Costume Designers

The costume designers of the comedy "Blades of Glory," the gritty western "3:10 to Yuma" and the romantic epic "Atonement" are among the nominees for the 10th annual Costume Designer Guild Awards announced Thursday. Vying in the contemporary film category are Julie Weiss for "Blades of Glory," Olivier Beriot for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Mary Claire Hannan for "Into the Wild," Monique Prudhomme for "Juno" and Louise Frogley for "Ocean's Thirteen."

For costume designer Susan Matheson, finding inspiration for the vintage T-shirts Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly wear throughout "Step Brothers" wasn't hard; the challenge was picking the right ones. "We wanted to distinguish their characters as being 40 years old stuck in childhood without making them look insane."

For AS long as she can remember, Dona Granata has been fascinated by costumes, whether it be the theatrical attire of the stage or the opulent movie fashions of Hollywood's Golden Age. "It's always appealed to me," she says. "Part of it is a fantasy-reality thing and how it affects the whole persona of someone, watching these fabulous actresses completely change their look."

"Happy-Go-Lucky" writer-director Mike Leigh's unique filmmaking process, in which he works with the actors scene by scene to create the script as they shoot, extended to other creative aspects of this production. Even costume designer Jacqueline Durran had to stay on her toes to clothe the actors, having only a bare outline of the plot to work from. She had to interview the actors about their characters to get a feel for each of them.

Now that the studios are releasing their big Oscar contenders, it's shaping up to be a great season for costume design. From a superhero in high-tops in the stylized comic book caper "The Spirit" to an uptight English heroine in shapely suits and bias-cut gowns in "Australia," there's a lot to look at.

Stacy Beverly Costume designer Current credits: The CW comedy series "Girlfriends" and "The Game" Job description: "I basically head up the wardrobe department for both shows, so I am responsible for establishing the overall look for both shows and look for each character -- that includes guest cast and atmosphere. It goes according to the producer's vision of what the characters should be, script requirements, etc., etc."

JULIE WEISS has a bad case of post-Swarovski-crystal stress disorder. Her fashion affliction is apparent as soon as you walk into her tiny design studio near the Santa Monica Airport. The two-time Oscar-nominated costume designer offers up crackers dressed with generous swatches of Camembert cheese. "Just be careful there isn't a stone in there," she says. Next to a rack of Weiss' Lycra skate costumes is a speckled cheese plate.

WITHOUT Johnny Depp, one can safely say, there would be no Capt. Jack Sparrow and thus no multibillion-dollar "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. But one could also argue that, without Capt. Jack's hair, or Capt. Jack's hat, or Capt. Jack's raccoon-like rings of kohl (not to mention Capt. Barbossa's lace and Bootstrap Bill's face), the films would not be nearly as successful.

NEW YORK -- Drag queens, carnival kings, Big Bird and John Travolta are all in a day's work to Jon Coles, whose company has outfitted all of them with feathers. Coles has been vice president and general manager at American Plume & Fancy Feather Co. in New York's garment district for 29 years, ever since the company's owners, his friends Anthony and Elizabeth Trento, convinced him the feather business would pay better than his previous profession, teaching.

FACE it, the best time to brainstorm Halloween costume ideas is in the middle of July. Once the pumpkins start ripening, it's slim pickings in the originality department, and the danger of rocking a played-out ensemble is high. Of course, that doesn't stop Halloween party invitations from rolling in, so we asked Mary Rose, president of the Costume Designers Guild, for some last-minute advice. DON'T Just say no to the "pimp" and "ho."