy total but Head benefited from a split category of black & white and color that lasted for decades.

Often there is overlap between Production Design and Costume Design and this year is no different. The aforementioned Cinderella and Carol join The Danish Girl and Brooklyn as possible/likely nominees here. Then we have the bloody Shakespeare drama Macbeth from Durran, who won an Oscar for 2013’s Anna Karenina. It stands as a period piece unto its own in this group, which bodes well for variety. As does Mad Max: Fury Road, whose elaborate costuming from Oscar winner (A Room with a View) and nine-time nominee Beavan could easily find its way in.

But what about things we might be missing? Could the 1970s costuming of Black Mass get in? The Academy has finally started to recognize that decade so it’s possible. What about Crimson Peak? There is a dearth in that era of period costuming and the gothic nature of it could find its way into the top 5. Keep and eye out too for Tale of Tales. That kind of wild and crazy left field nomination is totally something that happens in this category all the time.

You can track the Gold Rush Gang’s Oscar predictions for Costume Design here.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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