Costume designer Holly Waddington was unconsciously preparing herself for Poor Things long before the project ever existed. After studying fine arts at Oxford, she landed a job at Angels Costumes House in London, the oldest costume supplier in the world. Her specialty there was ladies' period costuming, and she spent endless hours poring over the fashion archives used for movies like Moulin Rouge, Doctor Zhivago, and Titanic.
The first film Waddington worked on was 2007's Atonement, serving as a costume assistant to Oscar-nominated designer Jacqueline Durran. After taking the lead on projects like 2016's Lady Macbeth and the Hulu series The Great, the English designer was approached by filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos to collaborate on his surreal Victorian-era comedy, Poor Things. The film would require Waddington to take everything she learned about 19th century fashion — and turn it on its head.
"It was an incredible script written by Tony [McNamara], and a director whose body of work I've long admired and really love. So, this was a no-brainer," she says. "It was like, 'Oh yeah, I've got to do this.'"
At the 96th Oscars, Waddington won Best Costume Design, amongst Poor Thing's four total wins. She says the entire experience has been "the opportunity of a lifetime." "Yorgos has a very good way of getting his collaborators to be playful and experiment and explore and create their own thing," the designer reflects.
Here, Waddington shares with A.frame five films that had a major impact on her.
"These are the films that I often think about and always refer to," she says. "I'm a huge fan of these designers and, obviously, very interested in their work. But I do also watch naturalistic films! There are many films that I love that are not all about the design, but the films that I really, really adore and cherish are always the ones that have a very strong visual dimension."
Directed by: Jane Campion | Costume Design by: Janet Patterson
I remember exactly what I was wearing when I went to see The Piano when I was 15. I went to see it with my mum, and I remember wearing these 1970s dusky pink cords and a black jumper. I was totally blown away. Janet Patterson's costumes had such a lasting impression on me, and I rewatched it recently and marveled about how much that film does not appear dated. Sometimes, costumes get stuck in the period in which the film was made, but the costumes were as exquisite and fresh as they felt then. The music by Michael Nyman is also stunning, and Holly Hunter in that role — that bare face coming out of that boat in the beginning! It's such a fascinating story. It's so beautifully directed and the costume design and the music, everything. It's a completely brilliant film.
Directed by: Tim Burton | Costume Design by: Colleen Atwood
I got a little advert for Edward Scissorhands framed, it's from a magazine that I used to read called Just Seventeen. Of course, I had a massive crush on Johnny Depp, like everyone did. But this character, Edward Scissorhands, the tragedy of him and the world of this small community, all gossiping and curtain-twitching. I love the aesthetic of the film. Colleen Atwood's costume designs are marvelous, as is the color palette of those 1970s bungalows on that cul-de-sac that they're all living on. The whole aesthetic of the film is magical.
The music by Danny Elfman is also absolutely stunning. I did competitive ballroom dancing for a while, and the theme tune was something that we used to waltz to. It is so romantic and so magical. The whole aesthetic of the film is magical. I'm looking forward to introducing my children to Edward Scissorhands. I think they're not quite old enough for it, but that's one that I can't wait to show them.
Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard | Costume Design by: Tanine Autré
I watched Le Mepris when I first got to university. I didn't know anyone and during Freshers Week, I walked past a cinema and went in, because it saved me from having to socialize for a few hours. I was blown away by this film. I didn't have the foggiest idea of what it was all about — I was only about 19 when I watched it — but I was really drawn to the imagery. It's set in the early '60s, and it's all filmed on a Greek island and the light is just stunning. Brigitte Bardot is wearing these incredible early-1960s suits and really chic little skirts and this fabulous headband.
I just love the look of the film. I absolutely adore it. And the music is this repetitive surging, a massive orchestral score that actually reminds me quite a lot of Poor Things and the way that Jerskin Fendrix repeats these huge orchestral phrase over and over again. That's what I was really drawn to: The imagery and the atmosphere and this incredible, incredible score.
Directed by: David Lynch
When I was at art school, my tutor, Una, said, "You really need to watch Eraserhead," and that was my introduction to David Lynch. I loved the surrealism in the film. I know it's not his most polished film — those come later — but that doesn't matter! I'm really drawn to films that have a very strong visual identity and take you into another realm, that feel not of the world that we're living in but are somehow magical or fairytale-like.
The character, the Lady in the Radiator, really struck a chord with me, because when I was a child, I was convinced that I had a doll trapped down the back of my radiator that wore a red PVC raincoat and had blonde hair. So when I saw this film, I couldn't believe it! There's this funny little woman with the bearded spherical cheeks that comes out and does a strange little dance on a black-and-white tile floor. I thought maybe it was a Freudian thing that people dream about little women being trapped behind radiators. It's uncanny and strange. I love the weird chicken baby, too. It's grotesque and disturbing, and beautiful, and magical.
Directed by: Federico Fellini | Costume Design by: Margherita Marinari
La Strada is another film which my wonderful tutor, Una, told me to watch. I was very moved by it. It's about this traveling circus going around Italy in the 1950s, and it's really melancholic and the landscapes that they travel through are so unnerving and strange and disturbing. Fellini’s wife plays the lead, dressed up as a clown, and there's lots of colorful characters coming out of the woodwork. It's all so surreal, and magical, and strange.
By Sara Tardiff
