Clothes on Film

The study of costume design in cinema and television. Featuring exclusive articles, news, interviews, videos, podcasts, essays and competitions.

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  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    Beauty and the Beast at Central Saint Martins

    17 Mar ’17 /

    To tie-in with the release of Disney’s new live-action version of Beauty and Beast, the project’s Oscar winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran teamed up with students from Central Saint Martin’s college in London to reinterpret ensembles from the film. These are outfits designed in homage to Beauty and the Beast, taking specific elements here and there, a song, colour or concept and creating something entirely new. Whether these are fashion or art pieces is ultimately unclear – what stands out though is their reach beyond that of merely marketing a big movie. Just as an idea it would be fantastic to see more films promoting their costumes in this way.…

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    Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

    4 Mar ’13

    International Trailer for Brave = Delightful

    17 Nov ’11

    Full The Dark Knight Rises Trailer Hits: Merry Christmas

    19 Dec ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Clothes from now,  Guys on TV,  Premium

    Luke Cage: Swiss Cheese Hoodie

    14 Nov ’16 /

    MILD SPOILERS The hoodie has as much to say about it’s wearer as, say, the white t-shirt does. By which I mean that, depending on context, it can say anything. The white t-shirt can imply clean, erotic, the worker – or a combination of all three. In the eyes of contemporary media, the hoodie largely suggests youth. Shady youth, someone not keen to reveal their identity because they are planning on robbing you or worse. Put the hoodie on a black man and it is pretty much akin to walking down the street in a striped jumper with a sack marked ‘swag’. Luke Cage is not set to change that…

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    First Look at Captain America: The Winter Soldier Costume

    12 Jun ’13

    Inception: Jeffrey Kurland Costume Q&A

    31 Jul ’10

    Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

    19 May ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    Star Wars: Interview with Michael Kaplan

    22 Jan ’16 /

    Surely we all know Michael Kaplan by now? Flashdance (1983), Fight Club (1999), Burlesque (2010), Star Trek (2009), and the biggest of the big, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Versatile is not a generous enough word for his talent; he is literally one of the best in the business, as his CDG (Costume Designers Guild) nomination for Star Wars goes some way to proving. I spoke to Mr Kaplan just after Christmas about his work for The Force Awakens, but due to unforeseen circumstances (basically Clothes on Film HQ flooding), this interview is only being posted now. Still much to enjoy though, and plenty of costume titbits to sift through.…

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    Deena Appel on the Costume Design of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

    25 Sep ’18

    Gore Verbinski Leaves Steampunk World of BioShock…

    24 Aug ’09

    New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Trailer is No Drag

    23 Sep ’10
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    Star Wars Episode VII: The Costumes Awaken

    21 Dec ’15 /

    SPOILERS Ahead of a detailed interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan (currently hard at work on Episode VIII), we take a brief look at his undeniable achievement in bringing the 1970s – early 80’s back to life right here in the present. How do you make the now look old when paradoxically it is supposed to be the new? Well, you go simple. We say simple, but we mean ‘back to basics’. This is not the prequels; The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the Rebellion defeated the Empire. Now both sides are in state of rebuilding so there is little call for Padmae’s…

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    Full Alice in Wonderland Trailer Hits: Potty But Pretty

    16 Dec ’09

    Steamy Sucker Punch Trailer Hits

    5 Nov ’10

    Back to the Future Nikes go on Sale: You Can’t Afford Them

    9 Sep ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    The Martian: The Perfect 10 Spacesuit

    6 Oct ’15 /

    For a big budget movie about a lone astronaut who gets stranded on Mars, the spacesuits in The Martian are surprisingly sober in terms of design. There is an attempt here to make everything seem as plausible as possible, costume design especially. Director Ridley Scott’s regular costumer Janty Yates has created possibly the sexiest spacesuits ever seen on screen, and what’s more they are functional. To paraphrase a line in the film, she had to “science the shit out of them”. Yates collaborated with NASA looking specifically at their Z1 and Z2 prototypes to create an EVA (‘Extravehicular Activity’ – any time the crew must go outside) suit and surface…

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    Dual Analysis: Beetle Juice – KB’s Thoughts

    31 Oct ’09

    Film Review: Kick-Ass

    13 Mar ’10

    Game of Thrones Costume Analysis: Sansa Stark

    24 Jun ’13
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Clothes from now

    Woman Inherits the Earth: Femininity in Jurassic World

    19 Jun ’15 /

    There has been an insane amount of discussion online about Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, Claire Dearing, since the release of Jurassic World (2015, costume designed Daniel Orlandi), mostly concerning the ‘running in heels’ sequences. I felt it would be interesting to take a broader look at the costumes of the female leads in both the original Jurassic Park (1993, costume supervised by Sue Moore) and Jurassic World and contrast in the characters. Dr Ellie Sattler the Paleobotanist as played by Laura Dern in the original movie is a hugely underrated feminist action hero. She is allowed to be clever, brave, practical and physical yet display ‘feminine’ traits at the same…

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    Beauty and the Beast at Central Saint Martins

