The Favourite's hair and make-up artist talks wigs, badger make-up and bending the rules

Olivia Coleman in The Favourite

At first glance, the Oscar-nominated The Favourite appears to perfectly represent the period in which it is set, from the lavish interiors of Hatfield House to the dramatic silhouettes of Sandy Powell’s costumes and the powdered wigs of the politicians. But the closer you look, the more everything seems a little, well, off. After all, it wouldn’t be a Yorgos Lanthimos film if things appeared exactly as they should.

“For my first meeting with Yorgos, I’d done all this research. And so I sort of regurgitated the information, about what the look of the period was, and he said, ‘well we don’t know, we weren’t there’. So there was free rein, really,” said Nadia Stacey, who was responsible for all of the make-up, hair - and, crucially, wigs - you see in the film. “I sort of feel as though you need to know the rules to break them. So the silhouettes tended to be true to the period, but we played around with the colours: some wigs were sprayed with pastel chalks, and others we put bows in, when there wouldn’t have been bows. Everything had a bit of a quirky twist.”

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Leather fetish gear and make up for men: Why The Favourite is bang on trend

Not just a black comedy with a feisty feminist heart, the Oscar-tipped film The Favourite is packed with trends for 2019. “As well as looking at references and images from the period, I always look at fashion,” says The Favourite’s costume designer, Sandy Powell. “There is always something in contemporary fashion that is inspiring.” We agree. So here are the film’s most inspirational fashion moments.

Armour up

When Rachel Weisz’s Duchess of Marlborough slowly puts Olivia Colman’s Queen Anne in leather armour before a horse ride, it’s not only a sexy woman-on-woman subdom leather fetish moment for the ages, but the logical conclusion of the autumn/winter 2018 “fashion-as-armour” trend as seen on the catwalk at Alexander McQueen.

Monochrome matters

One of the things that makes The Favourite such a visual feast is its gleefully non-period approach to wardrobe. Powell amped up the film’s fashion cred by making bursting bodices black and white – monochrome being, of course, a perennial trend. Oscar de la Renta, Victoria Beckham and JW Anderson are fans for this spring – but, if you’re more cosy than corset, head to Weekday for monochrome knitwear.

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How high fashion accidentally inspired Mary Poppins

Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins

Descending from the grey London skies on her umbrella, Mary Poppins makes one of the most iconic arrivals in cinema. As an entrance, you might say it’s practically perfect, and the clean lines of the magical nanny’s Edwardian travelling ensemble – the long black coat juxtaposed with her crochet scarf and that funny little hat – play no small part in making that first impression so memorable.

And so, when three-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell started to work on the costumes for Mary Poppins Returns, the all-singing, all-dancing sequel starring Emily Blunt, one thing was clear: that Mary’s first outfit had to be simple, yet instantly impressive. 

“You know that the entrance is going to be out of the sky, so [the costume] had to have a good sharp, strong silhouette.” To find that silhouette, she looked to another, equally iconic British export. “I look at contemporary references all the time, because there’s always something useful, whether it’s a colour combination or a style,’ the designer explains. “The idea for the cape on Mary’s shoulders came from something that Burberry were doing about the same time – a little jacket which had a cape shape on it, and that gave me the idea. I wanted to change the silhouette [from the original film] and to have a bit of movement, as well.”

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How Sandy Powell Gave the Nanny a Practically Perfect Makeover

Emily Blunt and Julie Andrews

Emily Blunt has said that she found fresh inspiration for her version of Mary Poppins in the P.L. Travers books that originally introduced the character, an eccentric and decidedly vain nanny. Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare in Love, The Aviator, The Young Victoria) also found a way to set Blunt’s Poppins apart from Julie Andrews’s wholesome incarnation—by making the 2018 Poppins a bit more stylish.

“We aimed to make her more elegant and definitely fashionable,” Powell said of her costumes for the Rob Marshall reboot Mary Poppins Returns, in theaters this week. “Mary’s definitely vain, so she would have made sure that she was very well-coordinated.” Powell’s Mary Poppins costumes reflect 1934, the year in which the film is set—polka dots, chevron patterns, chiffon, and stripes were in vogue—but they also have a dash Devil Wears Prada, thanks to a vibrant palette of ruby red, pink, and sapphire. “It was like doing a collection—designing different shirts, different ties, and different skirts that all sort of coordinated with each other,” the designer said.


Powell was also careful to include a few sartorial nods to the Julie Andrews film.

“In the original Mary Poppins, she always has a bow at her neck—on all her blouses,” said Powell, explaining that the bows became a recurring theme for Blunt’s costumes. Each of Blunt’s looks—even the Victorian swimsuit she wears in an underwater sequence—feature a bow. The only difference: Powell adjusted the ties this time around to make them “neater and chic-er.”

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The Mary Poppins Returns costumes are as magical as the movie

Emily Blunt in the title role

"It was the first movie I saw — a long time ago," says "Mary Poppins Returns" costume designer Sandy Powell, about the original 1964 classic children's film starring Julie Andrews in the titular role. "I do remember Mary Poppins's dress, and that's always stayed with me. Also, the fact that, you realize now, you know all the words to the songs still."

