Visual storytelling in cinema stretches to every department, including costumes. What characters wear says as much about them as any other element, and telling the story through clothing is as vital as telling it through photography, production design, sound design and all other aspects of the trade.

 

Costume designer Sandy Powell is a legend in this regard. She’s racked up 14 Oscar nominations and three wins throughout her 30-plus-year career for films like "Shakespeare in Love," "Hugo" and "The Favourite." Halfway through his own career, Christopher Peterson began collaborating with Powell as an assistant on projects like “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Carol.” The two took up the reins together on Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” a decades-spanning epic about the life and times of Teamsters union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

 

On this episode of “The Call Sheet,” Powell and Peterson discuss working with limited historical details, dig in on the particulars of specific outfits in the film and much, much more.