For our nineteenth Rundown article, we look at all the fancy frocks. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Costume Design as well as general commentary about the race. Friday, we’ll cover our final category, ostensibly the most important.

Best Costume Design

Winner Predictions

• Carol (PP O)
• Cinderella (WL R) [New] (TB O)
• The Danish Girl
• Mad Max: Fury Road (TL R) [New]
• The Revenant

Runner-Up Predictions

• Carol (TL R) [New]
• Cinderella (PP R) [New]
• Mad Max: Fury Road (WL O) (TB R) [New]

(color and symbol key at bottom of page)

Wesley Lovell: The only category where The Revenant won’t be winning is this one. It was a surprise nominee to start, but there’s really little evidence that the film has that much support here. Cinderella came out early as the likely winner in this category, but recent wins by Mad Max: Fury Road at both BAFTA and the Costume Designers Guild suggests the film might be heading for an upset victory. I still give the slight edge to the more traditional Cinderella, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see a Mad Max victory.
Peter J. Patrick: Three-time winner Sandy Powell should pick up her fourth Oscar this year. The only question is whether it will be for Carol or Cinderella. I have a hunch it will be for the early 1950s fashions of Carol.
Tripp Burton: I know that Cinderella lost the guild this week but I still don’t see the Academy skipping over Sandy Powell’s beautiful gowns in favor of something as well-worn as Mad Max. A real tech sweep could lead to a Mad Max victory here, though.
Thomas La Tourrette: The Costume Designers Guild certainly confused my thinking of how this award would go with upsets in two categories. The Danish Girl’s win over Carol was not a huge surprise as there were many more costumes in Danish Girl, even if one remembers the elegant gowns worn by Cate Blanchett more. The bigger surprise was the win by Mad Max: Fury Road for fantasy costumes over the gowns of Cinderella. I had thought that Sandy Powell would win for either Carol or Cinderella, but I am now thinking that she may lose instead. With the BAFTA going to Mad Max as well, I would now place it in the leading position. Danish Girl could still pull off a win, but that does not seem so likely. The wild card would be The Revenant, which was a surprise nominee. I would hope that it would not win here, but, if it does, then it may come close to winning every award it is up for. If the Academy moves away from elegance with this award, the larger cast, and therefore costumes, of Mad Max should be the winner.

KEY: