Next weekend brings the awards race to a close when the 87th Academy Awards ceremony is finally held. While most of the attention will be on which actors win, which director brings home the gold, and which film nabs Best Picture, a select few will be paying close attention to the Best Costume Design category. Among those watchers will be the “Inherent Vice” costume designer Mark Bridges, who recently sat down with the New York Times to talk about his nominated work on the film.
Adapted from a Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name, Paul Thomas Anderson’s woozy, funny stoner noir is very much both a close examination and celebration of a bygone era, the moment when the hippie dream curdled and drifted away forever. The film’s successful recreation of that era could be equally credited to Robert Elswit‘s overlooked (by the Oscars, at least) cinematography — which this writer’s friend positively compared to an Instagram filter — as well as Bridges’ spot on costume choices. In the short interview with the esteemed paper, Bridges breaks down some of his choices and even manages to praise the film’s leading man, Joaquin Phoenix, for how well he took to his character’s sandals and turtlenecks.
Watch the video below and catch “Inherent Vice” in theaters now.