In the director Jay Roach And writers Tony McNamaraNew hold of Warren Adlers novel “The War of the roses” – Earlier was filmed in 1989 and now the title Simply” The Roses ” – married par Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) moves from happy love with each other to Slurding Harsel, a travel costume designer PC Williams Had to express through the actors’ clothes. For Williams, the key came to unlocking the characters with the realization that both husband and wife were creative people – Olivia a chef and Theo an architect.
“When I started thinking about who they were, one of the things I was drawn was to the idea that creativity presents very differently to different people,” Williams told IndieWire. “Some people’s creativity is mathematical. It’s theory -based. Other people are more visual.” When he designed Ivy and Theo’s wardrobes, Williams wanted to make sure the clothes were faithful to each character’s version of creativity.
“They are very different, but equally individualistic,” Williams said. “Theo is the architect, it is about material, it is about fit, it is about silhouette. It is silent luxury. Ivy is expressive, she is artisanal, she is printed. The shapes are great.” As the characters develop, with Ivy who finds success at her restaurant while Theo’s career flounder, Williams refines the costumes to keep the elements she originally established while conveying the man and wife’s changed circumstances; Ivy becomes more commercially and structured but still leans in patterns and adapted embroidery, while Theo moves towards a more domestic look.
“With Theo you start to see more layer,” Williams said. “It’s practical, it’s modular – just to help him get around the house and do things with the children. When they change their wardrobe changes is a visual representation of it, but the aesthetic remains all the time.” A consistent aspect of aesthetics is Williams’ strategy for color, which is very accurate in the whole film. “I was really clear that the colors for Theo must be very natural. The colors are a reflection of the earth and the materials he uses to make his home, so we were very specific with the tones and structures that we chose and how they would interact with each other.”
For Ivy, Williams could cut off a little more. “I was like, let’s just throw caution at the wind and have some fun,” Williams said. “It is Olivia Colman, for God’s sake. She is not in the suits of the period for once. How do we just, what are my wildest fantasies and how do I make them reality? Since it is not both characters that are superhoud, you can get away with it on the screen because they never fight for attention.” Williams still held the idea of natural tones for Ivy but raised them. “There are many greens, blues and reds and then look at many earth tones and play together with what (production designs) land (Ricker) does with space.”
Since sometimes the patterns on Ivy’s clothes were so busy and lively, Williams was careful to cooperate with Ricker and integrate parts of his production design into her costumes – and to be careful not Going too far with Ivy’s wardrobe in scenes where it can fight for the set for attention. “I have to know when the moment feels right to go back,” Williams said. “In the dinner scene with all friends, Ivy is not in print because it felt too much at that moment. The room is so beautiful, and it is so dreamlike, and that moment is about the house created. So I had to find a way to get ivy over without everything that we would be so used to seeing her.
The collaboration between Williams and Ricker gives many striking images in the film, many of which extend beyond the two joints. In a scene involving Barry, the couple’s friend played by Andy Samberg, the blue box echoes the wallpaper a shirt like Barry’s berries; Later, a therapist wears a tie with a similar pressure pattern as the fabric on the back of her chair. For Williams, the idea of foreground and background is through a coordinated relationship between canceled decoration and costume design crucial. “For a project to succeed, I have to be BFF with the production designer,” she said. “We have to be on the same page about colors and tone.”
Williams was also sure to be on the same page with Roach and the actors from the beginning, shared pictures with them and explained the visual arches she saw to each of the characters. “It’s a continuous open dialogue,” Williams said. “What I do not want is to put someone in something they are uncomfortable in, where they go on the floor and cannot perform. Then your suits defeat the purpose of what they are there for, which is to enable an actor to do their job. You must always take into account, how do I make this person feel the closest they can do the character?”
That is why Williams says that open communication lines are important. “Sometimes I come in with ideas that the actors have not thought of, and sometimes they come to me with ideas that I have not thought of. It is about leaving your ego at the door. You have to be quite clear on what the vision is, but formable enough to cooperate and get the best end result. At the end of the day, unless they feel good.”
