This weekend is the premiere opening of Disney’s live action adaptation of Cinderella starring Downton Abbey‘s Lily James in lead at theaters nationwide. 

But we are really loving Cate Blanchett as the Wicked Stepmother, Lady Tremaine, especially for her fabulous wardrobe!

Academy Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell brought her expertise to the project and drew  inspiration from the 1940s glam era. 

“They wanted to give the stepmother a bit of a history, to give her a reason for being the way she was,” Powell has said of costuming the wicked step mom. “She was hurt, bitter, but there was no reason she should be ugly. She was beautiful but kind of intimidating.”

Powell’s credits include Gangs of New York, Shakespeare in Love and The Wolf of Wall Street, among others. 

She offered some insight in her decision to upgrade the Treamaine’s style game. 

“This is not set in any real time period, so I could go all out with the color,” Powell said. “It’s a film for kids, adults too, but really it’s a fairy story. I thought of it as a picture book, how it’s graphic and bright, you can tell who everybody is from the color they’re wearing. I could go out there and do the boldest versions of things I’d done before.”