A look into Mildred Pierce's costumes

Mildred Pierce is an HBO mini-series staring Kate Winslet as a proud single mother struggling to earn her daughter’s love during the Great Depression in middle-class Los Angeles. The story explores 'Mildred’s unreasonable devotion to her insatiable daughter, Veda (Evan Rachel Wood), as well as the complex relationships she shares with the less than desirable men in her life'. That's it, I don't want to write more about the plot but I would say this is a must watch for it's brilliant, avant garde costumes. I know it's superficial, but they earned 21 nominations for the 63rd annual prime-time Emmy Awards.



Evan looks ultra sleek in this floor-length fitted tangerine dress with short flutter sleeves, paired with a fox stole and white gloves. Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth delivers outfit true to the times, social strata and personality of each character. She's not Patricia Field, so don't expect a SATC-esque Vogue spread.



She claimed, “I don’t dress movie stars, I dress actors who are playing characters.”



On Veda, played by Evan Rachel Wood: “From the beginning, she aspires to a better life. Her avarice and ambition are clear." Roth dressed her to appear superficially posh, but actually shabby — highlighting the difference between where she is socially and where she wants to be. This whole symbolism reminds me of my high school English modules, commenting on literatures and their stylistic devices. If I could choose, I'd be very keen to do it on this.



Read more about it here. Oh and Kate, once the young Rose in Titanic and now playing a mother, Mildred, was drop dead gorgeous in a polkadot-accented Stella McCartney dress at the NYC premiere.





Mildred Pierce debuted on March 27th. Now let's get the DVDs. Images courtesy of HBO.