FIDM Museum Annual Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition

For the 21st year the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) Museum and Galleries showcases, up close and personal, costumes from a wide range of 2012 movies at their campus in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles until April 27, 2013.  If you love going to the movies, then this is a must see exhibit, and it is even free, although donations are greatly appreciated.   Plus, they have one of the best museum stores in all of Los Angeles, showing unique items from many former students. The FIDM exhibition and store is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.

This year FIDM has all five of the movies nominated for an Academy Costume Design Oscar, and eight of the fifteen movies nominated in the Costume Guild's three categories of competition.  My embedded Flickr slideshow gives one a walk through of the motion picture costumes on exhibit, and if you are on an iPad, click here.



As I write this, the Costume Guild will be having their award dinner tonight to announce their three winners.  For each of the categories, my predictions for Costume Guild awards would be Skyfall, Anna Karenina, and Mirror Mirror. [Update on morning after: My predictions were correct.]



The following listing of movies and costume designers is from the Costume Guild website, along with my notation as to an Oscar nomination, and the ones in bold are on exhibit at FIDM.

NOMINEES FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD AWARDS

EXCELLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY FILM

* Beasts of the Southern Wild – Stephani Lewis
* The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Louise Stjernsward
* Silver Linings Playbook – Mark Bridges
* Skyfall – Jany Temime
* Zero Dark Thirty – George L. Little

EXCELLENCE IN PERIOD FILM

* Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran (Oscar  Nominated)
* Argo – Jacqueline West
* Les Misérables – Paco Delgado (Oscar Nominated)
* Lincoln – Joanna Johnston (Oscar Nominated
* Moonrise Kingdom – Kasia Walicka-Maimone

EXCELLENCE IN FANTASY FILM

* Cloud Atlas – Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gayraud
* The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor, Bob Buck
* The Hunger Games – Judianna Makovsky
* Mirror Mirror – Eiko Ishioka (Oscar Nominated)
* Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood (Oscar Nominated)

I personally have seen all 15 of the above movies, and in fact my personal goal is to see every film that has been nominated in 2013 for an Academy Award.  I am getting close, and have already seen more movies for this award season then any other time in my life. My personal favorite 2012 movie  is Beasts of the Southern Wild, although these costumes are not on display at FIDM.  My Oscar predictions for Best Picture would be Argo, Best Director - Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, and Best Costume for Anna Karenina designed by Jacqueline Durran.  However, there is definitely the possibility of an Oscar Costume Design upset for Mirror Mirror which would honor the life time work of prior Oscar winner Eiko Ishioka who died in January 2012.  Her costumes for Mirror Mirror are spectacular, which is what one would expect from the person who did the costumes for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.

With regard to Jacqueline Durran, some may remember her for the famous green dress from Atonement.  And with Anna Karenina, she again had the chance to design costumes for Keira Knightley.  What was amazing were the intricacies of all of the costumes that were made for Anna Karenina.  The movie itself opened to mixed reviews, but with the fabulous costumes, score, cinematography, and production design, it is a movie that is best seen on the large screen.  The Academy Oscar award for costumes in prior years have tended to go to period dramas, especially those centered around royalty.  Thus, Anna Karenina is considered the odds on favorite for those having fun with Oscar predictions.

Other costumes on display at the FIDM Museum are the following:

* Paranorman – Kym Barrett, Deborah Cook (costume boards and figurines at FIDM)

* The Artist: Mark Bridges (winner of 2012 Costume Design Oscar)

* The Avengers - Alexandra Byrne

* A Royal Affair – Manon Rasmussen

* American Reunion - Mona May (FIDM Graduate)

*End of Watch - Mary Claire Hannan (FIDM Graduate)

*Hitchcock - Julie Weiss

*John Carter - Mayes Rubeo

*The Master - Mark Bridges

*Sparkle - Ruth E. Carter

With men's hat's being a current fashion statement, I have this second set of Flickr 2013 FIDM motion picture costume pictures with a focus on head wear along with some other close-ups of the costumes. There are no hats in Argo, but the use of a down jacket vest is so right on for the 1980 time period, reminding me of my own clothing that I was wearing while being in Iran with the revolution going on in Fall 1978.  The Argo costumes are by Jacqueline West who some will remember for her contemporary costumes from The Social Network.

During the year, one can see costumes in the lobby of the Hollywood Arclight and sometimes in the Dome in conjunction with such motion pictures being shown in their great theaters.  However, they are always behind protective plastic.  And that is what is great about the FIDM Museum exhibitions.  There is nothing between you and the costumes.   Thus, you get a great view.  For those looking for ideas on where to eat at nearby restaurants within walking distance, you can partake of the just announced 2013 James Beard semi-finalists at Mo-Chica (Ricardo Zarate)  and at Rivera's (Jon Sedlar) for the category Best Chefs of the West. Ironically, the James Beard awards are considered to be the foodie Oscars, and there are other downtown Los Angeles restaurants that are also in the running for James Beard awards.