And, ahead, she tells us exactly how she took on the behemoth of a project, and just how closely related the civil rights movement and personal style may be. How do you approach — or even begin to approach — a project such as this? What was your research process like? I was captivated and immediately wanted to find the images that supported the emotion that I felt as I read the pages. I had several books on photographic essays, books on the civil rights movement.
I also have a collection of Ebony magazines; a couple of them covered the Selma to Montgomery March with photographs and cover photos of Martin Luther King leading the march. It was a springboard for me because it talks about clothing. A lot of the footage has been black-and-white, so one of my challenges was to decide how it should be in color and also where I was going to gather all of the period clothing, because it was a march of everyday people.
So, you were already well-versed on this time in history. Was there anything that surprised you in your research this time? A guy would walk into your home in a suit, and it would be normal. I also noticed that there were a lot of coats, and there was a significance to all of these things. Coats were a form of armor. It was like they knew that they were going to be faced with this brutality. So, not only did they put a coat on because they were going to march 50 miles, but because they could pad underneath to protect themselves.
And, if you put your hands in the pockets of your coat while you were marching in the front line, it was a symbol of peaceful protest. They wore that in solidarity with the farmers of the South. You see James Bevel [played by Common] wearing that in the film a lot. One of the things that struck me was that the men who dressed in suits and the women in dresses looked incredibly put-together.
King played by Carmen Ejogo as a woman who cared about civil rights but who also took great pride in her appearance. She is arguably the best-dressed character in the film. King, from her beautiful dresses to her perfect Marcel-wave hairstyle.
Ruth Carter is such a skilled designer that one often does not even notice the complex narrative work that her costumes perform. But I encourage filmgoers to view Selma with new eyes.
Take in the beautiful sartorial landscape that Carter creates. Feel the range of emotions that her stylistic choices help to evoke. Her work is black fashion storytelling at its best. Tanisha C. She is an assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Follow her on Twitter. The A. Something like Everything about this look is perfect to me: the black T-shirt underneath, the fact that she left one button undone at the bottom, the high waist and slightly wide leg of the trousers, the minimalist strappy sandals, the barely-there makeup. Plus, she just look so comfortable in it. This is going right on my shopping list of things to buy as soon as that Dolly Parton vaccine is injected into my veins. If you're with me, shop a few single-breasted blazers below.
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