The Oscars! And FIDM’s Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit

2.21.14

The Academy Awards are Sunday, March 2 at the Kodak Theater and televised coverage starts at 4:00 PM on ABC.

Printing out an Oscar Ballot and voting at home is a fun way to celebrate the long-awaited event. Whether your family thrives on the competition around the Best Picture nominees, or you invent some other fun categories to judge (Best and Worst Presenter OutfitBest and Worst Acceptance Speech, etc.), comparing ballots can turn the long show into an engaging evening.

The Oscars also offer a chance to introduce young film buffs to new ways to analyze movies. For instance, kids can start to think about how the Score influences their experience of a story. Production Design is also an easy category for them to begin to scrutinize.

Kids are always very accurate in their picks for the Best Animated Feature. This year, the nominees are: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, Frozen and The Wind Rises.

And, we have a sure fire way to up everyone’s chances of scoring well in at least one other category – Best Costume Design.

Take a tour through The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising’s annual show, Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit, which features the incredible costumes from the year’s most sartorially significant films.  FIDM’s show is open – and, best of all, FREE to the public. The school is located just off the Harbor Freeway, with easy street parking nearby. Take a tour around with the kids and you’re sure to up your chances for a prizes on March 2.

FIDM's Art of Motion Picture Costume Design

The films in contention for Best Costume are all represented in the show: American Hustle, The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Woman and 12 Years a Slave.

FIDM's Art of Motion Picture Costume DesignAlso featured are costumes from other amazing films of 2013, including 42, 47 Ronin, After Earth, The Butler, Ender’s Game, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Man of Steel, Oblivion, Oz the Great and Powerful, Pacific Rim, Romeo and Juliet, Saving Mr. Banks, Star Trek Into Darkness, Thor: The Dark World.

FIDMs Art of Motion Picture Costume Design

We loved seeing Emma Thompson’s smart suits from Saving Mr. Banks and the the swanky outfits from American Hustle were worth the visit. It would have been nice to see the sweaters the Jennifer Lawrence wore in The Hunger Games, and too bad the jewels from Gatsby and Anna Karenina were not available for gawking!

FIDM's Art of Motion Picture Costume Design

Three costumes from Anna Karenina, the 2013 Academy Award winner for Best Costume, will also be on view. The show is on until April 26, 2014.