Top 7 Quotes & Sayings by Ruth E. Carter

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American costume designer Ruth E. Carter.

Last updated on December 22, 2024.

Ruth E. Carter is an American costume designer for film and television, with over 40 films to her credit, who has mastered the look of multiple periods and genres in envisioning the clothing and overall appearance of a character or performer. During her nearly-30-year film career, Carter has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, for her work on Spike Lee's biographical film Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg's historical drama film Amistad (1997), and her most recent work on Ryan Coogler's Marvel superhero film Black Panther (2018), for which she won the award and became the first African-American to win an Academy Award in that category.

American - Costume designer | Born: April 10, 1960

Source: Wikipedia

The color palette grew as the story progressed. The 1920's sharecroppers were muted and neutrals, the 30's and 40's introduced burgundy to the neutral palette. The 1950's introduced green, black and denim blue, the 1960's introduced orange and heavier more saturated color, the 1970's introduced more primaries, and the fashion palette became more recognizable as a contemporary one from there.

Ruth E. Carter

My favorite part about costume designing is the artistry of the job. You meet with a director and a visionary to discuss ideas. You research the characters and figure out the components of their look through your own vision. You create a color palette for a film, television or stage medium and discuss it with the director of photography who then lights your colored subjects.

Ruth E. Carter

I am a slave to fashion. I love to get into what's hot and current when I dress myself or somebody else. Usually, it's someone else because I'm constantly working on finding the best looks for actors.

Ruth E. Carter

You collaborate with actors who are also talented and visionary and come together on a artistic direction within the confines of humanity and realism. The collaboration that you have had with all of these people plays an integral role in its final stage where editing and music are combine to enhance your work. This whole process is very rewarding and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Ruth E. Carter

The hats of all eras thrill me. People don't wear them anymore. So when you see an outfit completed by a hat (that's for men too) it's thrilling. Especially if it's a Cloche from the 20's or a "Peter Pan" from the 30's, a Homburg from the 50's, or a Stingy Brim from the 60's. It's time stamping. Today everybody just wants to wear a baseball cap!

Ruth E. Carter

I begin with understanding the intentions of the story. That helps me to zero in. Then I gather research for each individual character and analyze the time period with comparisons to the figure and the facial structure. It helps to be comfortable with computers because the massive amount of research is kept electronically and shared with my staff this way. Very little is printed out. I work with an illustrator to come up with the proper silhouettes and details of the clothing from the time period to time period. And on and on.

Ruth E. Carter