Best Costume Design
Nominees:
Bright Star, Janet Patterson
Coco Before Chanel, Catherine Leterrier
Nine, Colleen Atwood
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monique Prudhomme
*The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell
This prize traditionally went to the spiffiest costume drama; not so many of those lately. That's the explanation for these five period pieces, which aren't widely represented elsewhere in the competition. Bright Star and The Young Victoria show England in the 19th century; Coco Before Chanel has a dressmaker as its subject; Nine, set in 1963, is a parade of glamorous ladies in extravagant frocks; and Dr. Parnassus takes place in the fantasy London of Terry Gilliam's fevered brain. Powell, with six Oscar nominations, has won twice, for Shakespeare in Love and The Aviator. She's the favorite to complete her hat trick.