COSTUMES ARE POWERFUL: Radtai’s Top 10 Acting Tips
3) Costumes are Powerful
It’s Oscar Wild who says “you can never be overdressed or overeducated.” We see so many actors study their characters’ backgrounds, stories, psychology extensively, they care, however, less about how their characters would dress. If you are among those actors who care too little about costumes, I humbly think you have missed a very important point.
Imagine James Dean without red jacket in Rebel Without A Cause, Marlon Brando without a fit T-Shirt for his Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire, Michael Douglas without suits in Wall Street, or more recently, Garry Oldman without proper attires made by a Savile Row tailor to look like Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour, or Joaquin Phoenix without those colorful dresses in Joker. I wonder would these actors got an Oscar nominations and wins if they have no such an iconic costumes to support their roles?
It goes back to the Hollywood in 50s when stars such as Fred Astaire or Carry Grant have to dress themselves to look their best on a screen. In order to achieve it, they went to Savile Row Tailor such as Anderson & Sheppard or Huntsman to have a suits made. These suits will hide their flaws and highlight their prominent points. In those suits, they walk, talk, and get about in the scene better, as a results, they act much better.
Sadly, those good old days have passed. Nowadays, we have somebody whose title called “Costumes Designers” and “Costumes” supervise us an outfits. A lady called Edith Head won, however, 8 oscars for her works in costume designs. And I think Timothee Chalamet does it well as he always turns out beautifully, whether on a screen or any occasion. It is not only a matter of looking good on a screen, but as an actor it is also crucial that you know how to market yourself to be memorable and stand out of the crowd, and dressing well will help for sure.
At least, it is worth it to ask yourself before entering the scene. “Is your costume in the right fit and does it work well with you ?” If it is not, why don’t try changing it?
