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[…]
Costuming The Dressmaker
Twenty-five years ago, costume designer Margot Wilson was a student living in Paris when she picked up a roll of red, moire silk fabric during a shopping trip to Milan. She didn’t know why, or[…]
The Martian: The Perfect 10 Spacesuit
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[…]
The Intern: Jacqueline Oknaian Costume Interview
Jacqueline Oknaian has costumed Ugly Betty (2008-10), Sex and the City 2 (2010) and The Big C (2012-13), so it might be fair to say contemporary clothing is her forte. For The Intern she dressed[…]
Legend: Interview with Costume Designer Caroline Harris
Director Brian Helgeland’s Legend (2015) tells the based-on true story of Ronald and Reggie Kray: twins (both played by Tom Hardy), East End boys, racketeers, murderers, icons. The Krays were shaped during the 1960s, a[…]
The Essential Nature of Simple Costume in Locke
Locke (2013, costume design by Nigel Egerton) is a film unique in its restrictions – it takes place in real time, has only one character and only one setting. Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) is driving[…]
Arnold Scaasi (8 May 1930 – 3 August 2015)
When Arnold Scaasi opened his couture salon in 1964, he soon became a couturier to the stars. He was already a favoured designer for Barbra Streisand when he famously dressed her for the 1969 Oscars.[…]
Woman Inherits the Earth: Femininity in Jurassic World
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 designer: Daniel Orlandi), mostly concerning the ‘running in heels’ sequences. I[…]
Beautiful Oppression: Tilda Swinton in I am Love
From stills of this film alone you could easily be forgiven in thinking that I am Love (Io sono l’amore, 2009) was set during the 1960s. The designer clothes draped worn by lead members of[…]
The Fabric of Film: Tough Guy Wear
In honour of The Times’ film critic Kevin Maher’s list of iconic movie rebels, we take a look at what it truly takes to make a tough guy in cinema. What constitutes a tough guy,[…]
Game of Thrones Costume Evolution: Sansa in Black
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[…]
The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Author Matt Zoller Seitz has published a continuation of his superb book The Wes Anderson Collection (2013), entitled (deep breath) The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. The former is a detailed look at[…]