Sandy Powell’s wardrobe wizardry
British costume designer and three-time Academy Award winner Sandy Powell is known for her ability to expertly combine the historical with the modern, and her incredible body of work, that includes Mary Poppins, The Favourite, The Aviator and Shakespeare in Love. Her latest film is the Martin Scorsese drama The Irishman.
The highly anticipated release stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in a multiple-decade-spanning mob story. So, what was the most difficult part of designing across eras?
‘The huge scale of it, as covering five decades was like doing five films concurrently,’ says Powell. ‘And getting your head out of one decade and into another in a matter of days, sometimes hours, when we were shooting two or three periods in one day. So that was pretty difficult – jumping from one to the other and forgetting where you are. But, that’s also great fun because you don’t have time to get bored.’
The Irishman marks the first time that Powell has worked with a co-designer on a film, namely Christopher Peterson, whose recent design work includes Todd Haynes’ film Dark Waters and the Broadway production of Sea Wall / A Life for director Carrie Cracknell starring Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal at the Hudson Theatre.
When creating the designs, incorporating distinctive elements became the main challenge in a film that centres on male characters whose primary attire is suits. ‘Back in the
50s there wasn’t a huge difference in a man in his 30s and a man in his 50s or 60s if they were wearing suits or casual clothing. In a way, the clothes are quite conventional. The actual styling of them is quite conventional. These characters are gangsters that want to go unnoticed. Robert De Niro plays a hitman, and a hitman doesn’t want to draw attention with his clothes. So in a way, it’s sort of barely anonymous dressing, yet even though someone is anonymously dressed I had to show individual character,’ says Powell.
Another challenge proved to be finding the fabrics that would have the same look and feel of the different periods. ‘You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find mens suit fabric that’s similar to what it was like in the 50s. Cloth used for men suiting now is so very different. It’s much more lightweight, silkier, softer, and shinier – it’s a completely different texture.’
She explains that while it is easier creating costumes for characters based off real people that have been photographed and documented, it’s not always possible to replicate it exactly. ‘We actually had family photographs of the character that Robert de Niro was playing and while the visual reference was great, you’re never going to find the same thing that will fit the actor. So you take the essence of it and try to create the best and closest thing possible to what the real people look like and then transpose that to your actor. You do the clothes based on the kind they would have been wearing.’
The Irishman utilises anti-aging technology, which played a factor in the costume design process. ‘The film covers the 50s right through to 2000, and Robert de Niro goes through the whole period. He has a hundred different costume changes. Not a hundred different costumes, but a hundred different beats. A three or four year period would go by in the film and I’d think, “can I put him in the same jacket? How long does a man keep a jacket for? Would he still wear this item of clothing now that he’s older?” These were the type of questions I’d ask myself when determining how the characters’ dresscode will evolve as they got older.’
While she has a penchant for period films, Powell explains that she doesn’t necessarily have a favourite genre and would hate doing the same thing the whole time. ‘An exciting part of my job is not knowing what the next project will be. The Irishman couldn’t be further removed from The Favourite or Mary Poppins. They’re all so different. I do enjoy films with fantasy or period elements that require a heightened sense of creativity, rather than contemporary, but that’s not saying that I would not do a contemporary film. It comes down to the script and the director. Also, I absolutely have to have an emotional interest. When choosing which film to do, my criterion is that I would only work on something that I would pay money to go and see.’
A frequent collaborator with Martin Scorsese, The Irishman is the 8th film that Powell has designed costumes for. ‘What’s great about Martin Scorsese is that he gives you a lot of information upfront. He has a research department and even before he has read the script, extensive research will have already been done, and you’re given visual references and materials. He’ll talk to you in great detail about the characters and what he wants, but then I’m allowed to go my way and do my version of it. He’s very open to suggestions and it makes it much more interesting if you’re given freedom of interpretation.’
As for the best part of her job? Seeing the characters come to life. ‘When you’ve put in the time creating the vision and it goes onto the actor and they’re happy. The hair and makeup is on and the completed look works. And then you hope everybody else agrees,’ she laughs.
‘I would only work on something that I would pay money to go and see’