Costume Designs <i> We</i> Like Best

Preceding the announcement Wednesday of the Academy Awards nominations, the Screen Style nominees for best costume design are listed below. They are not, however, in order of preference. Any one of them deserves to win.

“RAMBLING ROSE”: This Depression-era film about a dirt-poor orphan (Laura Dern) who is welcomed into a middle-class Southern family offered more than nostalgic faded floral dresses, but even those were inspired. Costume designer Jane Robinson skillfully manipulated vintage clothes, created new clothes from antique fabrics and even slipped in an occasional brand-new Ralph Lauren sweater. In the process, Robinson turned Rose into a secondhand fashion plate, creating a wardrobe that defined her character, as well as those of film’s other principals, as much as the dialogue.

“MADAME BOVARY”: The work of costume designer Corinne Jorry has merit not only for its historically accurate evocation of mid-19th-Century rural France, but also for its sheer luxury and beauty. Emma Bovary (Isabelle Huppert) is the real eyeful here. She was not the type to wear anything more than once. Every gown, every inch of French silk ribbon in her hair, is breathtaking. The principals’ wardrobes were entirely custom made in Paris, the hats in Rome, which just goes to show what can be done with taste and money.

“BUGSY”: Make no mistake, this is Bugsy Siegel’s (Warren Beatty) movie, sartorially speaking. Femme fatale Virginia Hill (Annette Bening) simply doesn’t hold a candle to him--almost all of her dresses miss a beat somehow, save for one silver beaded number. Still, Academy Award-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky does a standout job on Bugsy, who was a clotheshorse in his day. The look is uncontrived, pure Americana--jaunty checked, plaid and houndstooth sport coats, worn with or without silk paisley ascots. And who knows? Stylish men everywhere could be inspired to shed their black-leather motorcycle jackets. As for Bugsy’s cohorts, Wolsky also earns points for avoiding ‘40s gangster cliches like black shirts, white ties and pin-stripes, and dressing them instead as somberly as bankers.

“ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES”: Designer John Bloomfield succeeds on every level with this medieval romp in Sherwood Forest by being disloyal to the period and letting his imagination run free. Unlike the costumes for Peter Pan in “Hook,” Bloomfield scraps pre-existing images of traditional Robin Hood attire and starts anew. He wraps Hood (Kevin Costner) in chap-like leather slacks, wickedly studded jackets and boots, and dramatic, hooded cloaks. Maid Marian gets equal billing in the style department, shimmering in numbers like a silver muslin dress covered with pearls and embroidered fabric strips.

“SOAPDISH”: Question: How do you make contemporary clothing look uproariously funny? Nolan Miller has all the answers in this movie, set behind the scenes of a TV soap opera. There is no finer example of contemporary satirical costume than on the sound stages where Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) borders on a nervous collapse dressed in gooey-looking outfits that set your teeth on edge. Her puff-sleeved and excessively beaded dresses come in an unsettling palette of taxi-cab yellows and fire-engine reds, including matching furs. While the principals’ wardrobes were all custom made, the biggest joke may be that Miller dressed the 300 extras in evening gowns left over from his stints designing for the stars of “Dynasty,” “Hotel” and other more serious glamorous fare.