COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD WINNERS

Period: ARIANNE PHILLIPS (W.E.)
Fantasy: JANY TEMIME (HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2)
Contemporary: TRISH SUMMERVILLE (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO)


Finally, The Artist's winning streak is over, albeit a running streak which only encompassed a few critics' groups and the BAFTAs, none of which could lay claim to being especially knowledgeable in the field of costume design; they all just voted for the favourite. Arianne Phillips certainly deserves this - W.E.'s costumes were the best of any film released last year, but I'm not sure she'll win the Oscar. After all, how many Academy members have even seen W.E.? And how many of them remember the costumes? How many of them even appreciate the costume design; the film is part-contemporary, and contemporary costume design never wins the Oscar (it's rarely even nominated)? How many of them thought the film was so shite that there's no chance they'll tick its box on their ballots, even if they think it might deserve this win? Compare that to the number of people who have seen The Artist or who will vote for it because it's the favourite. I'd also have liked to have seen the fantasy award go,posthumously, to one of the best cinematic costume designers of all time, Eiko Ishioka, for her fantastic work on Immortals - way superior to the costume design in Harry Potter - but I'm very pleased with Phillips' and Trish Summerville's wins, so it's hard to complain.

These awards are being handed out at the deadline for Academy ballots being handed in and, thus, have little chance of influencing members' choices. Indeed, how many Academy members even wait to hear what the experts think before they make their choices? I'd say precious few - most probably aren't even aware of the existence of the CDG. So I'd say, for W.E. to pull off a win here on Sunday, it'd have to rely on some very odd circumstances, although it'd be a very pleasant surprise.