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 1980s,  Clothes on Film Video,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    The Fashionable Style of Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone

    1 Jan ’20 /

    The costume style evolution of Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone (1984).

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    Scarface: Dress and Excess

    5 Sep ’11

    Mr Nice starring Rhys Ifans: Lots of Nice Photos

    14 Aug ’10

    Dual Analysis: Beetle Juice – KB’s Thoughts

    31 Oct ’09
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Girls on TV,  Guys on TV,  Premium

    The Little Drummer Girl: A Colourful Pretence

    14 Dec ’18 /

    SPOILERS THROUGHOUT Having recently finished a six week, six episode run on the BBC, John le Carré adapted spy drama The Little Drummer Girl was divisive in terms of audience reaction. Some found the plot impossible to follow, others revelled in the cloak and dagger shenanigans of twenty-something Charmain ‘Charlie’ Ross (Florence Pugh), a low level actress drawn into a high stakes mission of infiltrating a Palestinian revolutionary group in 1979. The show’s costume design by Sheena Napier and Stephen Noble inspired equal division. While most enjoyed the eye-popping period ensembles and how they exemplified character, just as many were left confounded by their conspicuous presence. One thing that cannot…

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    Dark Shadows Trailer: Campy, Period Blending Costume Fun

    16 Mar ’12

    Scarface: Dress and Excess

    5 Sep ’11

    Review: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

    5 Sep ’11
  • Clothes from 1950s,  Clothes from 1960s,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    Shifting Trends: Claire Foy in First Man

    25 Oct ’18 /

    MINOR SPOILERS First Man (2018) is not a movie overly preoccupied with fashion, And why would it be? The focus of the story is astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his journey to become the first person to ever walk on the surface of the moon. Armstrong wears a lot of button down shirts, short sleeve checks, neutral slacks, the odd dark single breasted suit for formal occasions – largely dour attire for a dour man. He also wears a space suit, several of them. However, outside of Emilio Pucci’s involvement in designing the logo for the Apollo 15 flight in 1971, fashion rarely intersects with the requirements of surviving…

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    Phantom Thread: An Insight into Autism and Relationships

    23 Mar ’18

    To Catch a Thief: Grace Kelly’s Coral Top and Skirt

    21 May ’11

    Cinema Paradiso: Invisible Costume

    9 Feb ’15
  • Clothes from 1960s,  Clothes from 1990s,  Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

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

    25 Sep ’18 /

    With Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), costume designer Deena Appel created one of the most iconic screen looks of all time. That is no overstatement; Austin Powers has been copied and homaged and wheeled out every year as a Halloween costume, with very little credit put Appel’s way. It is a rather sad indictment of how the industry works that, despite its importance, especially in a film such as Austin Powers, a costume designer will rarely see any kudos come their way. Awards? Well, you might have a chance if your film is set in Victorian England or Disney-verse, but other than that not so much. With this…

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    Janie Bryant Talks Mad Men Season 4: “Glitzy, not so glitzy”

    1 Jul ’10

    Two For the Road: Audrey Hepburn’s outfits – Part 1

    8 Jun ’09

    Deena Appel on Creating the Costume World of The Spy Who Shagged Me

    2 Oct ’18
  • Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    Ocean’s 8: Fashioning Costume

    10 Jul ’18 /

    MINOR SPOILERS Movies that feature contemporary fashion, particularly high-end and particularly for women, are a tricky sell costume wise. While men’s semi-formal to formal attire is generally shaped around the fundamental guise of the lounge suit, women’s clothing has a lot more avenues and possibilities. In addition to colour and pattern there is shape and form, which can vary dramatically for the fashionable wearer. What can vary dramatically can also date dramatically and this can be major stumbling block for costume designers. Films centred around the world of fashion, or those that include a lot of fashionable garments such as The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Clueless (1995) and Funny Face…

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    Colleen Goes Contemporary: First Official Pic from The Tourist

    14 Jun ’10

    The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Full Costume Trailer

    24 Sep ’11

    Running Scared: Costume Designer Kristin Burke

    16 Feb ’10
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Superfly Solo

    18 Jun ’18 /

    MILD SPOILERS Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is far and away the most ‘A New Hope-like’ film in the series yet. In terms of tone, sure, but particularly costume. What costume designers Glyn Dillon and David Crossman have so expertly achieved with Solo is making a contemporary looking movie set during the late 1960s. Star Wars: A New Hope was released in 1977 which puts Solo’s timeline around a decade before, or likely just over. But hang on, isn’t this a science fiction movie? What does when it’s made have to do with the space opera world being brought to life on screen? Well the seventies in particular was…

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    Oz the Great and Powerful: Costume Interview with Gary Jones

    5 Jul ’13

    International Trailer for Brave = Delightful

    17 Nov ’11

    Prince of Persia: Interview With Costume Designer Penny Rose

    7 May ’10
  • Clothes from 1930s,  Clothes from 1940s,  Clothes from 1950s,  Clothes from 1960s,  Clothes in Films,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    Costuming Hitchcock: An Extract from Hitchcock’s Heroines by Caroline Young

