Dressing the Characters of The Ballad of Wallis Island with Compassion

In James Griffiths’ The Ballad of Wallis Island—co-written by Tom Basden and Tim Key— a two-time lottery winner, Charles (Key), invites his musical idol, Herb McGwyer (Basden), to perform on the remote island on which he lives. Charles, however, fails to tell the musician that he plans to be the sole audience and that he’s also invited Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), his former musical partner and ex-girlfriend. As this hilariously uncomfortable arrangement plays itself out with Charles unthinkingly championing the upcoming event, each character learns to find a different kind of harmony in their life. Variety writes that this heartfelt comedy is “the best kind of crowd-pleaser: disarming, joyful, and full of compassion for its oddball characters.”

To skillfully navigate the film’s course between the audacious and the authentic, the filmmakers reached out to costume designer Gabriela Yiaxis. Her keen understanding of the film’s sense of humor and her affection for the characters provided her with the proper fashion sense to dress each character with care and consideration.

We spoke with Yiaxis about what we can learn about each character through their unique sartorial selections.

In select theaters now, everywhere April 18 — so get your tickets now!

How did you get involved in working on The Ballad of Wallis Island?

I had worked with the film producer, Rupert Majendie, on his previous film, Brian and Charles. I think he was impressed that I designed costumes for a washing machine robot. Interestingly, there is a very eccentric Charles in this film, too.

When you read the script, did you have an idea what the costuming should be?

I completely fell in love with the characters and story when I read the script. There was this wonderful mix of warmth, awkwardness, quirkiness, and, by the end, uplift. I had lots of thoughts about the characters’ costumes. I very much like to respect that gut feeling I get reading the script. For Charles, for instance, I wanted him to be a completely adorable person that the audience would want to hug. I wanted to give him items that were quite sweet, like a fish cardigan, a bucket hat, and a mix of awkward items.

Was there a palette for the costumes?

Not really, but I tended towards a warm color palette for the film. For example, I wanted Charles’ cardigan to be red, which I thought would look really nice against the colors of the landscape. We had the sea, the mountains, and the grey, sometimes blue sky of Wales.

How did you imagine the look for Herb?

He goes on a journey in the film with his costumes. At the beginning, his spirits are in a very dark place. By the end, things have changed for him. At the start of the film, his outfits are quite dark, but by the end, I dressed him in bright and light colors.

What was the palette for Nell?

For Carey, I used more purples and burgundies and some pops of colors here and there. But I didn't want it to be bright. I wanted her palette to be quite deep with rich colors that would play well with antique and sophisticated fabrics. There was some silk, but also distressed overalls that I got from an antique dealer.

What do we learn about the characters from what they wear?

Charles is one of my favorite characters to create costumes for. With him, it was important to find the right balance between being bold and quirky, but not so much to make him a caricature. I imagined he wore clothing that he had worn for donkey years. He doesn't have any sense of fashion and is completely oblivious to what is out there. But when he got attached to some item of clothing, he would wear it again and again.

I suspect that when he moved to the island, he believed that something nautical would be very appropriate. I got obsessed with the idea that he wore a fish cardigan, something he probably saw in a window display and became very attached to. And he has that waistcoat with all the pockets because he probably thought, “I am so grateful to have something with all these pockets in which to put all the things I find during my walk to town.” He wears a baseball cap because he’s not an old man.

And McGwyer?

Herb was an indie rock folk musician who had never turned the page on that part of his life. He lives like he is still in his golden years when he and Nell were famous. I wanted to give him a wardrobe of a rock musician from the late ‘90s, early 2000s. Not something a musician might wear today, but a little bit dated. He has skinny jeans with Chelsea boots and a lean blazer. During prep, I checked in with Tom when he was writing the songs for the film. Since most of them were folk songs, we thought of bringing in a Western vibe. He wears a checkered shirt which he tucks in. And I gave him a skinny scarf, again something a folk musician from that period might wear.

Nell Mortimer seems like someone very comfortable with her sense of style.

For Nell, I thought about Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. She understands fashion and is very confident with her style. With her, I wanted her outfits to demonstrate a level of sophistication in taste. Not necessarily expensive, but something nobody else has. Something unique and bold. I got her these antique outfits, like the kimono she wears kind of like a long coat. It's an antique silk e-cut with purple mixed with gold and silver threads that look really nice on camera. The difficulty of dressing Carey is that she has a magnetic aura. When she is on screen, you can’t take your eyes off her. Everything looks too good on Carey, so I had to step back with her outfits to give a bit of reality to her look.

Were the costumes sourced or designed?

I'm a very sustainable costume designer, so I try to use antique and vintage items if I can. But we designed some items. We created a McGwyer Mortimer tour T-shirt. We also created the fish cardigan because I couldn’t find anything that fit my vision of Charles. I contracted with a woman in Brighton to knit it, but unfortunately, it came out almost four times too big. To get it to fit, I actually tried to shrink it in the wash, which turned into a big mess. Luckily, the woman who knitted the original one was so enthusiastic about the project, that she knitted a new one just in time.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.