Academy Award for Best Costume Design facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Costume Design |
|
|---|---|
The 2025 recipient: Paul Tazewell
|
|
| Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | March 24, 1949 (for films released in 1948) |
| Currently held by | Paul Tazewell Wicked (2024) |
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is a special prize given out every year at the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. It honors the amazing work of costume designers who create the clothes and outfits you see in movies. These costumes help tell the story and bring the characters to life.
This award was first given in 1949. Back then, there were two separate awards: one for movies filmed in black-and-white and another for movies in color. In 1967, these two awards were combined into one. Since then, the award is usually given to movies set in the past or in fantasy worlds, rather than movies set in modern times.
Contents
How the Award Works
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences gives this award to the best costume design from the previous year. To be considered, the costumes must be created by a costume designer. A special group of costume designers in the Academy reviews all the movies to make sure they follow the rules.
After the review, members vote for their favorites. The five movies with the most votes become the official nominees. Then, all active members of the Academy vote one more time to choose the winner.
History of the Award
The Best Costume Design award started at the 21st Academy Awards in 1949. At first, it had separate categories for black-and-white films and color films. This was because making costumes for each type of film was very different.
For a couple of years in the late 1950s, the categories were merged into one. But they were split again in 1959. Finally, in 1967, the Academy decided to have just one award for costume design, which has been the case ever since.
Interestingly, when the awards were separate, movies set in modern times often won the black-and-white category. Meanwhile, big historical movies, fantasies, and musicals usually won the color category. Since 1967, only three movies set in the present day have won this Oscar. All the other winners have been for films set in the past or in imaginary worlds.
Famous Winners and Nominees
Over the years, many talented designers have won this award for creating unforgettable movie costumes. The tables below show the winners for each year.
This shows the winner
1940s
| Year | Film | Winning Costume Designer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 (21st) |
Black-and-White | |
| Hamlet | Roger K. Furse | |
| Color | ||
| Joan of Arc | Dorothy Jeakins and Karinska | |
| 1949 (22nd) |
Black-and-White | |
| The Heiress | Edith Head and Gile Steele | |
| Color | ||
| Adventures of Don Juan | Leah Rhodes, Travilla and Marjorie Best | |
1950s
| Year | Film | Winning Costume Designer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 (23rd) |
||
| All About Eve (Black-and-White) | Edith Head and Charles LeMaire | |
| Samson and Delilah (Color) | Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele and Gwen Wakeling | |
| 1951 (24th) |
||
| A Place in the Sun (Black-and-White) | Edith Head | |
| An American in Paris (Color) | Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff | |
| 1952 (25th) |
||
| The Bad and the Beautiful (Black-and-White) | Helen Rose | |
| Moulin Rouge (Color) | Marcel Vertès | |
| 1953 (26th) |
||
| Roman Holiday (Black-and-White) | Edith Head | |
| The Robe (Color) | Charles LeMaire and Emile Santiago | |
| 1954 (27th) |
||
| Sabrina (Black-and-White) | Edith Head | |
| Gate of Hell (Color) | Sanzo Wada | |
| 1955 (28th) |
||
| I'll Cry Tomorrow (Black-and-White) | Helen Rose | |
| Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (Color) | Charles LeMaire | |
| 1956 (29th) |
||
| The Solid Gold Cadillac (Black-and-White) | Jean Louis | |
| The King and I (Color) | Irene Sharaff | |
| 1957 (30th) |
||
| Les Girls | Orry-Kelly | |
| 1958 (31st) |
||
| Gigi | Cecil Beaton | |
| 1959 (32nd) |
||
| Some Like It Hot (Black-and-White) | Orry-Kelly | |
| Ben-Hur (Color) | Elizabeth Haffenden |
1960s
| Year | Film | Winning Costume Designer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 (33rd) |
||
| The Facts of Life (Black-and-White) | Edith Head and Edward Stevenson | |
| Spartacus (Color) | Valles and Bill Thomas | |
| 1961 (34th) |
||
| La Dolce Vita (Black-and-White) | Piero Gherardi | |
| West Side Story (Color) | Irene Sharaff | |
| 1962 (35th) |
||
| What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Black-and-White) | Norma Koch | |
| The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (Color) | Mary Wills | |
| 1963 (36th) |
||
| 8½ (Black-and-White) | Piero Gherardi | |
| Cleopatra (Color) | Renié, Vittorio Nino Novarese and Irene Sharaff | |
| 1964 (37th) |
||
| The Night of the Iguana (Black-and-White) | Dorothy Jeakins | |
| My Fair Lady (Color) | Cecil Beaton | |
| 1965 (38th) |
||
| Darling (Black-and-White) | Julie Harris | |
| Doctor Zhivago (Color) | Phyllis Dalton | |
| 1966 (39th) |
||
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Black-and-White) | Irene Sharaff | |
| A Man for All Seasons (Color) | Elizabeth Haffenden and Joan Bridge | |
| 1967 (40th) |
||
| Camelot | John Truscott | |
| 1968 (41st) |
||
| Romeo and Juliet | Danilo Donati | |
| 1969 (42nd) |
||
| Anne of the Thousand Days | Margaret Furse |
1970s to Today
From 1967 on, there has only been one award for Best Costume Design each year. Here are some of the winners from recent decades.
| Year | Film | Winning Costume Designer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 (43rd) |
||
| Cromwell | Vittorio Nino Novarese | |
| 1977 (50th) |
||
| Star Wars | John Mollo | |
| 1981 (54th) |
||
| Chariots of Fire | Milena Canonero | |
| 1992 (65th) |
||
| Bram Stoker's Dracula | Eiko Ishioka | |
| 1997 (70th) |
||
| Titanic | Deborah Lynn Scott | |
| 2001 (74th) |
||
| Moulin Rouge! | Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie | |
| 2003 (76th) |
||
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor | |
| 2010 (83rd) |
||
| Alice in Wonderland | Colleen Atwood | |
| 2015 (88th) |
||
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Jenny Beavan | |
| 2018 (91st) |
||
| Black Panther | Ruth E. Carter | |
| 2021 (94th) |
||
| Cruella | Jenny Beavan | |
| 2022 (95th) |
||
| Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Ruth E. Carter | |
| 2023 (96th) |
||
| Poor Things | Holly Waddington | |
| 2024 (97th) |
||
| Wicked | Paul Tazewell |
Award Records
Some designers have been nominated and have won many times!
| Category | Name | Record | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Awards | Edith Head | 8 awards | She was nominated 35 times in her career. |
| Most Nominations | 35 nominations | She won 8 of the 35 times she was nominated. | |
| Most Nominations (Without a Win) | Patricia Norris | 6 nominations | She was nominated six times but never won. |
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar al mejor diseño de vestuario para niños
- BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design
- Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Costume Design
- List of Academy Award–nominated films
