I actively like so much of what's going on this category!
Costume Design
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
Look. I love Wicked. I love it, and I said when I watched it that I wanted it to win everything it's nominated for. And that's still mostly true, other than the fact that Ariana is category fraud supreme and I just can't even but the odds-on favorite Zoe is also fraudulent, and for a disaster of a film, so it might as well be Ariana, but anyway the point is yes I would be happy for wonderful, creative, gorgeous, inspiring Wicked to win for Costume Design.
But. I would also be just fine, it turns out, with Gladiator II winning in this category. ! No seriously though, Emma the Cat and I just watched it this week during our little winter vacation ski trip and boy were we riveted. The costumes are so beautiful, and so detailed, and so MANY. I was super into revisiting the Gladiator world and I think I kind of like sequels that leave 20 years in between more than every-couple-of-year sequels. There is so much delicious craziness in this flick, with Denzel, and the loony twin emperors, and a billion soldiers, and it's all exquisite. And this is the only nom that the film got. We might have to take this one away from Wicked, y'all. What do you say?
I really don't think the others have a chance. Conclave would if it was on its way to a sweep - remember, people really thought Conclave was going to be our Best Picture for a while - but that ship seems to have sailed. The cardinals' get-ups are gorgeous and fit for each one of the characters specifically but it's still less of an Achievement in Costume Design than either Gladiator II or Wicked.
Nosferatu might be able to pull this off just because it's so fanciful, unreal, and set long ago & far away. (But then - so are Wicked and Gladiator.)
A Complete Unknown is honored to be nominated. The most recently set AND most relatable and realist of the Costume nominees is almost never the winner. Conclave is more recent but isn't a period piece, and its world is removed from us regular folks (even us Newport Folk Festival-playing regular folks), but even it I think doesn't really have as much of a chance.
Order I want them to win:
Gladiator II, Wicked, Conclave, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu
Order I think they will win:
Wicked, Gladiator II, Nosferatu, Conclave, A Complete Unknown