What was behind this strange Oscars snub?

AS Mad Max costume designer Jenny Beavan took to the stage to collect her award, a row of famous men scowled at her. Why?

CELEBRATED costume designer Jenny Beavan was one of many Mad Max Oscar winners yesterday, taking out the award for Best Costume Design.

It was a well-deserved win among the Australian film’s six-Oscar haul — but Beavan’s journey to the stage provided one of the ceremony’s most startling, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments.

Jenny Beavan adds to her awards show haul yesterday. Picture: AP

As Beavan strutted confidently to the stage, the camera panned across the men sitting in the aisle seats to her left, none of whom (among them: Spotlight director Tom McCarthy and Alejandro González Iñárritu, who directed The Revenant) looking too pleased. While the women in the frame are all smiling and clapping for Beavan, the men — five of them all up — don’t clap, instead looking Beavan up and down stony faced as she passes them by:

Of course, this isn’t the first time Beavan’s been in the news lately: mere weeks ago, she unwittingly found herself at the centre of a social media storm after taking the stage to accept the same award at the BAFTAs. Dressed similarly to her Oscars look — leather jacket, pants and a scarf — after she left the stage, host Stephen Fry referred to her as a ‘bag lady’.

Opinion: ‘Why Leo didn’t deserve Best Actor’

What really happened at the Vanity Fair after-party

Viewers were outraged, although Fry was quick to point out that Beavan was a longtime friend who took no offence to the comment. The backlash was so great, though, that he ended up deleting his Twitter account.

Some have pondered if these glowers from men in the audience were due to Beavan’s relaxed award show attire.

Maybe all the blokes were stunned by that kickarse jacket. Picture: Getty

“I am very happy to talk about it,” she said of her outfit backstage. “I don’t do frocks and absolutely don’t do heels, I have a bad back. I look ridiculous in a beautiful gown. This was a homage to Mad Max and I obviously didn’t get it quite right at the BAFTAs, the scarf was meant to be an oil rag.”

Reasons to love Jenny Beavan: 1. Amazing jacket 2. incredibly talented 3. "u mad bro" look she gives non-applauders https://t.co/DNHcWMpZ7A

— Mo Ryan (@moryan) February 29, 2016

All those famous guys didn't clap for Jenny Beavan because they were consumed with jealousy over her badass jacket. pic.twitter.com/uJfUMO9B5c

— Suzan Eraslan (@SuzanEraslan) February 29, 2016

Others have offered a more charitable take on the muted reception to Beavan’s win: the Oscars are a long night, with ‘Best Costume Design’ one of the less notable of the awards compared to Best Picture, Best Actor / Actress. Perhaps the unflattering moment was merely a handful of audience members trying to save their energy and wondering when the next bathroom break would come?