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 1970s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Long and Lean: The Silhouette of High Rise

    15 Apr ’16 /

    Or when your costumes look like a building. Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s designs for High Rise (2016) are far more than that. But for a film set in such a heavily stylised world, especially one created by sci-fi author J.G. Ballard, homogeny is everything. In fact homogeny is terrifying. Everything is reflected in the aesthetic. The building towers, Tom Hiddleston’s trouser legs tower, and Luke Evans towers over everyone.  Director Ben Wheatley has claimed that he did not want High Rise to look like a ‘greatest hits of the seventies‘, but really that’s exactly what he’s got, certainly in terms of costume design – and that’s okay. It might not be the…

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    Dark Shadows Trailer: Campy, Period Blending Costume Fun

    16 Mar ’12

    The Little Drummer Girl: A Colourful Pretence

    14 Dec ’18

    Blaxploitation Dress Codes in 1970s Cinema

    20 Sep ’13
  • Girls on TV,  Guys on TV,  Interviews,  Premium

    Sons of Anarchy: Identity and the Outlaw: Women of SAMCRO

    19 Sep ’14 /

    Part two of our essay looking at sartorial identity in Sons of Anarchy, featuring exclusive insight from series costume designer Kelli Jones. Catch up with part 1 HERE. The women of SAMCRO include porn stars and pole dancers, but the club matriarch is Gemma played by Katey Sagal, formerly known as Peg Bundy in Married with Children. Gemma is the Queen of this world so her look is regal rock chick, “to make her look badass without looking like a slut. This sexy mama bitch doesn’t need to TRY” costume designer Kelli Jones says. With her background in music (she has performed with the likes of Bette Midler, Gene Simmons…

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    Mad Men: Christina Hendricks’ Scarf & Bag Combo (S1)

    14 Jul ’09

    Game of Thrones Costume Evolution: Sansa in Black

    16 Apr ’15

    Mad Men: Christina Hendricks’ Op Art Blue Dress (S1)

    11 May ’09
  • Clothes from now,  Guys on TV,  Interviews,  Premium

    Sons of Anarchy: Costume Identity and the Outlaw

    15 Sep ’14 /

    Sons of Anarchy portrays the fictionalised world of an outlaw motorcycle club; although the plots are dramatic in the extreme, many of the details are firmly based in realism, including the costuming. Series creator Kurt Sutter has described it as pure soap opera, but this family drama has earned the tag of “Hamlet on Motorcycles”. It has been embraced by pop culture and by the biker community, and spurred an upsurge in sales of Harley Davidsons (and a $25k SOA branded bike). Motorcycle club culture took off after WW2, when returning veterans with experience of riding bikes on service, and often undiagnosed post-traumatic stress, took to the lifestyle looking for…

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    Brigsby Bear: Interview with Suit Creators Stoopid Buddy Stoodios

    28 Jul ’17

    Illuminate More Than Hide: Costume Design in A Separation

    1 Jun ’12

    Alpha Papa: Dress like a Partridge

    21 Aug ’13
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Clothes from 1920s,  Clothes from 1930s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood

    1 Apr ’14 /

    Costume designer Mark Bridges described There Will Be Blood (2007) as his most challenging film, referring to the difficulties he faced in transporting costumes to the remote location in West Texas, after director Paul Thomas Anderson called for a new concept three days before a re-shoot. However these challenges seem to channel the themes of the film itself: hardship, isolation, and the determination to overcome any obstacle to fulfil a goal. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a turn-of-the-century prospector, who receives a tip about a giant oil deposit under a family farm in California. The family includes Eli Sunday, a zealous preacher and faith healer who wants the money from…

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    12 Years a Slave Trailer: Fine Fabrics

