On Friday night, Kate Winslet graced the silver screen once again alongside, heartthrob, Liam Hemsworth to bring Rosalie Ham’s romance novel, The Dressmaker, to life at the Florence Gould Hall Theater premier.
Winslet plays Tilly Dunnage- an outcast who returns to her hometown after accusations arise painting her as the murderer of a young boy. However, Dunnage slowly wins over the hearts of members of the town with her seamstress skills and dresses that seems to magically transform all who wear them.
“It’s the last little piece to the puzzle because often by the time you come to the first day of shooting, you’ve been thinking about the character and prepping the character, getting excited and figuring out who they’re going to be and of course you can’t really ever do that until the costumes go on.” Said Winslet when comparing her character’s dress making abilities to wardrobe’s impact on acting.
The Titanic actress also took into account outfit styles when getting into character. She utilized “a lot of picture references and research into the fashion of the time” saying the latter of which was “of course extremely important to Tilly.”
While Winslet took joy and inspiration from the stylish pieces, producer, Sue Maslin, had a wonderful time with the opportunity to be a part of a movie taking place in her home country of Australia.
“The whole thing was just this wild challenge. Can you imagine getting those gorgeous frocks out there in the Australian Outback? It was really really special. And seeing something we’d always imagine for years come to life,” said Maslin of her favorite part of filming.
The evening was presented by London Fog and a party followed at Avra Madison where guests enjoyed SVEDKA cocktails and Ruffino Wine.
Find out if Tilly Dunnage is able to stitch together the pieces of her tattered past in theaters on September 23rd.
Nicole is a contributing writer for The Knockturnal. Follow her on Twitter @NcolAlexandria.