Cruella was the first movie I've seen in a theatre in ten months. I was so excited, for various reasons.
First of all, of course, going back to the cinema, for how much I am a couch potato, I still enjoy the experience on a screen bigger than 13".
Then I was extremely curious to see Emma Stone in Cruella shoes, need to be honest, the fur lover villain wasn't ever one of my super favourites, most likely because Maleficent fills up basically my Top 10, but I really enjoyed this movie, conscious it is not perfect.
My latest approach to movies is: avoid any content pre-screening, Social Media are a great tool for communication and connection, but the dark side of the medal is: no more surprises. Everything is overshared, even way before the release dates and the spark of surprise is lacking nowadays. Hence, to protect myself from unwanted spoilers I tried to not read anything, including the plot, ahead of the release.
So, finding out Estella/Cruella is a wannabe Fashion Designer and the story goes around the Fashion world made me supremely excited, I love a good Cinema/Fashion meta.
After this nonsense intro, let's talk a little bit about the costumes and how fashion portrays characters.
Let's start with a name: Jenny Beavan. Two times Academy Awards winner (ten times nominee) for Best Costume Design, for A Room With a View (1986) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). She is a British designer who moved her first steps in the 70s, so definitely someone who knows how to move in the film setting. She has been helped by Sheara Abrahams, Sarah Young and Sally Turner.
Beavan is known to make stories with clothes, supporting the actors in the script, which script, in this case has been an idea from Aline Brosh McKenna, writer of The Devil Wears Prada. As we can see, the bases for a strong connection between the cinematic storytelling and fashion are strong.
Talking about dry numbers, there are roughly 277 costumes for the principal characters, 150/200 for the background ones. Specifically, 47 costume changes for Emma Stone and 33 for Emma Thompson. Considering all the costumes are genuine and none are CGI, we are in front of a massive production. But according to the department, there was some fun while working.
Most of the inspiration naturally came from some big British 70s staples: Biba, Vivienne Westwood, punk subculture and flea market such as Portobello Road one. For example, in the 70s, Beavan bought a jacket in Portobello Road Market that influenced one of the signature costumes of the movie.
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There is a clear influence for the initial scene, the 18th Century Ball: Marie Antoinette and the 18th century clothes.
Period clothing has been mixed and matched with contemporary (the '60s) jewelry and make up.
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Estella/Cruella
As already mentioned, the leading character is the one with more costume changes. The inspiration for her look comes mostly from Vivienne Westwood, Nina Hagen, Bodymap and with some more recent takes, Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Beaven also researched and bought vintage pieces in different flea market in London, Brooklyn and LA that have been used mostly as starting point.
The unique and DYI style of Estella since a very young age. We can notice the customization of her school uniform, swapping inside out the jacket, decorating it in her own way with drawings, badges, buttons, in true Do-It-Yourself punk style.
Every single outfit in Estella/Cruella wardrobe is worth of observation, but let's stick to the main, more significant ones which are mostly when Cruella appears to disrupt the Baroness peak moments. And we know this is not a coincidence.
The majority of Estella's outfits are in a black palette, they almost go unnoticed, but they are extremely eccentric, customized and fully representative of the punk/alternative scene of the British 70s.
Let's give a look to some of the signature costumes for the key scenes where Cruella opposes the Baroness.
Red Dress. This is the first gown we see, set for the Masquerade Ball led by the Baroness, where the dresscode is strictly black and white. Choosing red is already a rebel gesture.
But the main rebel gesture is choosing a vintage Baroness dress to deconstruct and get innovated.
Since the Baroness cut one of Estella's creations in the atelier, the young woman decides to play the same game as the older fashion designer. Cutting and turning an old creation into a new one.
The dress got the inspiration from the Tree dress by Charles James and it has been custom made from the wardrobe team. While the dress in the window is actually a cheap dress found in LA.
(Check the dress on the Metropolitan Museum website)
The rebel gown is revealed by an impressive gesture, recalling in a certain way the fire dress from
The Hunger Games franchise.
Let the old world set on fire.
Motorbike Jacket. Here it is very interesting the make up choice that has a double inspiration from the "past" and from the "future" (cinema inspiring cinema).
Marie Antoinette sheer ribbon mask and Blade Runner replicant:
While the font for the message is clearly borrowed from Sex Pistols marketing:
There are two visions about the inspiration for the jacket, one more time-appropriate and it is a Biba design made by gold lamé and mixed fibers, dating back to 1970.
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| Biba, 1970, preserved at Victoria and Albert Museum. |
The other one is a model from
Thierry Mugler spring/summer 1997 collection.
