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A Star is Born: The Cotton Rebel
MINOR SPOILERS For all the inevitable chrysalis transformation of singer Ally (Lady Gaga) during A Star is Born (2018, directed by Bradley Cooper), the most subtle, yet real sartorial reflection of character belongs to her mentor and lover Jack (Cooper). Costumed by Erin Benach (Drive, A Place Beyond the Pines), Jack is the epitome of the casual rock star. Stage wear, day wear, evening wear, drinking wear, sleeping wear – it’s all the same. His simple clothes mask a mind so damaged it can only be subdued with the bottle. Jack lives in t-shirts (plain, dark or neutral colours), untucked shirts (dark or a green graph-check), brown calf leather jacket,…
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Ken Takakura Wearing Levi in The Yakuza (1974)
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 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, as in ‘man’, on film is usually a traditional interpretation of masculinity. There is always room for the sensitive hero in a sweater and slacks, but for those who watch movies as ingrained wish fulfilment, the sexy and sweaty man’s man needs suitable attire to reflect his personality. But it is not just about the garments themselves. A jacket is a jacket, but a leather jacket is a symbol. A wax jacket on the other…
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Sons of Anarchy: Identity and the Outlaw: Women of SAMCRO
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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Sons of Anarchy: Costume Identity and the Outlaw
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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Doctor Who: A Contemporary Costume Evolution
Doctor Who, the quirky British sci-fi television series about a time travelling alien and his friends, premiered in 1963. Since then there have been twelve Doctors (and a War Doctor), each with their own unique looks to match their unique and often eccentric personalities. With the debut of the Twelfth Doctor fast approaching, this post takes a look back at the three Doctors we’ve seen so far (not including the War Doctor) on Doctor Who since it was rebooted in 2005 (or New Who, as some like to call it) and guesses at what we can expect from Doctor number twelve. The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) arrived on our screens…
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From Bum to Italian Stallion: Sylvester Stallone as Rocky
In the very opening scene of Rocky (1976, costume designer Robert Cambel), we see the title character in the ring, bare chested, hands encased in boxing gloves, the picture of sporting violence and masculinity. But this is no more than a surface assumption. Not two minutes later, we see Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) shrug on his faded brown towelling dressing gown, with “The Italian Stallion” embroidered on the back, and things start to shift. This is not a macho film concerned with the fight alone, but an exploration of masculinity in all its guises – the assumptions, the pretence and the reality. Clothes play an important part in this, both…
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Michael Caine in The Italian Job: Part 2
This is part 2 (part 1 HERE) of an expanded article Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty wrote for men’s style resource MR PORTER analysing Michael Caine’s suits in The Italian Job. This post covers all the costumes he wore during the film. We rejoin Charlie and his ragtag crew at the big meeting when the gang are all introduced to each other. It had to be a Doug Hayward moment and thankfully does not disappoint. In actual fact it is probably Michael Caine’s best fitting suit in the whole movie: Dark blue worsted wool suit; double breasted jacket, wide peaked lapels, 6 on 2 fastening, slanted hip pockets, ticket…
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Take Me to my Tailor: Michael Caine in The Italian Job
The following is an expanded article Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty wrote for men’s style resource MR PORTER analysing Michael Caine’s suits in The Italian Job. This post covers all the costumes he wore during the film. If The Italian Job (1969) needs any introduction at all it might be possible you’ve been in a coma for the past 40 years. It’s so well known and so well loved that were it not for the fact that no-one has really delved into the sartorial details of Michael Caine’s suits there would be nothing left to talk about. As it happens we have spent time studying and researching The Italian…
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Working Girl: The Culture of Power Dressing
Costume designer Ann Roth’s template for Working Girl (1988, directed by Mike Nichols) is especially astute with regards to the social and geographical make up of its characters. Protagonist Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is a homely girl raised and living in Staten Island, New York. Currently working as a secretary in Manhattan (not ‘executive assistant’, reflecting vernacular of the time), as is her best friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack). Tess, however, has gained a degree through night school and harbours ambitions to use it for more constructive tasks than answering the telephone and fetching toilet paper for bawdy stockbrokers. After being set up for a ‘date’ that turned out to be…
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The Place Beyond the Pines: Don’t Try This Look at Home
If you thought a scorpion embroidered bomber jacket was tough to pull off, just wait until you see Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines.
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Looper: Costume Designer Sharen Davis Reveals Inspiration
Costume Designer Sharen Davis talks us through her retro-vision for Looper.
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