by I am really at a loss of how to describe Poor Things. In the newest film from Yorgos Lanthimos (Oscar nominee The Best Man and The Lobster), Emma Stone stars as Bella Baxter, a woman in Victorian London whose body has been brought back to life and implanted with a fetal brain – and in some ways, that’s the biggest and most believable aspect of the film. For reasons I’ll let you discover for yourself, Bella embarks on a strange, erotic journey around the globe that takes her from Portugal to Egypt and beyond. It’s part steampunk romance, part darkly funny coming-of-age fantasy, and you definitely don’t want to watch it with your parents in the room. But if you love movies, you will love every minute of this intense, emotional and funny romp.
And of course – the clothes! We talked to Poor Things costume designer Holly Waddington to learn more about how she came up with the film’s unique look – and what it was like collaborating with the one and only Emma Stone on this one-off character.
Poor Things unlike almost anything that came before it. How would you describe the costumes in this film?
I think it’s a subtle change from the late 19th century. Yorgos gave me freedom to refer to different time periods, so there are a few nods to different fashion moments. The little white boots Bella wears are from André Courrèges space age stuff from the 1960s. There were also some things that come from Schiaparelli in the 1930s. It was a very vibrant palette, and I think I was able to transpose the richness of the late 19th century with some freshness.
The clothes are sometimes quite unusual. There is a scene in Lisbon where, after a siesta, we see Bella walking through the city alone, wearing a sort of blazer, some silk knickers, and not much else.
When I was thinking about how I would face Bella, I looked at my own children. I spend a lot of time with children in my life, and when they’re very little, they start to unravel very quickly – eventually they’re going to miss things, and they have this kind of innate will to be exposed. I liked the idea that Mrs. Prim would get Bella ready in the morning in a ladylike skirt and bodice, but by 10:00, the skirt would be gone.
So it goes to that dynamic of Bella having a brain child in a woman’s body.
For me, my worst nightmare would be walking down the street buttoned up from the waist up but nothing from the waist down. It’s a nightmare for adults, but for this character in Lisbon after a siesta, it felt right. There are certain moments where Bella dresses herself, and it’s like a five-year-old dressing herself from her mother’s wardrobe. This is a discrepancy, but it’s fun.
This film also makes a serious case for bringing back the mutton leg sleeve.
Bella is in those all the time, or she’s sleeveless. Yorgos was really open-minded about anything I would do, and I presented him with many ideas and options from the late 19th century, and he kept going towards those huge sleeves. He and Emma were pushing for him at meetings. I love them, and what they do to the body. It conveys the other feeling – these highly textured fabrics that look like creatures.
Maybe this movie will inspire a mutton leg sleeve trend?
I hope! Big sleeves are definitely worth wearing. They are very powerful. When long sleeves were for women—the Elizabethan period, the 1940s, the 1980s—women were generally in a good place. I’m glad we went for it. Let’s say the 1880s slim sleeve was gone—all the interest would be on the skirts and bottoms, and it would feel completely different.
Bella’s clothes also look quite light and delicate.
All her fabrics are dreamy. There is ease for them. But the sleeves kept ripping. It was pretty bad!
Why did they continue to rip?
It’s unusual when you do these period costumes, because usually your lead actor doesn’t joke about it [in a period piece]. These clothes are not designed to raise your arm above your head – they are almost like an extension of the corset, holding the body in a certain way.
Bella has a very distinctive way of walking in this film. Did you work with Emma to change the costumes to make her performance easier, or more visible on camera?
We started her in longer percussion instruments first, like percussion instruments from the 1930s. And on the first day of the shoot, I realized that she needed really short bloomers, to show more of her body, to reveal everything she was doing with her body.
Emma seems to have been very cooperative to work with on this. Did she let you run free, or did she have a lot of input on her outfit?
She was both. She let me run completely free. But she is also someone who needs to know conceptually that the idea works for her. Rather than spending a lot of time in clothing to feel how things fit the body, she was more interested in knowing the idea behind something and why. She is a very quick, quick, very intelligent woman, so our outfits were more like conversations. It’s interesting because other actors have to try something, walked into it, felt it, so it was interesting… She’s a real bastard of a person – fast, quick, and she gets everything. She is extremely brave, and takes risks in everything she does.
What was the hardest look to get right?
The wedding dress was an absolute nightmare to make. The whole conceit was that it had to be huge, but made of almost nothing. The sleeves were like a balloon. It was super light, made of millinery net, organza, cotton, and tulle, and was such a fiddle to make.
Was there anything the actors tried to steal from set?
It’s a big point, because we’re currently putting together the costume displays for an exhibition at FIDM in Los Angeles, and there are a lot of things missing! I’m bad at giving people costumes—you’re not supposed to!
What did you learn about yourself on this project?
I’m very passionate about historical clothes – and I love wearing them a bit on the head.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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