    16 Jul ’13

    Homecoming: Betsy Heimann on Costuming Godless

    15 Dec ’17

    War Horse: Interview with Costume Designer Joanna Johnston

    27 Apr ’12
  • Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Interviews

    Hanging by a Thread: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

    31 Jan ’14 /

    Suzy Benzinger, the costume designer of Blue Jasmine, chose iconic brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Missoni to serve as visual shorthand of what the modern-day wealthy socialite wears, but it is the white Chanel jacket that follows Jasmine from the beginning of the movie to the end which tells its own tale of what is happening to its owner. When we first see Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) she is flying first-class from New York to San Francisco to see her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). On the flight she dazzles a fellow passenger with the story of how she met her wealthy businessman husband Hal (Alec Baldwin). Or so she thinks.…

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    Coming to America: Prints & Turbans in Contemporary Fashion

    17 Feb ’11

    Michael Kaplan Talks Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

    20 Dec ’11

    Alan Partridge Movie Trailer Hits: He’s Wearing a Varsity

    15 Mar ’13
  • Clothes from now,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Muppets Most Wanted: Set and Costume Visit

    9 Jan ’14 /

    ‘Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theatres in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon, and Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard.‘ That is the boilerplate pitch for The Muppets Most Wanted. Verbatim. If you think that sounds like…

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    Costume Encounter: Sheridan Smith as Sally Thorn in The 7.39

    10 Jan ’14

    Anna Karenina Coming to Banana Republic: Costume Fashion?

    30 Jun ’12

    Oscars 2020: Red Carpet Livestream

    8 Feb ’20
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Combat and the Croupier: The Costume World of Pacific Rim

    19 Jul ’13 /

    Building character with the costume design of Pacific Rim.

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    Net-a-Porter to Launch Hunger Games Capsule Collection

    5 Sep ’13

    X-Men: First Class Costumes

    20 Jan ’11

    Prince of Persia: Interview With Costume Designer Penny Rose

    7 May ’10
  • Clothes from now,  Guys in Films,  News

    Alan Partridge Movie Trailer Hits: He’s Wearing a Varsity

    15 Mar ’13 /

    Teaser trailer for Alpha Papa aka Alan Partridge the movie arrives. He may dress hideously but costume design is vital for the character.

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    New Burlesque Trailer? Corset Is

    21 Oct ’10

    Inception: Jeffrey Kurland Costume Q&A

    31 Jul ’10

    Four Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Goodie Bags To Give Away

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

    Costume Clues Reveal All in The Cabin in the Woods

    14 Dec ’12 /

    Costume in The Cabin in the Woods is not grand, but it is very clever. All the teenage characters subtly evolve from one horror stereotype to another.

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    Disney’s Cinderella Trailer: The Costumes of Sandy Powell

    21 Nov ’14

    Tron: Culture and Legacy

    12 Oct ’10

    UK Film Review: The Road

    19 Nov ’09
  • Clothes from 1920s,  Clothes from 1930s,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    Tom Hardy in Lawless: The Knitwear Anti-Hero

    21 Sep ’12 /

    Tom Hardy heralds dawning of the knitwear anti-hero. Margot Wilson discusses her use of the cardigan for Lawless.

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    Dress like a Peaky Blinder

    13 Sep ’13

    Exclusive Boardwalk Empire Costume Design Clip

    5 Jan ’12

    Trailer for Amelia Touches Down: Radical Fashions 1920s-30s

    26 Jun ’09
  • Clothes from 1930s,  Clothes from 1990s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    The Secret Sharer: Abbie Cornish & Andrea Riseborough in W.E.

    20 Mar ’12 /

    The glamorous look of the mid-1930s threads its way through dual love stories in W.E.

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    Review: Hugo – With Exclusive Insight From Sandy Powell

    23 Dec ’11

    Film Review: Chinatown

    19 Oct ’09

    Murder on the Orient Express: Interview with Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne

    2 Nov ’17
  • Clothes from 1920s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  News

    First Official Gatsby Pics Bring the Money

    14 Dec ’11 /

    Warner Bros. have released two images from The Great Gatsby. Not much to see, but it is difficult not to be drawn in by the promise of costume luxury.

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    Boardwalk Empire: Women of the Empire

    9 Feb ’11

    Boardwalk Empire: Cometh the Dandiest Man

    28 Sep ’11

    Audrey Tautou Chanel Sailor Pants For Perfume Advertisement

    9 May ’09
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