Everything they have in the world should be very simple and look like it’s come from their world, which is a very primitive, distant place on the edge of Scotland.”ĭistant and primitive, yes, though even without any glitz factor whatsoever the film is a visual feast. “All the time it was about paring it down and keeping it simple, and the palette really goes from black to cream and that’s it. There’s pleating on her white ceremonial costume, there’s a small hand-embroidered border in cream around the neck and down the back, and that was all we allowed ourselves,” Durran laughed. It’s quite a chunky hand-pleating rather than the kind of machine-pleating that we’re used to now. Cartridge pleating is a particular ancient type of pleating, and we tried to use that. “One ancient way of embellishment is pleating, so in all of Lady Macbeth’s clothes somewhere there is some sort of variation on pleating. “There’s very little embellishment,” Durran said of Lady Macbeth’s royal-wear. Given that this place was at the far reaches of civilization, one has to imagine that they would only have the most basic things, so by using only the simplest things, the simplest shapes, and trying to get back to the core idea of clothing and then work from that back into what the characters would be like.” The Dark Ages, early Medieval period, and certain elements of Viking garb also served as prominent references for the designer and her team, with Duncan (the King of Scotland and one of Macbeth’s earliest victims) wearing an exact replica of a Viking shirt. “I wanted to pare it down and try and discover a sort of elemental kind of clothing. Informed by the bleakness of the Scottish landscape and the survivalist spirit of the Wild West, Durran crafted ensembles inspired by essential forms-nary a frill or pop of color in sight. If those two entries on Durran’s filmography are painting a certain ornate and lush picture of what her Macbeth costumes may look like, think again. As a costume designer, Durran’s work varies far and wide, though most will remember her creations from her Oscar-winning turn costuming Anna Karenina and that infamous Kelly green silk dress Keira Knightley sports in Atonement.

Adding to the allure of the production are stark and textural costumes by Jacqueline Durran.

The film stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as the titular pair of murderous Scots and has been widely hailed as a smartly stylish reimagining of the Bard’s early-17th-century play. Something wicked comes to theaters tonight in the form of Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth.

Macbeth witches costumes