LOS ANGELES — Charlize Theron's evil queen costumes for “Snow White and the Huntsman” called for hundreds of hand-cut rooster feathers, thousands of iridescent beetle wings from Thailand and one particularly imposing crown.
The outfits represented a host of firsts for Academy Award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood.
From the leather piping on the pleats of the queen's wedding gown to the gauzy green metal trim on the beetle-wing dress, the nine-time Oscar nominee and three-time winner experimented with materials for director Rupert Sanders' dark take on the classic fairy tale.
“The idea of the fairy tale sets you free in a way because you can make it up,” Atwood said. ”
She created an armored ensemble fit for a queen by dressing up chain mail with rolled leather and horsehair trim and topping it off with a particularly pointy metal crown.
From the wedding dress, with its architectural shoulders that appear to be made from bones, to the twice-embroidered gown that eventually resembles an old, peeling skin, Atwood's costumes reflect the evil queen's obsession with appearances.
“Every costume had a feeling of not quite what it seems,” Theron said.
