Waddington has worked in the costume industry since 2007. In recent years, her focus has been on
period film projects with a modern influence, such as the 2016 film
Lady Macbeth and the television series
The Great (2020–2023). In a 2024 interview with
Vogue magazine, she said that she has "often found it frustrating when periods are recreated exactly as they were, and I'm more interested in the scope to play with ideas." Set
anachronistically in the
Victorian era, Waddington studied 19th-century
fashion plates, but for eclectic influences she also drew upon nontraditional sources such as the modernism of early 20th-century
German Expressionism and
1960s fashion; she attempted to "create a wardrobe that was based on a Victorian wardrobe but with the elements kind of broken down and not worn correctly. And so it's playful. It's supposed to be playful. ... You know, she's a woman who is living in a totally made-up world. You needn't root [it] in any reality." Waddington and her team of 40 staff spent 22 weeks creating hundreds of pieces, and for her efforts she eventually won the
Academy Award for Best Costume Design. She is best known for her work in this film. In late 2024,
HBO hired Waddington to serve as costume designer for their upcoming television series
Harry Potter and planned to begin filming in the summer of 2025. It was the first creative role hired for the project. == Filmography ==