Costumes of Dorian Gray

Staff Writer: Samuntha Mackenzie

A period film like Dorian Gray has another central character: costumes. Without a specific attire, the audience could not lose themselves in the richness of the setting and acting. Ruth Myers, costume designer, gives us an inside look:

“I thought it was a fabulous script and a very fresh look at Dorian Gray so I wanted to take the Edwardian clothes and try to produce them in such a way that you’d see them through modern eyes” explains Oscar-nominated costume designer Ruth Myers.

Myers was adamant that she wanted to steer away from the look of a typical period film, “There was a glamour group during the era the film’s set in and I wanted to capture that. I thought of Dorian as a sort of Mick Jagger or Rudolph Nuryev. I wanted the look and the costumes to bring that 1960s or 1970s idea of glamour”.

“I did a lot of drawings to prepare because I didn’t want to slavishly reproduce what had been seen before. Luckily working with Olly (Parker) and Barnaby (Thompson) was a joy because they are a costume-friendly director and producer, which makes a huge difference to the way you can design a film”.

Lead actor Ben Barnes who plays Dorian collaborated closely with Myers throughout the entire process, “Ben came to many fittings and worked very hard with me. It’s a wonderful thing when you get an actor who can see his character through his costumes. Ben and I sourced a lot of modern clothes which we looked at converting, we looked at a lot of vintage and also made a lot of stuff from scratch. Ben was very brave with his costumes and he learnt to wear them well. We were also able to give him costumes that he felt completely at home in, which isn’t always the case with period pieces”.

One of the most interesting looks that Myers was required to create was for actress Rebecca Hall who plays Emily Wotton who is very much a modern young woman of the Edwardian era. “Rebecca so beautiful, she has such a wonderful face and almost looks like a 60s star like a Jane Birkin or Jeanne Moreau. She also has this amazingly expressive face so I really wanted to make her costumes simple so that you’re eyes are pushed up to her beautiful face. Also because of the nature of her character: the modern woman in Edwardian times, I wanted to give her a very modern look. Apart from the gorgeous red dress we made for her, which I’m very proud of, mostly she’s in blouses and long skirts which is exactly what the Suffragettes of that time would have worn. We gave her a very beautiful glamorized version of a Suffragette’s costume”.

The majority of the costumes were made but even those that were bought in were altered, “Everything was pretty much created for the film” explains Myers. “The biggest challenge was that we had to turn things around very quickly and to make it look lavish and as though money was no object. It was a joy to do and hopefully that’s exactly how it will look. It was a joy to bring in this fresh light to a period film and I got enormous support from the actors, Olly and Barnaby”.

Source: Momentum Pictures