Brought to you by Disney
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, the sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton film, Alice In Wonderland, hit Irish cinemas yesterday (May 27th).
Starring Mia Wasikowska as the amazing Alice, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Sacha Baron Cohen, it looks set to be one of the smash hits of the summer box office.
Oscar-winning Colleen Atwood is back at the helm as lead costume designer and her work on the wardrobe for the unconventional cast of characters is nothing short of spectacular.
To prepare for the film, Atwood studied Japanese design of the ‘80s and the shapes of the period and the structure and design of the clothing.
“I find inspiration in beautiful things,” Atwood says. “I love to see what I can do with them.”
Speaking about Alice, Atwood described her as a young woman who is a little outside the box and who creates her own world.
“I think that is an exciting message for women,” she says.
“Alice has just returned from three years at sea and is all grown-up and feeling empowered. This is not your traditional Alice in a pretty blue frock with fluffy hair. She has a natural, period look, which is
somewhat different from the first film.”
At the beginning of the story, Alice is wearing a high-collar, navy-colored coat with gold braided lapels, similar to what a captain would wear, and when she is preparing to head out to sea is in a military-style white linen coat with blue trim.
However, it’s the magnificent lavender organza Oriental top with pajama-style pants that Alice brings back from her travels and subsequently wears to the reception at Lord Ascot’s home, which is the most eye-popping
costume worn by Wasikowska.
“We based it on period fabrics from China and added Chinese-style embroidery, medallions and a delicate background of hats, rabbits and a little A for Alice,” says Atwood.
Next up is the incomparable Helena Bonham Carter as the spoiled and irritable Iracebeth.
Atwood created a costume for Bonham Carter which is an armor breast plate embellished with a sculpted thorn worn over her dress accentuated with thorn heart arm bands, beautifully embroidered sleeves and a military-style hoop skirt.
Atwood even added little hearts to the heels of Iracebeth’s shoes, but make-up and hair designer Peter Swords King went one step further and painted different colored hearts on each nail and fashioned a wig that was actually heart-shaped as well.
The costumes Atwood designed for the male characters were just as stylish and ornate.
The costume designer’s relationship with Johnny Depp dates back to “Edward Scissorhands” in 1990. Since that time she has dressed the actor on 10 films. “Johnny does something magical with costumes,” she says. “When he puts one on, his character comes to life in front of you.”
Speaking about the character Time, played by Sacha Baron Cohe, Atwood said:
“When you work with a physical actor like Sacha you have to make sure their costumes function for them,
and a big concern with his costume was the size: it has super-wide shoulders and elements that have a lot of
weight to them and which are not very comfortable to wear.”
What a treat for the eyes! We can’t wait to see it all on the big screen.
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS is showing in cinemas nationwide.
