Going for the Oscar in the Best Costume Design category, it’s time to honor all the women behind the costumes of a film set in the 1980s and 90s, thanks to a story by Lydia Dean Pilcher. The movie is called The Shape of Water and we’ve seen a ton of the costumes on the red carpet during awards season, but for some inspiration, I went directly to the source — Sally Spangler, the woman who created the costumes for the film. She’s also the costume director on the movie. She’s wearing the black long sleeve version of the dress, which she had custom-made by designer Zaiqa Jaffer. “There is a lot of embroidery detail going on,” she says. “It was meant to look very regal and old world and old school and regal — which it is.” She also points out that her inspiration for this dress comes from a painting of the Duchess of Windsor by John Singer Sargent, which she saw while visiting the Met. We chatted with Spangler about the costume details on this dress, her past work on Beauty and the Beast and more. What is the inspiration behind this exact dress? “I love the movie from the ’40s called Gaslight, which was remade with Nicole Kidman as the lead in the 90s. The black, white and gold was very much a signature look for her. I also love the black and white stripes in The Avengers. I wanted to pay tribute to that.” This whole look has a very ’80s vibe. What was your inspiration behind that? “I just loved the art deco look of that time period. To me, that was just a cool-looking, badass, glamorous, and yet dangerous look that I wanted to explore. Then we played with the color and texture and came up with this funky, ’80s, chic, glamorous look that I think brings it all together.” “The shape of the dress looks very vintage-y and retro, but it’s made with new technology. I did a lot of research about high-tech materials and I wanted it to be modern-looking, but also have a twist of the old-time glamour. We did research and found out the one thing from the ’50s and ’60s that women loved — it was this material called Spandex that was very much the miracle fabric of that time. It was this material that saved women’s lives because it was such a strong, lightweight fabric that you could wear under your slinky dress and it didn’t let you bounce all over the place when you danced. So that was our inspiration and then we found this modern-day high tech fabric that looks like the silk from the ’50s and ’60s.” Did you know how to sew when you came into this film industry? “Well, no. I didn’t really know how to sew before I got hired for The Shape of Water. I was in New York doing makeup and special effects make-up when I had a meeting with Ridley Scott, who was on his book tour for his new book. It was the first time I met him, so he hired me as his production designer. We had no conversation about me being an art director or doing costumes, it was all about special effects. So then I went to Rome and we did that movie and I was able to sew up my own clothes.” You’re wearing the black long sleeve version. Do you have to wear the white-collared version while shooting? “I do when they’re still dressing up the cast, but when you get them in their street clothes, you don’t have to wear that outfit anymore. There were several different sets that I had to do that for. Sometimes they would even have an ensemble that would be made for them, with an outfit that was tailored for them. The one that I was working on most was a black dress. But, you could wear your own clothes. I didn’t own anything similar, but I used the concept of what’s called a ‘tailor blouse.’ I wanted it to look as though I was still working in this wardrobe — because I wanted to stay consistent. So I used a tailored button-up blouse and I have a jacket that I wear, too. I did buy a pair of black jeans, but I didn’t wear anything else.” Did you have any thoughts about the ’70s and ’80s style of the house you live in? “Not at all. I didn’t want anything too ’70s or ’80s. I just went with ’50s, for me. It’s just what’s easy and comfortable for me to wear all the time. I’m a big curvy woman, too, so it’s a lot easier for me to go into a curvy silhouette, ’50s fashion. You know what’s funny? When I was designing it, I thought it was too ’50s. But when I saw the movie with the hair and makeup, it totally fit in the ’80s look. So it’s both at once, in a way.” You mentioned in the past that you used to work on Beauty and the Beast, so tell me about your costumes from that film. “I did costumes for Belle and other characters — even Lumiere. I did all the costumes. I had to be very creative with how to figure out how I was going to do that look in every country that we went to — the Belle costumes. For the France shoot, we went to the Chateau de Chantilly and found a black and white striped pattern on the wall and used that as inspiration. That was really fun, because you do get inspired. You have to really watch what you’re doing.” How do you feel about the look? “I love it. I can’t wait to wear it on our trip to the States this year and visit fans. The whole idea of Beauty and the Beast was that she is beautiful in that she is who she is, no matter what others think. And it’s no matter where she is. This dress, this concept, really encapsulates that as well, because she is still beautiful even though she isn’t like everybody else in the world.” Do you have any favorite items from The Shape of Water? “I’m particularly drawn to the shoes in this film. I really do love the boots that Caitlin wears. They are very vintage and so fun to wear. Those are so stylish. You see women wearing them, but I feel like I’m not wearing them right. They’re so stylish! So stylish! And the earrings by the window, too. They’re so beautiful. I love the hat in the first scene that Giles is wearing as the FBI guy, Giles is wearing a hat, and that hairpiece by the window. I think that’s so cool. I love the hats from this film. I think they all look so stylish.” Anything else you’d like to add? “I just want to say that I am thrilled to be here. I just hope I can always continue to be doing this as long as I can. I would like to be able to retire and be able to say, ‘I worked on this amazing movie!’” The Shape of Water is in theaters now. Read our review, where we say it’s “the summer’s go-to date movie.”