Cinderella movie’s costume an opulent illusion

Audiences never seem to tire of the romance of "Cinderella" — so much so that while Sandy Powell was working on her Disney film project, fellow costume designer Colleen Atwood was simultaneously preparing a set of Cinderella costumes for Anna Kendrick in "Into the Woods."

"I was worried about that," Powell said during a phone interview from Los Angeles last week. "We were working in London at the same time, but I didn’t want to know what she was doing, even though I sort of knew."

"I was thrilled to be asked to create the costumes for ‘Cinderella.’ I thought it would be a fun, colorful project," said the three-time Academy Award-winning costume designer. "But then you start thinking, oh dear, it’s gotta be better than everything else people have seen before."

And when it comes to such an iconic character, that body of work is epic. It ranges from films about a Cinderella figure, such as "Ever After" and the modern-day "A Cinderella Story," to movies inspired by tales of ordinary teens finding their regal bearings, such as "The Princess Diaries" and "The Prince and Me."

Powell’s feeling when "Into the Woods" was released on Christmas Day?

"I felt relieved," she said. "Theirs was a totally different take on Cinderella, and I felt the costumes were very different."

Powell’s take on "Cinderella" can be viewed in trailers and when the movie opens Friday. The film, directed by Kenneth Bran­agh, stars Lily James (Rose on "Downton Abbey") in the title role.

Rather than inspire awe, the ballgown depicted in movie posters and photographs already has attracted flak, with accusations erupting across the Internet that James’ impossibly small waist was created with the help of Photo­shop.

Powell explained that the addition of a corset, standard attire in the 1830s, when the film is set, helped accentuate James’ 22-inch waist when contrasted with the gown’s voluminous skirt, comprising nearly 270 yards of fabric and numerous petticoats. The broad-shoulder look created by drop-shoulder embellishments further enhanced the hourglass illusion.

Powell’s designs in the film cover a range of eras, from Cinderella’s 19th-century-inspired ballgown to the 1940s-style ensembles worn by the villainous stepmother, played by Cate Blan­chett, to a couple of gauche dresses worn by the evil stepsisters that could have easily fit the 1980s’ New Wave. She said she believes the mix of styles give the ballroom scenes a more lively look.

"Since this is a fairy tale, we didn’t have to adhere to any rules," said Powell, who has 10 Oscar nominations for costume design and three wins for her work on "The Young Victoria" for Jean-Marc Vallee, "The Aviator" for Martin Scor­sese and "Shakespeare in Love" for John Madden.

Other films she’s worked on include "The Wolf of Wall Street," "Gangs of New York," "Hugo," "The Crying Game" and "Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles."

Even in a fairy tale, Powell felt it was important for Cinderella’s ballgown to be grounded in reality. After all, Hollywood awards ceremonies have trained our eyes to sense discomfort in actresses wearing gowns for the first time, and we’ve seen them squirm in massive layers and trip over voluminous hems en route to the podium.

Not only does Cinderella need to dance, "but she needs to run away from the ball down a massive staircase," Powell said, explaining that the gown was engineered so that despite its volume "it’s not even heavy because of where it sits on the body."

Layering different shades of blue helped achieve the look she was aiming for, that of a watercolor painting in motion. "It’s not the most ornate or the richest-looking gown in the ball, but it had to make her stand out from the crowd," Powell said.

And much care was taken in creating the other star of the film, Cinderella’s glass slipper.

"I looked at lots of different possibilities of how to do a glass shoe and realized the most important thing was that it had to sparkle, which meant that it had to be made of crystal, which reflects light. Glass would not sparkle," she said.

The crystal slipper was patterned after an 1890s shoe she found in a Northampton shoe museum.

To create it, she approached the company whose name is synonymous with crystal: Swa­rov­ski.

"I went to Austria to talk to them but was never allowed into the factory to watch them. It’s all very secretive there, and I understand they had to develop some new technology and new techniques because they had never created something like this that had to be hollow before. It was a bit of an experiment."

The shoe itself is much tinier than the average foot and was created to look good when held in the hand. Such a shoe could never be worn in real life, Powell said. "You can’t walk in something that isn’t flexible. It has to be a material like leather or fabric that allows your foot to move."