Check This Out: FIDM's 24th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit

Scene from Cinderella

If you're anyone who likes film, you are aware of how essential a good outfit is. Every year, the Best Costume Design category features some of the biggest and brightest outfits ranging from period pieces to more contemporary fare. If you're at all interested in seeing the outfits from various films of this past year (as well as all of the Oscar-nominated ones) and you live in the Los Angeles area, then I've got some good news for you. They are currently being shown at The Museum of Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). If that wasn't enough, it's currently free to the public at this very moment.

The event called Art of Motion Picture Costume Design is currently in its 24th year. Having opened on Tuesday, February 9, the event is intended to show the diversity by which film costumes are. While most can look at the elegant ballgowns of Cinderella or the ratty outfits of The Revenant (both nominated this year), there's a whole heap of other costumes that seem less obvious.

For those that need some elaborating, fashion critic Nick Verreos sums it up pretty well from a recent interview for ABC 7:

"A lot of people when they think costumes, they think Marie Antoinette or Cinderella, they don't think of jeans and sweatshirts and Straight Outta Compton Raiders hoodies."

It's definitely true for films that are more contemporary and more based around common attire like sneakers and jeans. Still, a look is important to how a film reads to an audience. In fact, it could help to establish atmosphere more effectively. 

Paco Delgado, who is nominated for The Danish Girl, elaborated by saying how it works on a more implicit level for the story:

"I like to think about myself as a person who is helping tell a story. I call myself a costume designer, but I think costumes have to help the story be unraveled."

The biggest perk is seeing all of the outfits on display. While it promises to feature this year's nominees (Cinderella, Carol, The Danish Girl, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Revenant),  it also will feature work from 100 films ranging from period pieces to modern blockbusters including Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It sounds like a pretty packed event, so make sure to set aside some time if you do go.

The event is free to the public and runs through April 30 at FIDM's location in Los Angeles, California. For further information, please consult their website and stay tuned for further interesting events that they will be holding in the near future.