The Costume Designers Guild is an odd bunch and they sometimes make very unusual choices. Always give Oscar nominees an advantage, but beware of the eclectic. This Saturday, they give out their awards. Today, we give you our predictions for those awards and a bit of commentary.

COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD AWARDS

Best Period Costume Design

12 Years a Slave (Peter)
American Hustle (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp)
Dallas Buyers Club (RU:Peter)
The Great Gatsby (Wesley, Tripp)
Saving Mr. Banks

Wesley Lovell: If something other than The Great Gatsby wins, it may send shockwaves through the blogosophere, which might eventually leak out to Oscar voters and influence their choices, but with this bunch I don’t really see a viable alternative that isn’t more contemporary than period (American Hustle).
Peter J. Patrick: Ignoring the more obvious choice of The Great Gatsby, I’ll predict a surprise win for 12 Years a Slave with Dallas Buyers Club an even more surprising alternative.
Tripp Burton: Costume designers like lots of costumes, and those parties of The Great Gatsby are filled with eye-popping attire. The period recreation of American Hustle is a lot of fun, though, and could give the less-liked Gatsby a run for its money.

Best Fantasy Costume Design

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Peter)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Wesley, Tripp, RU:Peter)
Oz the Great and Powerful (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was one of the films on my shortlist for potential Oscar nominees, largely because of its wild and unusual costume design work. While Oz has a lot of colorful outfits, I give the edge to the outrageous design work in Catching Fire.
Peter J. Patrick: This one is just a wild guess.
Tripp Burton: Again, the most costumes probably wins, which leans towards the flamboyant Captial City in The Hunger Games.

Best Contemporary Costume Design

Blue Jasmine (RU:Tripp)
Her (Wesley, Tripp, RU:Peter)
Nebraska
Philomena (Peter)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (RU:Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: I question Her, which is a pseudo-futuristic film, being considered contemporary, but I’ve seen too many articles talking about the forward-thinking fashions that may become fashionable in the real world soon. That alone makes me suspect the film will triumph, but I could also see Blue Jasmine‘s New York chic, Nebraska‘s black-and-white homespun outfits or the numerous outfits in Walter Mitty taking this.
Peter J. Patrick: Contemporary winners are difficult to predict but I’ll go with Judi Dench’s stylish wardrobe in Philomena for the win and Joaquin Phoenix’s high waist trousers for the runner-up.
Tripp Burton: The most innovative of these films is her, if only because it is set in the near-future so it had to create a new style of dress. That should lead it to win easily here, unless the costume designers want to honor the impeccably chosen costumes of Blue Jasmine.