In The Roses, now streaming on JioHotstar, architect Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and chef Ivy (Olivia Colman) meet in a restaurant kitchen, bonding over their shared frustrations over being denied their “cascading garden balconies” and dehydrated blackberry and anchovy powder, respectively, by their tightly buttoned-up bosses.
The two Brits soon move to Mendocino, California. A decade, two children, and one (un)fortunate storm later, Theo’s career sinks and Olivia’s soars after years of lying dormant. There’s one thing that remains joyful when things are literally going up in flames? Ivy’s wardrobe.
To capture Ivy’s cool-chef vibe, costume designer PC Williams turns to a bevy of prints and colour that reflect the personality of someone who bribes her kids with sweet treats and has trained their palate to appreciate shrimp powder. Read: shirts and blouses from labels like Lisou, Alemais, Desmond & Dempsey, and Reserved—often worn with barrel-leg jeans—that could teach us a thing or two about what workwear today could mean.
Facing an empty restaurant, Ivy’s in a red vintage-style Lisou blouse. Later, she’s contemplating what a restaurant full of people could want while wearing a printed Alemais blouse under a striped apron. When Theo and Ivy are on the therapist’s couch dishing out compliments like, “I would rather live with her than a wolf” and, “his breath smells like anchovies that have been on the piss all night”, she’s wearing a Barbour peasant-collar denim patchwork shirt that now has its own Reddit thread.
When her sharky divorce lawyer, Eleanor (Alison Janney), is busy scaring the bejesus out of Theo and his lawyer/friend Barry (Andy Samberg), Ivy’s tie-front green pinstriped shirt proves a laidback antidote to Eleanor’s crisp navy Edeline Lee shift.
In one rare occasion, in the pivotal dinner scene towards the end where Ivy looks ready to stab Leo with a 15th century sword from a Spanish monastery, the absence of print becomes a statement too: there’s a lot going on and maybe Ivy’s not in her element.
As Theo casually flambees a first edition of Escoffier, Ivy stands aghast in her Hayley Menzies landscape-print cardigan worn over a Reiss white button-down.
The prints feel quaint, but also somehow fresh. The occasional stripe, too, gets the casual treatment. Throughout the film, a rotation of Converse high-tops further reinforces the creative-at-work theme.
A still from 'The Roses'
Speaking to Costume CO, PC Williams spoke about how “fun” was a crucial parameter while deciding the pieces Ivy would wear through the film. “They’re quirky, they’re artisanal, they’re colourful without being saturated colours. A boxy shape so she’s comfortable in them. As she develops in her career, they become much more fitted to her body, much more corporate, but they don’t become any less print-heavy, any less Ivy.”
What do you wear to a day job that includes pondering the cook on a crustacean or the exact proportions in the perfect negroni? Even if your daily troubles are more restricted to Microsoft Excel, the question remains. What separates you from the drones? Maybe it’s having a garden on your shirt.
