The 1920s Were Surprisingly Modern, Oscar Nominee “Babylon” Costume Designer Tells CNN

When one thinks of 1920s women’s fashion, below-the-knee dresses, pearl accessories and cloche hats immediately come to mind.

Despite taking place during this period, the most recent film by Damien Chazelle known for his work on “Whiplash” It is “La La Land” , “Babylon” bets on more daring and modern costumes.

The film hits digital platforms for rent or purchase on March 15.

In an interview with CNN, the costume designer Mary Zophres in “Babylon” who is competing for the 2023 Oscar, said that during her research she discovered a new face of that decade.

She explained that Damien didn’t want it to feel like a typical film about the 1920s and that it was to avoid anything that had already been seen before. According to her, the director wanted to emphasize a kind of dark side of Hollywood, which was all based on research.

“We started seeing photos, paintings, movie posters and the challenge was to find things from that era that don’t look like what you imagine, which was mostly shaped by Hollywood. It wasn’t meant to be modern, but the footage we found was surprisingly modern, even though it was from the 1920s, and we were able to incorporate it into the look of the film.”

Part of Mary’s research was through period films, even though she wanted to escape the standards of the film industry.

The costume designer revealed that her biggest inspiration was the feature “Intolerance” from 1916, but also cited “La Dolce Vita” (1960) and “Chinatown” (1976), in addition to having seen several films in black and white.

“I watched it several times [‘Intolerância’], because, I consider production design one of the greatest values ​​of silent films. There is something really different and beautiful about the costumes and sets in silent films,” he said.

Mary also spoke about the process of creating the first costume worn by Nelly, played by Margot Robbie.

“In one photo there’s this scarf wrapped around the neck used as a blouse, and that’s it, it barely covers the breast. As soon as I saw it I thought it would be great for Nelly and it ended up being her opening look top,” she said.

“She needed a lot of freedom, she was going to be surrounded by 300 people, so the bottom part had to be covered, so I decided to make a kind of syrup. She needed movement. One animal cited as an inspiration for that scene was an octopus, so we added fabric that felt like a tentacle,” she explained.

The costume designer also revealed that for the outfit to gain even more prominence, they “manipulated the scene” so that there was no one with that color of red.

The dress is made from a really 1920s piece of fabric, Mary said: “We barely had enough to put the costume together.”

Mary competes for the fourth time for the Oscar. One of them was also for her work alongside Damien Chazelle, in “La La Land”. She attributes her nomination to the filmmaker’s “brilliant” work.

“He is very articulate, he shares beautifully with his department heads, he is a true collaborator, he knows his film inside and out and he answers questions and is accurate. He is the reason I have an Oscar nomination,” he said.

Finally, she said that she wants the viewer to have the same appreciation that she has for what was created.

“He [Damien] wrote a beautiful script, completely original, and the way I felt after I read it was like I was on this magical ride and I wanted the audience to have the same feeling when they saw the film that I did after reading the script for the first time.”