Latex on screen: Poor Things movie + BBC drama Domino Day

Latex on screen: Poor Things star Emma Stone in the ‘condom coat’ designed by Holly Waddington and made by Vex (image: Yorgos Lanthimos)

LATEX ON SCREEN: POOR THINGS MOVIE + BBC DRAMA DOMINO DAY

Latex fashion’s influence on mainstream culture is already appearing in fresh places in 2024, with the use of latex notable in costuming the lead actresses in a multi-award-winning movie and a promising new BBC television drama.

LATEX ON SCREEN: POOR THINGS – IN UK CINEMAS NOW

The movie is Poor Things, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s sci-fi re-animation comedy starring Emma Stone, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Grey, and co-starring Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo. The film, with almost 50 prizes already under its belt, has been nominated for no less than 11 Academy Awards. These include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor (Ruffalo), Best Adaptive Screenplay (Tony MacNamara), Best Original Score (Jerskin Fendrix) and, of particular interest from our point of view, Best Costume Design for Holly Waddington.

In fact, British Fine Art graduate Holly’s work on the film has had a remarkable amount of column inches devoted to it by the fashion media, and was even the subject of a Barbican exhibition which ran until late January. In one of several in-depth interviews, she told Whistles.com that she had started out working for the legendary Angels Costume House in London, had gone on to work with big Hollywood names like Sandy Powell and had also obtained a Master’s in theatre design.

Left: Holly Waddington at the Barbican exhibition of her Poor Things costumes; right: Emma Stone in that ‘condom coat’ again

But for insight into how Emma Stone’s character Bella came to be dressed in the stunning floor-length translucent natural latex cape (or ‘condom coat’ as the designer describes it, pictured above), and other fetishy garb, we found ourselves consulting her interview for the fashionista’s bible: British Vogue. “For the brothel scenes in Paris, I really wanted to work with a palette that felt not at all brothel-y. I wanted to avoid black and red, and I didn’t want any black underwear – I wanted skin tone colours, and we made a lot of these big jackets out of wool with latex poured over it,” Holly explained.

Watch the official Poor Things trailer here!

“Bella also has this cape – a little pac-a-mac that she brings with her for emergencies. When she first gets to Paris and she and Duncan are broke, she puts on this latex, cheese-slice-coloured thing. It’s hilarious because it’s freezing and she’s wearing that, but also because she wears it for her first sexual encounter in the brothel and she is, essentially, wearing a giant condom. I basically wanted it to evoke the colour of a period condom. It sounds so revolting but that’s what I was thinking.”

Poor Things is a kinky surrealist feast from beginning to end, whether your fetish be medical, Victoriana or plain old fashion screwing. Incidentally the latex cape was made to Holly’s specification by well-known US label Vex Clothing and is probably the costume with the most screen time in the movie. The translucent natural latex is also used as frilled trimming on some other dresses. But we are left in no doubt that its use by Poor Things’ costume designer Holly Waddinton was no vulgar attempt at attention-grabbing but a natural choice in all senses of the term!

LATEX ON SCREEN: DOMINO DAY – ON BBC THREE AND iPLAYER NOW

Domino Day star Siena Kelly in one of the costumes designed for the BBC Three series by Nirage Mirage (image: BBC)

Sadly, we don’t have the same wealth of info on the costume design for BBC Three’s new modern-day witch drama Domino Day, with Siena Kelly (above) in the title role — beyond that it was executed by Nirage Mirage. But from the first episode, screened at 9pm on January 31 (with all episodes already available on iPlayer), it’s clear that fit young Mancunian witch Domino (who is also a barista and part-time tattooist) has a very natural relationship with latex, as well as other fetishy fabrics and styles. She appears at the very start of the first episode wearing a maroon latex halter-neck top and short black pencil skirt, and rocks this combo as naturally as any fetish club regular.

Siena Kelly as Domino in the latex top and skirt she wears on a date that turns nasty c/o would-be rapist Jason (Jonah Rzeskiewicz) (BBC)

Without giving too much away, Domino is having to cope with the fact that she’s a kind of energy vampire, feeding off the life-force of others to stay alive herself. When a date she meets in a bar turns out to be a sleazy would-be rapist, he gets more than he bargained for. Unfortunately though, even people who are nice to Domino, and that she genuinely likes, can end up as her victims. Meanwhile, the local coven, which has become aware of the likely destructiveness of her powers, is anxious to recruit her. It’s a set-up with a whole cauldron of potential!

The BBC commissioned Domino Day as a six-part series from new writer Lauren Sequeira, who’d been a Writer in Residence at Dancing Ledge Productions, the show’s production company. With co-writers Charlene James and Haleema Mirza, plus Eva Sigurdardottir and Nadira Amrani directing, it boasts a wealth of female creative energy that reminded us of the work of mega-talented Michaela Coel.

Young witch Domino Day (Siena Kelly) in a promo image for the BBC Three series which has just debuted on Freeview and iPlayer

After viewing half the series, Guardian reviewer Lucy Mangan said of Domino Day: “It dances along lots of tightropes without falling off. It is incredibly stylish without being self-conscious and it has energy to burn without becoming frenetic. There is always plenty going on and the twists and revelations are nicely paced.”

We certainly suspect that a lot of Libidex Blog fans will find Domino Day (currently accessible via Freeview and iPlayer) very much to their taste!

Watch the official Domino Day trailer here!