Dressing Australia: A Conversation with Catherine Martin

Catherine: You know, I think they're a bit like your children, costumes. Some days you're crosser with one than the other, but you love them all equally but differently. And I always feel that the costume—if it serves its place in the story—then you're very grateful and satisfied that day.

I had the great pleasure to work with two people who are primarily actors, so Nicole [Kidman] and Hugh [Jackman] are actors first. If Nicole is playing the Wicked Witch of the West, she's looking for the biggest, gnarliest, most warty nose. So it's not about whether it looks right; like in that sort of superficial "do I look fat in these pants?" The fundamental drive is to support the character and make sure that the alchemy between the actor, director, the costume, the moment, everything is kind of working together.

Find out what Hugh Jackman thought about accepting his role as The Drover. 

One of the most coveted pieces is the red dress Nicole wears at the ball. And, you know, it's a piece that's focused upon. Am I happy it worked in the scene? Yes. Is my favorite piece? I don't know. I mean there are many elements of costume that I feel very proud of.

It seems such a strange thing to focus on, I suppose, but with King George, his pubic cover made of string entailed a huge amount of research. The manufacture of it was extremely detailed, involved hundreds and hundreds of man hours. ... In one of the museum collections in Australia there is a pubic cover that is almost identical to the one that King George wore. What I found fascinating and wonderful is that I got to work with a whole lot of indigenous fabric and was able to recreate this. When you look at the museum version and you look at our version, they're almost indistinguishable, and I'm so pleased we were able to reach that level of authenticity and accuracy. But whether it's my favorite or not, [I] just think it's an achievement.