Oscar Predictions: Best Costume Design

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 24th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Carol, Cinderella, The Danish Girl, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant

This year’s locks: Jackie, La La Land

Very likely: Hidden Figures, Florence Foster Jenkins

Possible: Hail Caesar, The Handmaiden, Silence, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Doctor Strange

Unlikely: Plenty of others, I’m sure!

The rundown: Like the Art Directors Guild, the Costume Designers Guild separates its nominees into three categories: contemporary, period, and fantasy. The last two are more important to take seriously. The important exception, of course, is La La Land, which earned a contemporary nomination and is sure to place here. From the period section, Jackie, Hidden Figures, and Florence Foster Jenkins are all very likely, with Hail Caesar and The Dressmaker also possible. Three fantasy films could show up - Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and I’m less confident about Kubo and the Two Strings, which made history as the first animated film to earn a CDG nod, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is unlikely since only the first “Star Wars” film was nominated in this category, though it did win. Watch out for two CDG snubs, Silence and The Handmaiden, both of which are sure to earn votes.

One possible crazy scenario: I’m picturing the red suit that Viggo Mortensen wears in Captain Fantastic and wondering how many people are going to vote for it just based on that. It would be a fun choice!

Forecasted winner: This one probably goes to Jackie.