Every single piece of costuming in Disney’s Cruella is a masterpiece. When Estella transforms into her alter ego, she stops the movie every single time she enters the frame. Two time Academy Award winning costume designer, Jenny Beaven, could possibly win her third for giving us outfits to drool over as much as a Dalmatian.
From a costume designers standpoint, Beaven had to create two wildly different perspectives. Emma Thompson’s The Baroness has already established herself as a fashion icon, and she brings the drama with her silhouettes. She always has a high collar, exaggerated shoulder, or, better yet, a cape to accentuate her grandeur. Her designs are entrenched in her own vanity, and she dresses herself to the nines because she thinks she deserve to.
Estella, however, is just molding her own persona. Her exuberance comes out in her clothes, and her Cruella is willing to take fashion risks. She doesn’t change her outfits just to shape shift but because fashion and design truly excite her. Every time Cruella steps onto the scene, we are seeing another side of Cruella and Estella’s combined psyche. She isn’t afraid to experiment with color, shape, and fabric.
I can’t pick just one outfit that I love most from Cruella, because they all standout. I wish I could put each one in my closet to fit my mood. Beaven has previously won for A Room with a View and Mad Max: Fury Road. A third Oscar would represent Cruella’s eclectic style perfectly. You never know what you’re going to get.
Cruella is available on Disney+.
