Oscar Prep: Costume Design

Another category where it pays to be flashy rather than accurate. More often than not, the costume winner is the one where people remember the costumes, not the movies where the costuming is so perfectly chosen that it never calls attention to itself. That's why this is dominated by period pieces or fantasy. There isn't a clear winner here, but there is a top and bottom tier.

A couple notes first:
-Each category is arrange from Most to Least likely to win by my measure.
-An '*' before the title indicates a movie that I have seen.
-I'm trying to keep the shorthand to a minimum (get it). A couple that come up though are BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), PGA (Producers Guild of America, WGA (Writers Guild of America), DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Other Picks

Best Costume Design
Front Runner: *The Great GatsbyNominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design, Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
Despite what anyone thinks of the movie as a whole, it does two things right: production design (which we'll get to) and costumes. None of the Oscar nominees came away with the BAFTA or Costume Designers Guild award wins so there's no major indicator of which way the vote's going.When in doubt, go with the period piece.

Dark Horse: *American Hustle
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design, Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
While I found the movie to only be good and not deserving of all the award attention, I would completely understand a win here. The closer we get to the Oscars it looks like American Hustle may be shut out. This is probably it's best shot at winning (unless people continue to have their heads up their asses about the supporting actress award).

Other Nominees:
*12 Years a Slave
Nominee: Costume Designers Guild - Excellence in Period Film
This only wins if 12 Years a Slave completely dominates the night, which seems unlikely.
The Invisible Woman
Nominee: BAFTA - Best Costume Design
The BAFTAs liked it, so it has that going for it.
The Grandmaster
I get the Cinematography nomination. This one confuses me. Whatever. It's not like it's going to win. There's no sign of support for it by any voting block.