It's all come full circle as the three-time Oscar-winner (and nine-time — so far — nominee) excitedly took on the momentous job of bringing everyone's favorite flying nanny, the Banks siblings and co. forward two decades via costume. Grown-up Jane (Emily Mortimer) and Michael (Ben Whishaw) are raising the latter's three children after his wife's death a year ago. Money management hasn't ever been his thing, either, so the family home is in jeopardy of repossession. Yeah, dark. Hence the urgent need for a visit from Mary (Golden Globe and SAG Award nominee Emily Blunt), who hasn't aged at all, as Michael incredulously comments (only to be met with a scolding from his former nanny). But she has received an ultra-chic — but authentic to the original character — outfit update from Powell. 

"Her silhouette is ingrained on everyone's memory, isn't it? We know it. It's an iconic image and I knew I had to reference that, but didn't want it the same. We didn't want to put Mary Poppins in 1934 in something that would have been worn in 1910," explains Powell, who also designed another awards season, erm, favorite, "The Favourite." But in a moment of sartorial kismet, 1930s fashion actually nods back to Edwardian style, with mid-calf hemlines and nipped-waist silhouettes.

"I designed a 1930s version of the belle-tiered, elegant longline coat, with the edition of a double-cape at shoulders," adds the costume designer. "Just to make it more modern and fashionable for the 1930s and also to create a bit of movement." (Also perfect for a jaw-dropping landing via aeronautic umbrella.) In a nod to the traditional nanny's uniforms in navy, Powell stayed within the blue family for Mary's iconic coat. But she "bumped up" the shade to a brilliant cobalt to stand out in the more dimly-lit interiors of the Banks house.

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The female empowerment behind the costumes for 'The Favourite'

Those familiar with director Yorgos Lanthimos' penchant for dark comedy and mesmerizingly unsettling auteur cinema won't be shocked that his latest project, The Favourite, premiering today, is a far cry from the stereotypically stilted English period piece. Set during Queen Anne's reign during the 1700s, the film tells the story of two royal cousins who become rivals, vying for the affection of their needy and emotionally unstable monarch. Rachel Weisz plays Lady Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, who serves as the longtime confidante to Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and the only person blunt enough to tell the Queen to her face that her makeup makes her look like a badger. And because Anne would rather spend her time in bed, doting on her numerous pet bunny rabbits than rule the country, Sarah control the affairs of the state from the sidelines, and in turn, wields tremendous power in the ongoing war between England and France. 

DESIGNER SKETCH FOR QUEEN ANNE

SANDY POWELL

And then there's Abigail Masham, played by Emma Stone, who was once a lady herself but has found her family name disgraced due to her father, who gambled away all of their money and honor. Abigail arrives to the castle drenched in manure and Sarah takes pity on her once-esteemed cousin, granting her the position of her personal maid. Although Abigail seems sickly sweet on the surface, she slowly begins to plot her rise by currying favor with Anne. Unlike Sarah, Abigail is more than happy to humor even the most nonsensical of the Queen's whims, whispering doting compliments into her ear and providing the affection that Anne never received from her longtime friend.

Like the black comedy's unconventional tone and dialogue, the costumes for The Favourite defy expectations and stereotypes, casting women as the main political pieces in the chess board of war and men as the secondary characters in comparison. One wouldn't typically think of a corset genre film as empowering for women, portraying the unrealistic beauty expectations of the time period, but that's exactly what costume designer Sandy Powell, best known for her work on Shakespeare in Love and Velvet Goldmine, set out to do. 

"The whole film is a reversal in that most films are about men and women quite often are the pretty things in the background," she tells CR. "Even though the men have proper parts to play, they are secondary to the women and [Lanthimos] said he wanted the men to look overly made-up, ridiculous peacocks and the women to be much more naturalistic with barely any makeup."

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No makeup and black and white costumes allows the women of 'The Favourite' to shine

Queen Anne addresses court

Early awards season, um, favorite, "The Favourite," is all about the ladies. Director Yorgos Lanthimos's latest film illuminates palace political intrigue and the complicated, if not dysfunctional relationships of gout-ridden Queen Anne, close friend and advisor Lady Sarah Churchill and palace newbie, Abigail Hill. The period piece stars Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, respectively.

While "The Favourite" is set in early 18th-century England, there are a number of historically inaccurate flourishes, from the sharp (and at times expletive-laden) dialogue, to the costume, hair and makeup, starting with the black-and-white wardrobe. 

The early 18th century is rarely portrayed on film, which presented costume designer Sandy Powell with a few challenges, starting with limited rental options. Of course, the situation also offered opportunities for Powell to flex her three-time Oscar-winning skills. She created an overall palette of black and white for the three leads and the royal court. She had Lanthimos's inspirations in mind, including historically authentic imagery and period-incorrect references, like 17th Century Dutch paintings and Igmar Bergman's 1972 film "Cries and Whispers." Powell also performed her own historical research, looked to present-day fashion and referenced Peter Greenaway's 1982 period film "The Draughtman’s Contract," which holds sentimental value from early in her career.

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