The third in a series by Hassle writer Anna Hoang celebrating legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter, recipient of the 2023 Coolidge Award. Catch up with the previous installments here and here, and be sure to check out the Coolidge’s accompanying repertory series!
When you look into Ruth E. Carter’s work, you’ll notice repeat collaborations between her and filmmakers (Spike Lee, John Singleton) as well as cast members (Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson). These names share a similar power of ushering Black Hollywood into blockbuster attractions and everlasting stardom. It’s pretty cool to see the endurance of great careers and how they can interlace between people who have been at it for a long time. From first-time leading roles and awards recognition to established household-name statuses, Carter’s hand in crafting the image surrounding fictional and real-life stars contribute to a kind of monumental purpose. In a way, she’s helped build icons, both that were already realized and ones that were in the making.
When I was in middle school, there was one person that that my classmates generally agreed was the comedic legend: Eddie Murphy. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get behind that statement. Just as how people would experience an aura before a migraine, I can sometimes feel when Eddie Murphy’s name was approaching a conversation. Dropping lines from Norbit or The Nutty Professor was an easy laugh — too easy, my 10-year-old-self thought, probably brewing some terrible concoction of elevated humor for me and me alone. But even though I wasn’t a fan, it would behoove my social sensibilities to watch his movies and keep up with the times. I probably couldn’t tell you much about his movies to this day; if the movie title wasn’t the name of his character, I’m not really sure if I watched it. I can really just distinguish by what he’s wearing: the one where he’s in a white coat, the one where he’s in a gingham-ish bowtie, the one where he plays both sides of a romantic couple.
Be that as it may, his impact still resonates. When I close my eyes and think of fifth grade, I can probably see a faint etching of Murphy’s shit-eating grin — the one he wears right before he’s about to wreak havoc amongst bystanders. Topping at seven movies (so far), Murphy is also Carter’s most frequent acting collaborator. By the time they met, Murphy was already a big name (Carter recalls being starstruck when Murphy visited the set of Do the Right Thing years prior) and Carter had garnered attention via a couple of Oscar noms. From 2001’s Dr. Doolittle 2 to Coming 2 America, their movies share a wide range of outfits and costumes befitting Murphy’s repertoire in comedy. In working with anyone for a long time, you come to grow and learn with each other. Here, nothing says range quite like dressing someone as broccoli in one movie and dressing them as royalty in another. When I think of Murphy, I’ll usually acquaint him as a perennial goofball. But there are times — like his rose-lattice suit (“The strawberry pie”, as Carter refers to it) in Dolemite Is My Name or his gold lion capelet in Coming 2 America — where I’ll think, “Wow, he’s kinda the man.”
Outside of the Hollywood glamour, Carter has also worked with the task of mirroring non-fictional figures onto the screen. For sweeping historical epics like Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, fashion is already set in stone. She also didn’t have to reinvent the wheel while designing Denzel Washington’s Malcolm X; the browline glasses and skinny tie are evocative pieces of a man whose impact still reverberates to this day. Carter even gets into the nitty-gritty for others; for Selma, she tightens David Oweyolo’s neck collars to replicate MLK Jr’s rolls on the back of his head. But for the space in between the Times photographs and archived newspaper shots, costuming takes a bit of hypothetical creativity. In the beginning of Malcolm X, there are a lot of loud, bold colors brought by Washington’s zoot suits — the kind of cut that seems diametric to Malcolm X’s usual slim-tailored appearance. Similarly, you might be able to find some pictures of a young Thurgood Marshall wearing patterned ties, but Chadwick Boseman’s courtroom wear, which features geometric-stamped neckties nestled under double-breasted pinstripe suits, brings livelihood to an otherwise serious figure who had changed the course of racial segregation in the country.
And then, at some point, there is the fun double entendre of icon costuming. If I dare recall the “golden” years of superhero movie releases, there was something really fun in wondering which A-list actor will don the cape of a famous character to duke it out with other A-list celebrities in recognizable suits. In the historical re-enactment universe, Carter gets to dress master gardener Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan. She even gets to the point of costuming Nigél Thatch, the next generation’s portrayal of Malcolm X in Selma. Whatever the next project may be, Carter’s experience will help push the envelope for talent, burgeoning or established. Working in the industry for a long time can yield lasting imagery that will stick to a person, building to a legacy that follows when the camera stops rolling.
Featured films:
Malcolm X (1992) dir. Spike Lee
Coming 2 America (2021) dir. Craig Brewer
Daddy Day Care (2003) dir. Steve Carr
Marshall (2017) dir. Reginald Hudlin
