He wore a single-breasted Brooks Brothers tuxedo. It was very Hollywood, perfectly peppered with old-school class.  He looked like a character from “The Artist”.  And, as of last Sunday, he was the proud owner of an Academy Award for his work on that very movie.
Mark Bridges graduated from the Stony Brook theater arts major in 1983. Bridges won the Oscar for best costume design in the 84th Annual Academy Awards.
“The Artist” is a no-color, no-sound French film about an older silent film star who has his work challenged by a rising young actress. She steals his heart, as well as the heart of late 1920s Hollywood. The movie, which was put together primarily in France, took home five awards, including the very respected combination of best picture and best director. It was nominated for 10 different categories.
But it was Bridges’ first nomination, and his first Academy Award. When did his fascination with costume design begin?
“As a child, I loved movies. I always drew; I always loved fabric; I loved clothes; I loved color, I loved telling a story. So it’s an amalgam of everything I enjoy, and it happens to be called costume designer,” Bridges said in an interview with CNN.
He told CNN, “Without the color to communicate the language of telling the story, I was trying to tell the story through textures, whether it be lamé, sequins and beads for Hollywood, or very flat, rough- textured wools to communicate down-on-your-heels, or the elegance of satin lapels for evening wear, or the shimmer of a beautiful nightgown. It became a story of textures telling the story.”
But, “The Artist” was not Bridges first work with the big screen. He has worked with numerous well-known films, including “There Will Be Blood,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis, “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams; “Greenberg,”starring Ben Stiller, “Yes Man,” starring Jim Carrey, and numerous others.
According to the Stony Brook Alumni and Friends online newsletter, Bridges worked at Barbara Matera Costumes in New York City post-graduation. He was a shopper for Broadway, worked on dance and film projects and earned his MFA in costume design at New York University.
The newsletter also included a quote from Alan Inkles, the Staller Center director and a former classmate of Bridges, saying, “There wasn’t a show at Stony Brook (whether he was acting in it or not) where you wouldn’t find Mark up in the costume shop designing costumes, doing fittings or sewing something together for a production. He was an absolute perfectionist in everything he did and he had such a drive and passion for the theatre.”
This year’s Academy Awards was watched by just over 34 million, according to figures from Nielsen.  Highlights from the show included Angelina Jolie’s infamously long right leg peeking out of its sheer black Versace dress; Octavia Spencer’s heart-warming acceptance of best supporting actress in “The Help;” and the cast of “Bridesmaids” taking a swig of alcohol any time someone said the word “Scorsese.”
Despite numerous requests for an interview, Bridges has yet to respond to The Statesman.