Words by Amy Wild
The psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling has had its fair share of controversy since it came out in late September last year, from rumours of drama between its star-studded cast to only getting two stars on rotten tomatoes. The film was directed by Olivia Wilde, who also directed Booksmart and starred in Don’t Worry Darling as Bunny. It follows Alice (Florence Pugh), a housewife to Jack (Harry Styles), where they seemingly have a dream life on paper living in a desert paradise amongst other couples. The husbands work for the mysterious ‘Victory Project’, leaving their beautiful wives that clean the house before welcoming them home with a three-course meal and some.
The film may have been a hit or miss, but the costume design was definitely not a miss. A choice that Olivia Wilde definitely made right was getting three-time Oscar nominee Arianne Phillips to be the lead costume designer for the film. If you are not familiar with Phillips, she is most notably known for designing the costumes for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), A Single Man (2009) and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014).
When designing the outfits, Phillips stocked up on authentic 50s materials and custom designer pieces using her vast network of vintage dealers and rental houses. The entire film was so aesthetically pleasing to watch, and the costume design perfectly complimented the cinematography, making it, as Harry Styles said himself, “Feel like a movie”; and the high production budget definitely helped with that. Philips’s describes her colour process as methodical, “I always start with colour and silhouette. I love a colour story, which became incredibly exciting when designing Victory and our world. Olivia and I spent a lot of time looking at colour palettes.’
Costumes are vital in telling a story. Each character’s costume is tailored to suit their personality; Philps notes, “The clothes are not isolated, they’re connected to the character, and help underscore the tone and the mood.” All of Bunny’s outfits remain firmly in the 50s, maybe as a sly hint that Bunny wants to stay in the 50s housewife lifestyle. Violet (Sydney Chandler) ironically only wears Violet throughout the film, covered in a purple flower print. We have the men, constantly dressed in perfectly tailored suits and bowling shirts for their bread-winning careers. Even Alice’s nightmares are dressed well with ballet dancers in latex 50s bars.
I enjoyed Alice’s costumes the best of the rest of the characters. In Alice’s first scene, she is dressed in a darling red printed dress which stands out from the other wives. Phillips states that the dress “really informed the energy I wanted to bring to the first scene”. Phillips worked closely with the hair department head Jamie Leigh Mcintosh and the makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir. She wanted Alice to look similar to the 40s and 50s actresses Brigitte Bardot and Ann-Marget, and I think they achieved that. Throughout the film, I was in awe of Alice’s perfectly placed up-do; it was so effortless and classy.
For the costumes worn at the Victory Project’s company bash, Phillips worked with Bulgari, borrowing some of their one-of-a-kind archival high jewellery from the 1950s and ’60s. Phillips stated that she was “thrilled with the outcome, there is nothing like real gems”. Alice wore a custom Rosey pink strapless gown from Jack at the event. When choosing the gown, Phillips stated, “It’s, I guess, what I think a man would [pick for her]” as “There’s a sensuality to it”.
The two focal points of Alice’s wardrobe are the black dress she wears in the desert and the white dress she wears at the film’s end as she navigates her escape. For the foreboding look, Philips looked to Italian actor Sophie Loren and filmmaker Federico Fellini for inspiration for his dreamlike reality look. Alice wears an A-line, knee-length black day dress paired with a ’50s-shaped leather purse, ballet flats, and drop earrings. Black was an uncommon colour for women during this period but was used as an easter egg to convey that some things in Victory aren’t what they seem. Philips also did this with Bunny’s cobalt blue dress and Alice’s bright fuchsia one – both colours that were not common in the time period. “When I made those pieces, I wanted a heightened reality,” says Philips. The costume that has captured everyone over TikTok is her final white dress; it has definitely become the most memorable for the fans. The dress looks striking when blood gets over it, and because things get messy, five iterations of the same white dress were created for filming takes. Philips names these two dresses as the ones she was most pleased with. “I think they were successful in what I was trying to achieve”, she says.
Whether you liked the film or not, it’s fair to say that they definitely captured the dreamy picture-perfect lifestyle with the costumes. So I’m excited to see what films Phillips designs next.
To explore more of PhilipÔÇÖs interview, visit https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a41344252/dont-worry-darling-costumes-arianne-phillips-interview/ or https://fashionista.com/2022/09/dont-worry-darling-costumes-outfits