Todd Haynes’ glam rock opera became a cult classic thanks to its costumes by Sandy Powell.
When costume designer Sandy Powell began working on the 1998 glam rock opera Velvet Goldmine, she didn’t have to travel very far to begin her research. A pre-teen during the early-70s, she pulled many design ideas from her own memories. “The music was a kind of crucial part of my growing up,” Powell told the LA Times. “As an 11-year-old, Marc Bolan was my first idol.’ So when Powell heard through the grapevine that there was going to be a glam rock movie shot in London, she was determined to get the costume job. Serendipitously, director Todd Haynes already had her in mind and sought her out.
For the central character Brian Slade (famously based on David Bowie and played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) Powell looked at every single Bowie outfit from 1968 to 1974 and created her own interpretations — his 60s mod look, his androgynous folk singer, the Kansai Yamamoto stage wear (Brian Eno and Jobriath were also influences). But while Ziggy Stardust was a high-low mix of kabuki and space cadet that Bowie has described as ‘Nijinsky and Woolworth’s’, Powell’s versions are wildly opulent, veering into Baroquian territory, with brocade tailcoats and satin breeches anchored by platform boots. Powell is a lover of period dress but not much of a sci-fi fan, so perhaps this played into Slade’s costumes being not as starry as Bowie’s. But what it does is create space between Brian Slade and David Bowie, making him Bowie-esque but not a carbon copy.
Slade’s infatuation with American rocker Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) is based on Bowie’s own friendship with Iggy Pop. Bowie was mesmerized by Pop’s hyperkinetic onstage antics and envied the authenticity of his working class Michigan upbringing (Bowie lifted a few performance moves from Pop). In Velvet Goldmine, Wild is an amalgam of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed but visually, his bare-chested, leather pants look comes from both Pop and Jim Morrison.
To this day, Powell says Velvet Goldmine was the most fun she ever had on set. But like all movies, it was not without its difficulties. The biggest issue was cobbling together such a huge and extravagant wardrobe while staying within budget (the entire film was shot for $7 million). Powell had to create outfits not only the for the glittery main characters — Slade, his wife (Toni Collette), his manager (Eddie Izzard) — but also the entourage, supporting characters, extras, and of course, fan-turned-reporter Arthur, played by Christian Bale.
Key costumes were designed by Powell and built by costume rental house, Angels. 70s-era streetwear was mostly vintage sourced from flea markets. Powell says finding clothing authentic to the era was difficult since the average person was much smaller in the 70s. To meet the budget, she struck a deal with Angels: she paid them to build the Velvet Goldmine costumes while she worked for them — for free — as a shopper, finding vintage for their rental stock. This also meant that all of the film’s costumes belonged to Angels once production wrapped. It was a move that made Powell a little sad, but the trade-off was worth it. She won the 1999 BAFTA Award for Costume Design and was nominated for an Oscar, which she lost… to herself for Shakespeare in Love.
Today, she freely admits, ‘I had two nominations in one year and I won for the wrong one.’
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