    6 Jun ’18 /

    Author Caroline Young has just released a fascinating new book entitled Hitchcock’s Heroines (published by Insight Editions). It celebrates and studies the women in Hitchcock movies; their influence, semblance and iconography. What’s more, Young also examines the role costume design plays with these women, both the characters and the actresses who played them, and how they can be interpreted as far more than just ‘icy blondes’. Here we have an extract of the book exclusively for Clothes on Film: Kim Novak’s grey suit the colour of San Francisco fog in Vertigo, Grace Kelly as the too-perfect woman in Rear Window, and Janet Leigh’s black and white sets of underwear to…

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    Puttin’ on the Glitz at The British Library: A Look Back

    11 Apr ’14

    UK Film Review: Public Enemies

    1 Jul ’09

    Water for Elephants: Latest Trailer and Stills

    18 Mar ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Infinity War Costume Design: The Unfamiliar Familiar

    4 May ’18 /

    SPOILERS For anyone with an eye to costume, The Avengers: Infinity War (2018) seemingly takes few evolutionary leaps. This makes perfect sense when we consider the timeline following particularly significant events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2017). Infinity War costume designer Judianna Makovsky (previously on board for The Winter Soldier, 2014; Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, 2016) has crafted a combination of instantly familiar looks for a jam-packed canon of characters where nobody wants to be missed, but nobody should stick out above anyone else either. It’s a real balancing act, which is something we are should sure Thanos himself would appreciate. Judianna…

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    Alien Anthology: A Revolution in Sci-Fi Costume Design – PT2

    26 Oct ’10

    Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

    26 Nov ’10

    Snow White & the Huntsman Trailer: Atwood Hits It

    11 Nov ’11
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Ken Takakura Wearing Levi in The Yakuza (1974)

    27 Apr ’18 /

    The Levi jacket worn by Ken Takakura as Ken Tanaka in Japan set thriller The Yakuza (1974, costume design by Dorothy Jeakins) is not Japanese denim. It was not made in Japan but is nonetheless representative of a time when denim as symbol of burgeoning Americana in the East would take off into the stratosphere, and has remained so ever since. Although Levi products were imported into Japan before the 1970s (Levi International was created in 1965), it was not until mid-decade that a Tokyo office was established. This was in response to growing popularity of all things American in Japan, especially denim and especially Levi. There was no single…

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    The Parallax View: Warren Beatty Rebels in Denim

    2 Nov ’10

    From Bum to Italian Stallion: Sylvester Stallone as Rocky

    22 Apr ’14

    Rush Trailer: Olivia Wilde Looks Sensational in 70’s Costume

    26 Apr ’13
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Girls on TV,  Guys on TV,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Alienist: Costume Featurette Provides Glimpse into Gilded Style

    26 Apr ’18 /

    Netflix have released a short featurette about costume design for The Alienist, giving an overall glimpse at the work of Michael Kaplan and his team in putting together the era of 1896, New York. What is enticing about The Alienist, apart from the fact that it’s brilliant whodunit telly, is that it is set outside of England, which is so often the preserve of dramas such as these. This is NY style at a point in history when those with money were about to get a whole lot more. Expensive, in other words, and if you had deep enough pockets your taste in fashion would echo this. Check out the…

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    Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood

    1 Apr ’14

    Spielberg’s War Horse: First Trailer Arrives

    29 Jun ’11

    True Grit: Exclusive Costume Featurette

    4 Feb ’11
  • Clothes from 1950s,  Clothes in Films,  Film Reviews,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Phantom Thread: An Insight into Autism and Relationships

    23 Mar ’18 /

    SPOILERS If you’ve heard anything about Phantom Thread (2017, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson), you are bound to uncover a multitude of thoughts on the astounding Academy Award winning costume work of Mark Bridges or the retirement role of Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock, 1950s fashion house couturier. But one of the key components to Reynolds is missing from the discussion: Autism. Phantom Thread opens with Reynolds (Day-Lewis) getting dressed to formalities of the era. Polished shoes, ironed trousers, a fresh button-down shirt, with the addition of long magenta socks to introduce the notion of creativity, or perhaps particularities to the character. The scene moves to breakfast, which quietly adds…

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    Costuming The Dressmaker

    9 Nov ’15

    To Catch a Thief: Grace Kelly’s Beach Wear

    5 Apr ’11

    Film Review: The Killer Inside Me

    19 Jun ’10
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Girls on TV,  Guys on TV,  Interviews,  Premium

    Homecoming: Betsy Heimann on Costuming Godless

    15 Dec ’17 /

    MINOR SPOILERS At a pivotal juncture during the Fathers & Sons episode of Godless (2017), the camera tracks into a pink ribbon tied on the back of young woman’s hair; a woman who is suffering from the onset symptoms of smallpox and unlikely to find recovery. Later in the episode we pan across dozens of freshly dug but unnamed graves each with it’s own crucifix. We don’t see the woman again, but on one of the crucifixes is tied a pink ribbon. Such is the power of even the slightest costume and accessory details in Godless, the narrative is informed by their very presence. Costume designer for Godless was Betsy…

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    War Horse: Interview with Costume Designer Joanna Johnston

    27 Apr ’12

    The Alienist: Costume Featurette Provides Glimpse into Gilded Style

    26 Apr ’18

    Recreating the Levi’s Spring Bottom Pants Advert from 1905

    4 Jun ’14
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