Movie Costumer Ruth E Carter Is Black History & Future

As a veteran in the industry, Carter has experienced firsthand how costume designing has evolved over time. From the early years of working with Spike Lee to now, she has mastered the skill of sourcing items for a particular time period. One skill Carter still stands by is research — knowing what people were wearing, what they were like, and what was going on in the world at the time. “I really do direct my focus towards the people and the culture,” Carter explains. “We went through several eras in Malcolm X, and the further back you go, for example into the 1920s, the more difficult it is to hone in because pieces from that time get more and more scarce. However, in films such as Tina Turner’s life story and Coming 2 America, you saw more Afro-futurism through the lens of what Black people were doing back then. In the 70s, the blaxploitation era looked different from the hippy era.”