    17 Mar ’17

    New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Trailer is No Drag

    23 Sep ’10

    The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Teaser Trailer Hits

    15 Apr ’13
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls on TV,  Premium

    Game of Thrones Costume Evolution: Sansa in Black

    16 Apr ’15 /

    The highly anticipated season five premiere of Game of Thrones aired across the globe this week, giving us tantalising glimpses of where our favorite characters are now. We saw two brief scenes of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), who had a major makeover at the end of Season Four. With this new direction in her character, where will she end up in Season Five? In this little addendum to our previous analysis of her wardrobe, we explore the character clues in Sansa’s striking new look (costume design by Michele Clapton). Sansa has not had it easy so far. During the last few seasons she has been trapped in King’s Landing, tortured…

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    Net-a-Porter to Launch Hunger Games Capsule Collection

    5 Sep ’13

    Beauty and the Beast at Central Saint Martins

    17 Mar ’17

    A Sneaky Peek at The Green Hornet Costume

    1 Oct ’09
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Journeying Into the Costumes of Into the Woods

    9 Mar ’15 /

    Into the Woods opened on Broadway in 1987, with the music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim and the book by James Lapine. It is Sondheim’s most performed musical and one of his best known works. The story combines familiar characters from childhood fairy tales such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and the ubiquitous Witch, and explores their journeys to get their wish, as well as the negative consequences of the small dishonesties committed by each character to get what they want. As the witch sings, “Told a little lie/Stole a little gold/Broke a little vow/Did you?/Had to get your prince/Had to get your cow/Had to get your wish/Doesn’t…

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    Get Engaged by Twilight: A Merchandising Step Too Far?

    30 Apr ’10

    Film Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

    14 May ’10

    Dual Analysis: Beetle Juice – Chris’ Thoughts

    27 Oct ’09
  • Clothes from 1940s,  Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    A Colourful Tale: The Costume Canvas of Dick Tracy

    27 Feb ’15 /

    A preview of Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty’s article on the vibrant costume design of Dick Tracy for Arts Illustrated magazine. Truly unique, Dick Tracy is as close to a comic strip brought to life as any film before or since. This was director and star Warren Beatty’s goal; not to interpret the comic, but to paint it directly onto a cinematic canvas. He achieved this by embracing the superficial qualities of the painted page, the bright colours, exaggerated structures, madcap caricatures, and placing them front and centre. Dick Tracy is an all knowing pantomime. The original Dick Tracy comic strip first published in the United States in 1931,…

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    Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were: Forties Meets Seventies

    16 May ’11

    Get on Up: Sharen Davis Shares Costume Design Sketches

    9 Dec ’14

    Captain America: The First Trailer

    24 Mar ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Premium

    Four Slices of Costume Pie from the Star Wars VII Trailer

    28 Nov ’14 /

    There is little point in Clothes on Film delving too deeply into the first trailer for director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars sequel The Force Awakens, mainly because it is just so much speculation at the moment, which of course is part of the fun, but also because there are far smarter (or more interested) minds on the Internet who will do a better job. That said how can you watch that trailer and not have an opinion? So here are ours, and with no contribution whatsoever from Star Wars VII costume designer Michael Kaplan. If he told us anything at this stage he would be thrown in the Sarlacc pit…

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    Man of Steel: New Featurette Discusses the Superman Suit

    3 Jun ’13

    Net-a-Porter to Launch Hunger Games Capsule Collection

    5 Sep ’13

    UK Film Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

    14 Jun ’09
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Premium

    Disney’s Cinderella Trailer: The Costumes of Sandy Powell

    21 Nov ’14 /

    The first full-length trailer for Disney’s new live-action adaptation of Cinderella was this week and featured tantalising glimpses of what promises to be a visually gorgeous film. The costumes, designed by three time Academy Award winner Sandy Powell, appear to be absolutely stunning. With a clever mix of the eighteenth century, the 1830s, and a little 1950s couture thrown in for good measure (Powell has been quoted as saying she was aiming for the look of “a nineteenth-century period film made in the 1940s or ’50s”), Powell has created another jewel to add to her already over-bling crown. Here is a quick rundown of some of the looks we’ve been…

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    Doctor Who: Interview With Costume Designer Ray Holman

    9 Apr ’10

    Woman Inherits the Earth: Femininity in Jurassic World

    19 Jun ’15

    Latest Man of Steel Trailer: The Dark Suit in Action

    17 Apr ’13
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Become The Babadook

    28 Oct ’14 /

    On the surface the Babadook is just another bogeyman: prickly, sinewy, all arched limbs and spiky digits. And this is the point: he is just another bogeyman; it is what he represents that really matters. Without spoiling too much, The Babadook is larger than life because he is the exaggerated physical manifestation of our demons. In this respect he could look like anyone – wherever our fears lead. Nonetheless for the purposes of dressing up as the Babadook for this Halloween, and having anyone actually guess who you are, the following is required: top hat, cape and some pointy things to stick on your fingers. To achieve maximum scare, however,…

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    Film Review: Alice In Wonderland

    5 Mar ’10

    Iron Man 2 Fan Costume: Fan-tastic

    21 Jul ’10

    Tron: Culture and Legacy

    12 Oct ’10
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