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| Thierry Mugler S/S 1997 |
Personally, I can see a very well done job of mixing up the lines and shape of the Biba jacket with the pattern/material of the Mugler's ensemble.
Military Dress. This is Emma Stone's second favourite outfit and probably the most complicated to create. The idea behind the dress is that it needs to be wide enough to cover the Baroness' car, but light enough that Stone can move and swirl around.
The creation was made by
Kristen Fletcher and it took around 5600 petals, about 400 metres of organza and a lot of hand work from the costume department and students.
The jacket, as previously stated, was inspired from a piece Beavan found in Portobello Market, but the actual one used in the movie, has been made from scratch.
The details on the shoulders, small objects like chariots and horses had been bought in Portobello Market too and some were added from the crew.
The elements creating the outfit, military style and frilly skirt, was a popular mix in the '70s.
We can see also an addition: a yellow band with the writing "The Past", another statement by Cruella against the stale fashion designed by the Baroness.
This last image is a clear vision how the costumes are playing a major role in this movie, how much the clothes are not just a tool to dress the characters but they are their main channel of communication and represent each single one of them.
Dumpster Dress. Giving my personal opinion, this is my favourite dress. And, apparently, also Emma Stone's one. The outfit is such steeped in symbolism and inspiration.
The 12 metres (ca. 39 feet) tail was preventing Stone to move, so they had to attach it to the dress in a second time. The symbolism is clear in the newspaper pieces where there is Cruella's story narrated by Anita Darling and the trash enclosed in the tail it is actually old pieces designed by the Baroness, precisely the Spring 1967 collection. Again, we see another statement claiming that fashion needs new faces and ideas.
The inspiration comes from '90s
Jean Paul Gautier and his notorious corsets, made famous by
Madonna.
And also some inspiration from
Christian Dior Fall 2000 collection, including an iconic piece such as the
Newspaper Dress worn by
Carrie Bradshaw in episode 17 of Season 3 of
Sex and the City.
The inspiration comes from 70s military and fantastical but also from a number of old pieces repurposed.
Final Outfit (Black Suit). Let's end this (quick) overview on Cruella's outfits with the very last one, the black suit she wears at the end of the movie. Black, mourning Estella.
It's symbolic the cane Cruella is carrying with her in this and a few of the previous ones: since Disney banned the iconic cigarette, they had to find a substitute. It has been used as a weapon too.
A special mention to the dalmatian coat Cruella wears during the alternative runaway show, that is a huge reference to the "future", whilst it is not actual fur.
There is also an incongruence with the timing: one of the outfits Estella wears during her hustles with Jasper and Horace, she holds a Louis Vuitton bag.
Said bag is a
Capucine model, first seen in 2013. We know now that Estella was a visionary and groundbreaking, but seeing 40 years in advance, maybe, it was too much!
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Baroness Von Hellman
But let's move on with some of the Baroness' outfits, not less important that Estella/Cruella ones, not less beautiful but clearly in contrast with the sense of innovation the fashion designer wannabe is bringing to the "show".
There are two clear points creating a contrast between Estella/Cruella and the Baroness, first of all the style of the outfits, Cruella search for innovation, the Baroness stays stuck in the past with lines that remind us
Christian Dior,
Balenciaga,
Schiaparelli,
Charles James and other '50s/'60s designers also channelling the old divas like
Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Crawford and then the color palette of her outfits, brown and gold in contrast with the black and white of Cruella.
The Baroness style is sculpted, rigid, representing her general stiffness and rancor for changes. She is a good designer but she has an old approach.
This stiffness had a weight on Thompson, she had to wear lots of corsets, creating an uncomfortable situation for the actress, but here again, the costumes are very well much dictated by the script, so there weren't many opportunities for Thompson to collaborate.
Also, the rigidity, of course has been created thanks to the fabrics; in fact, the dresses where draped on mannequins and then chosen.
Let's check quickly some examples of Baroness Von Hellman outfits.
Black and White Ball Dress. This outfit is an exception to the standard palette associated to the Baroness and it has been inspired by the Ascot scene from My Fair Lady, itself inspired by
Paul Poiret.
Viking dress. Last outfit of the Baroness, has been made with soft armored bits.
This movie is basically meta fashion, where we can see Estella/Cruella production, but also the Baroness' designs which are inspired mostly by
Charles James and his ball gowns.
One of the most iconic meta-dresses is the Moth one, designed by Estella, but the Baroness is taking the credits. At least, until the twist.
The references for this dress are coming from the late 19th century, where beetle wigs were used either in theatre costume and as embroidery for western women clothing. The shape of the dress is clearly, again, attached to the '50s.
What did you think about the costumes? Did you find other references or inspirations?
You can watch Cruella in streaming on Disney+.
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