It’s the ultimate sartorial Sophie’s choice! Beware: Spoilers ahead if you’re not caught up on these films and shows!
ABC / Michael Ansell, FX / Michele K. Short, Sony Pictures Classics, Claudette Barius / HBO, AMC, Michael Yarish, Warner Bros. Pictures
Every year, The Costume Designers Guild of America celebrates the accomplishments of their members at The CDG Awards, a gathering of costume designers, assistant costume designers, costume illustrators, and the actors who don their wares.
There are seven awards that are handed out annually — Excellence in Contemporary Film, Excellence in Period Film, Excellence in Fantasy Film, Outstanding Contemporary Television Series, Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series, Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Mini Series, and Excellence in Commercial Costume Design — and the 2014 nominees collectively represent the year's biggest pop culture hits, from American Horror Story to American Hustle and Game of Thrones to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
BuzzFeed asked 17 of the CDGA nominees to reflect on their celebrated projects and select their single favorite look from their work. The results represent a dazzling array of singular looks that can often encapsulate a film or television series.
Breaking Bad — Outstanding Contemporary TV Series
AMC
Who: Jennifer Bryan
What: Skyler White's drowning dress
When: Breaking Bad Season 5, Episode 4: "Fifty-One"
Where: Three Dots cotton top and Dillards skirt
Why: Bryan told BuzzFeed she chose this look because of the technical challenges it presented. "Vince [Gilligan] wanted it to look like Skyler was floating underneath the water, but that's difficult to do because when fabric gets wet, gravity and the weight of water tends to pull it downward," she said. "Vince also wanted the skirt to float away from her body, so I put additional panels in the skirt so it would spread open and rigged the skirt with little, tiny, plastic tubes that would keep it afloat. I also wired the edges of the skirt so it would open up like a lily when she's submerged."
Equally time-consuming was the hunt for Skyler's white top, because, as Bryan said, "it couldn't look like Skylar entered a wet T-shirt contest." After countless underwater tests with a model, Bryan settled on two pieces. "This is my favorite look because of the challenges it presented, and how happy I was with the end result."
