Categories One-by-One: Costume Design

[Big Magilla]

Incidentally the 1969 show honoring 1968 achievements was directed by Gower Champion. Bill Condon has called it his favorite Oscar show so don't be surprised if this year's show emulates it in a big way.

Here's an article that appeared in today's N/Y. Times on the look of next week's show. Don't go there if you want to be surprised next Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009....=movies

[Big Magilla]

It was received quite well actually. The 1968 awards were one of the best done ever, from Ron Moody and Jack Wild in character as Fagin and the Artful Dodger opening the show to the various "friends of Oscar" singing the nominated songs - Ingrid Bergman is especially hilarious stumbling over "oh, you chitty-chitty bang-bang" to those dancers dressed as the stars of the films in cosutme to Bergman's announcing that tie for best actress.

[flipp525]

I thought it was entirely deranged. I mean...wow...

Perfect description. I felt like I was watching someone else's acid trip.

[OscarGuy]

I'm wondering how it was received back then. I thought it was entirely deranged. I mean...wow...that anyone would even conceive of such a thing is beyond me (though, I know that we've had similar, but not as lengthy, presentations in the past...1989 is one and the other was that disastrous fashion show thing...don't remember when, though).



Edited By OscarGuy on 1234668630

[flipp525]

Oh my good God. I just watched that Oscar time capsule link that someone provided in another thread. The 1969 Best Costume Design segment presented by Jane Fonda in which people did crazy, funk dances while dressed in costumes from such diverse films as The Lion in Winter to Oliver is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I laughed my fucking ass off. Who was responsible for that brilliant choreography? Insanely hokey.

[rolotomasi99]

i think the greatest fashion faux-pas i ever committed was wearing a hypercolor t-shirts back when i was 10.

[Mister Tee]

I don't think I ever owned a lesiure suit but I did own such horrid artifacts of the era as a Mao jacket, men's shoes with high heels and a fake fur coat. I also owned a few Hawaian shirts which I hung onto after they went out of fashion.

I wasn't totally immune to "hope there are no photographs of this" fashion fads. I, too, had the several-inch-heeled shoes (a friend convinced me they'd be cool; they were so uncomfortable I wore them about twice). I also briefly sported a medallion, and had a belt with a large peace sign at the center.

[Big Magilla]

I don't think I ever owned a lesiure suit but I did own such horrid artifacts of the era as a Mao jacket, men's shoes with high heels and a fake fur coat. I also owned a few Hawaian shirts which I hung onto after they went out of fashion.

[rolotomasi99]

so basically the leisure suit is the mullet of men's wear.

[Mister Tee]

The simplest thing to say is, they were completely hideous looking, and anyone with sense knew they never wanted to be seen in one. Also, they were very popular in Hollywood. Draw what conclusions you will from that.

The idea behind them -- a perversion of 60s ideals via Madison Avenue -- was to somehow make the working world, which at that point was still largely white shirts-and-ties, less stultified, more casual. Finally, decades later, we've come to the point where most companies have simply moved to casual-everday. But that would have been too big a leap to have made at once back then.

[Damien]

The majority of straight guys in the era of Milk wore leisure suits -- no one in the movie does. Score one for accuracy.

as a gay man born in 1983 i have to ask, what the hell is a leisure suit? is that like a suit you wear around the house or something?

From Wikipedia:

A leisure suit is a fashion of the 1970s, consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers,[1] usually made of stretchable double knit polyester. It is often considered emblematic of the era's taste in men's clothing.

The fashion has some precedent in styles of the 70s and earlier, but only became popular when — with the creation and popularization of synthetic materials — unprecedented cheapness met with a culture that had come to hate formality.[citation needed] The leisure suit gained popularity with its promise to bring a stylish suit that could be used in formal business, but was comfortable and trendy enough for everyday wear. The leisure suit height of popularity was in 1976,[citation needed] but fell from fashion around 1979.[citation needed]

The leisure suit became associated in popular culture with bar culture, gangsterism, and conversely, with clueless dressing, e.g. Leisure Suit Larry. A sub-genre of the leisure suit culture is the "full Cleveland". A full Cleveland is a leisure suit combined with a white belt and white dress shoes. By 1978, most retailers were all but giving their inventory away.

Picture: http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/pic/2004/ ... nagers.asp

[OscarGuy]

The best way to explain is to show. They were made out of polyester.

http://www.shaunsayre.com/70s/fads/leisuresuit.jpg

[Damien]

The majority of straight guys in the era of Milk wore leisure suits -- no one in the movie does. Score one for accuracy.

As a straight guy, I resent this accusation!

You were exempted, Tee -- you're a New Yorker!

[rolotomasi99]

The majority of straight guys in the era of Milk wore leisure suits -- no one in the movie does. Score one for accuracy.

as a gay man born in 1983 i have to ask, what the hell is a leisure suit? is that like a suit you wear around the house or something?



Edited By rolotomasi99 on 1233779183

[Mister Tee]

The majority of straight guys in the era of Milk wore leisure suits -- no one in the movie does. Score one for accuracy.

As a straight guy, I resent this accusation!