And the Oscars for best fashion, beauty and design go to …
Check out Globe Style's top picks from this year's Academy Award-nominated films
BOOTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: In Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s bayou fantasy/drama, a pair of white galoshes is all that protects five-year-old Hushpuppy (a precocious Quvenzhané Wallis, who is nominated for the best actress Oscar) from the soggy misery around her. They’re also delightfully Mod. Apocalypse chic, anyone? – Amy VernerMary Cybulski/The Associated Press
GETTING BUGGY WITH IT: When Moonrise Kingdom’s Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) presents fellow preteen runaway Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) with a pair of earrings that he has fashioned out of beetles and fish hooks, the ick factor is overshadowed by both the sweetness of the gesture and the odd beauty of the earrings, which are trendily iridescent, suggesting Schiaparelli by way of Etsy. – A.V.
DARK SHADOWS: If the White House in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is somewhat gloomy in appearance, the Oscar-nominated interiors by Rick Carter and Jim Erickson nonetheless depict the presidential home in exacting and exquisite detail. In their rendering, the studies are appointed with rich woods and textiles and the kitchen gleams with copper and crystal. There is also a hint of the opulent entertaining that Mary Todd Lincoln did (and got attacked for). As dimly lit as the house may be, it’s a far cry from a log cabin. – Danny Sinopoli
MEN IN UNIFORM: Who doesn’t love a man in official finery, especially when he’s as dishy as Count Alexi Vronsky, the handsome cavalry officer played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina? Much quirkier – but strangely just as appealing – are the various masters and commanders of the fictional Khaki Scouts in Moonrise Kingdom. Even Inspector Javert, who mercilessly persecutes poor Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, gets a lift from his livery. It helps, of course, that it’s Russell Crowe who’s wearing it. – A.V.Laurie Sparham
NEWS BOY FLASH: Played by Samantha Barks, Éponine Thénardier, the young revolutionary who turns her back on her bourgeois past to fight to the finish in the lavish big-screen version of Les Miz, is worthy of admiration for a number of reasons. There’s her selfless passion, of course. And then there’s her kicky tomboy style, capped off by her iconic pageboy hat, ideal for both the brunch date and the barricades. – Maggie Wrobel
NAILING IT: Typically, manicures don’t tend to come up during assessments of Bond Girls’ assets. But the glossy talons sported by Skyfall’s Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe) are impossible to ignore. Blood-red and razor-sharp, they are wielded by the character like little knives, which are probably good accessories to have if you hang out in Macao gambling dens. Not surprisingly, the character inspired a polish line by OPI. – Tiyana Grulovic
IN THE BAG: When Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) isn’t being treated for his bipolar disorder, the Silver Linings Playbook protagonist drapes himself in a garbage bag to take his daily runs. Besides proving that Cooper, People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2011, can make even a plastic sack look good, the curious ensemble follows in the wake of Scarlett O’Hara’s curtain dress and Little Edie Beale’s makeshift sarongs to once again show that true style isn’t about what you wear, but how you wear it. – T.G.JOJO WHILDEN
HAIR APPARENT: Has the hipster affinity for beards permeated moviedom? It seems so. From historically hirsute Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis inhabits the 16th U.S. president down to the whiskers) to Hugh Jackman’s Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (resembling many a modern barista), formidable facial hair was the accessory of the year for Hollywood’s leading men. Our favourite hairy-faced hero: Argo’s Ben Affleck, whose shaggy Me Decade beard and locks have a deliciously porny appeal. – T.G.The Associated Press
WOMEN IN BLACK: Forget red. This year, cinema’s sexiest anti-heroines were swathed in that other connotation-rich (power! darkness! edge!) colour: not-so-basic black. Among the most memorable, Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook, Keira Knightley as Anna Karenina and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman all went over to the dark side – with generally gorgeous results. – M.W.JOJO WHILDEN
PERSIAN DELIGHT: As portrayed in the Iranian-caper drama Argo, the Canadian ambassador’s residence in 1979 Tehran proves an attractive (not to mention life-saving) hideout for six Americans in peril, its pasha’s-palace-meets-disco-era-crash-pad chic serving as a decadent contrast to the revolutionary turmoil outside. Argo’s interiors are, of course, the handiwork of set decorator Jan Pascale, but isn’t it nice to imagine that hero-diplomat Ken Taylor has interesting taste as well as steely nerves? – D.S.
DESERT FOXY: Moments before Zero Dark Thirty’s climax, the CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain) confronts the end of her long, driven pursuit of Osama bin Laden in an outfit that can only be called haute camo: aviator sunglasses, a well-worn (in every sense of the word) jacket, tousled red hair to match the sun-soaked landscape that is her theatre of operation. In these few frames, Chastain rocks a look that is tough and alluring, suggestive of her confidence as a terrorist tracker but reflective of her femininity. It’s the costume of a contemporary warrior princess, beauty in a dark world. – T.G.Jonathan Olley