Monday, March 05, 2012

Fashion in Film - The Help

 I read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett last year and loved it.  I finally took the time this weekend to watch the Oscar nominated film, and enjoyed it even more!!!!  In my opinion, costume designer Sharen Davis should have taken home the Academy Award for Best Costume Design because she nailed the look of the early 60s in Jackson, Mississippi.

 50 of the main costumes were made from scratch using vintage fabrics.  The rest were true vintage sourced from costume shops and vintage stores.  The accessories used in the film, like hats, handbags, jewelry and sunglasses, were all true vintage.



 Davis also achieved perfection in showing the differences in wardrobe worn by the young white women, their older mothers, and the daily uniforms and "Sunday best" of the black domestics.

She also did a brilliant job of portraying social misfit Celia Foote with her too-tight dresses and her low-cut necklines that scandalized the Junior League membership in their more demure clothing.  Bravo to Sharen Davis for a job well done!

If you haven't seen "The Help", I highly recommend it.  For a more in-depth discussion with Sharen Davis about the costumes designed for the film, this article from the L.A. Times is a great read.