Movie talk this week has been all about The Hunger Games, but we’re just a few days away from a spectacular display of on-screen costuming: Mirror Mirror. Continuing the entertainment industry’s recent fascination with fairy tales (Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Huntsman…), Mirror Mirror is a live-action comedy/fantasy telling of the Snow White story, featuring Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen. The movie also includes Nathan Lane, Sean Bean, and Armie Hammer, as well as Lily Collins as Snow White.
But the real star of this show is the costuming, created by Eiko Ishioka, Tony nominee (M. Butterfly) and Oscar winner (Bram Stoker’s Dracula). She led the creation of more than 400 costumes for Mirror Mirror, as well as the acquisition and altering of another 600. The spectacular handmade gowns that Snow White and the Evil Queen wear required as much as 35 yards of fabric. The Evil Queen’s massive wedding gown weighs more than 60 pounds and caused Julia Roberts to pull a thigh muscle when turning too quickly in it! Unfortunately, Ishioka won’t see them on the big screen, as she died of pancreatic cancer in January after undergoing chemotherapy during the making of the film.
The main characters’ costumes were built in New York’s Tricorne Costumes, Jennifer Love Costumes, Carelli Costumes and Eric Winterling Costumes, while the rest of the outfits were created in Ishioka’s Montreal shop by local costumers.
Ishioka wanted Snow White’s costumes to connect her to nature.
But her final costume was created to make her look like a present.
The angles, corners, and slashes of the Evil Queen’s costumes add to her character’s… well, evil.
If you’d like to see more of Eiko’s work (and can get your hands on it), check out Eiko on Stage
Or, go to the movie theater March 30 and see Mirror Mirror. Here’s the trailer:
LOVE that blue dress she is wearing! Can’t wait to see the movie!
I’m glad we at least get one more Eiko Ishioka movie where her work could really be showcased. Those dresses all look so amazing.