There are a number of startling moments in the new Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett movie, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” but some of them belong to Cate Blanchett’s amazing wardrobe, created by costumer Jacqueline West, who has also worked on “Henry and June,” “Quills,” “The Banger Sisters,” and Terrence Malick’s “The New World” – as well as on his new movie called “Tree of Life,” with Sean Penn and Brad Pitt.
Blanchett plays Daisy, who meets Benjamin Button when she’s a child and he’s a very old man – because he is growing backwards – the conceit of the film based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Eventually, the two are the same age – and fall in love. Daisy becomes a dancer with the famed George Balanchine, and when she meets Benjamin for the first time when they’re both young adults – she wears a startling red dress with short sleeves, tight bodice, and a longer tea-length full skirt that literally stops traffic. Later on in the film, a la Audrey Hepburn, she wears black slim pants, flats, and a short yellow swing coat. Her costumes are always close to the body and very dancer-like, and she carries them with incredible grace and lithe-ness. We expect Ms. West will get an Oscar nomination for the costumes in ”Benjamin Button” - and designers will keep an eye on Ms. Blanchett’s wardrobe, which will no doubt inspire some looks in the upcoming fall collections, to be shown this February and March in NY and Europe.
