And the two-time Oscar winner responsible for his dapper, deathly duds? Costumer Colleen Atwood. Her inspiration for the musical, says the wardrobe whiz who worked on Beloved , Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Sleepy Hollow , was "the music. It's the starting point of all of it. It's a moody piece, so I wanted a lot of texture in the costumes. I wanted you to be able to feel them on screen."
And though Depp's and his partner-in-crime Helena Bonham Carter's ensembles might have a certain goth flavor, that's accidental. "My root isn't goth," says Atwood, who took home Academy Awards for 2002's Chicago and 2005's Memoirs of a Geisha . "To me, the influence was the makeup and styling of the old black-and-white movies. The lips and eyes are dark, and the face is light. That's the feeling we were going for, more than a conscious goth look."
Atwood shares her sartorial inspirations for Sweeney Todd with us:
Sweeney Todd
Character: Depp stars as the bloodthirsty barber, who returns to London after being exiled to Australia for a crime he didn't commit.
Atwood's style notes: "He comes off a boat, crusted with salt. He's been through a terrifying time in prison, and he's hardened to life. He enters the world with a shell on, like an insect shell. His jacket has a sheen. As he starts barbering, he becomes part of the world he's living in, a world where people use recycled clothing. (The) jacket he wears to work was influenced by work wear of the period. I really felt he needed some heavy weight to his feet, like he was dragging weight, and his boots are quite heavy and have nails around the outside of the sole on top. You get a kick of silver when he hits the pedal on the barber chair. His costumes are simple. He's not conscious of what he's wearing. "
Mrs. Lovett
Character: Bonham Carter is the piemaker who is in love with Todd.
Atwood's style notes: "She was somebody who almost was like a crow. She was always picking a bit of this or that up. Everyone is a little grimy in the movie. As she got more money, she got a couple of new dresses. I used a lot of authentic fabrics. Her dresses were a range of color but subtle and controlled. There was always a hint of red peeking out, but very low-key. A lot of her stuff had a sheen or beading. I thought she'd be attracted to a bit of obvious glitter. Underneath she had fantastic underwear you never see — great bloomers and corsets. As for the fingerless gloves — people wore them in the period. They'd been around."
Judge Turpin
Character: Alan Rickman takes a turn as the judge who destroys Todd's life, steals his wife and daughter, and starts him on his killing spree.
Atwood's style notes: "The judge had a little poetry in his heart. Was His pre-Victorian heyday, and he clung to Those kinds of clothing. His clothing Had Been ounces fine, But he was very unkempt and grubby and unshaven, But harking back to a Time When He Was on top of the world, in the beginning of the movie. "
Tim Burton Interview:
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