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

    2 Nov ’17

    Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood

    1 Apr ’14

    King Kong: Naomi Watts’ White Evening Dress

    23 Oct ’09
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Clothes from now

    Fantasy Reality: Catherine George on Costuming Okja

    14 Jul ’17 /

    MINOR SPOILERS Okja (2017) is the second film that costume designer Catherine George has worked on with director Bong Joon-ho. Their first together, Snowpiercer (2013), despite being lauded by critics (and featuring Chris Evans), only received a limited theatrcial run in the U.S. and no release at all in the UK. Unlike Okja, Snowpiercer is an out and out sci-fi fantasy set when most of the world’s population have been wiped out and those who remain live on perpetually moving train. Okja is still a fantasy, it revolves around a little girl Mija (An Seo Hyun) trying to save her giant ‘super pig’ from being harvested as GM bacon, but…

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    Piper Perabo Discusses Looper Costume Design

    1 Oct ’12

    Review: Tron Legacy

    5 Dec ’10

    This is Jinsy: Costume Insanity

    23 Sep ’11
  • Clothes from 1980s,  Clothes from 1990s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Tailoring The Wolf of Wall Street

    7 Feb ’14 /

    There is a problem with the costumes in The Wolf of Wall Street, and it has nothing to do with the film itself but the coverage they have received. Namely, that this coverage is incorrect. Articles such as this one for Vogue France, or this for The Hollywood Reporter, or a ‘suit guide’ by Esquire, concentrate almost solely on Giorgio Armani’s contribution to the project with barely a mention of costume designer Sandy Powell. And this is the Sandy Powell by the way: 10 Oscar nominations and so well respected she has an OBE for services to the industry. It was Powell who costumed The Wolf of Wall Street, not…

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    Wall Street: Michael Douglas’ Gekko Shirt

    6 Apr ’10

    The Iron Lady: Costume as Distinction, Gender and Protection

    4 May ’13

    Hot Tub Time Machine Trailer: Colourful Past

    25 Dec ’09
  • 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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    Deo Veritas: Creating the James Bond Cocktail Cuff Shirt

    25 Oct ’13

    Body of Lies: Mark Strong in Huntsman

    4 Nov ’09

    Oscars 2020: Red Carpet Livestream

    8 Feb ’20
  • Clothes from 1980s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Working Girl: The Culture of Power Dressing

    27 Sep ’13 /

    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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    Hot Tub Time Machine Trailer: Colourful Past

    25 Dec ’09

    Smooth Talk: “Tomorrow Night I’ll Wear the Halter”

    23 Nov ’13

    Style & Identity in Do the Right Thing

    17 Feb ’12
  • Clothes from 1960s,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    The Birds: Tippi Hedren in the Green Suit

    7 Aug ’13 /

    Why does Tippi Hedren wear a green suit in The Birds, and what does it mean?

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    George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

    12 Oct ’12

    Quadrophenia: Cream & Brown Print Shift Dress

    22 Jul ’09

    The Suits of Lee Marvin in Point Blank (1967)

    2 Sep ’19
  • Clothes from 1990s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Grifters: Be Careful What You Wear – Part 2

    20 Jun ’13 /

    Second and final part of our retrospective of The Grifters with insight from Mark Bridges.

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    Film Review: Misery

    8 Sep ’09

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

    25 Sep ’18

    Reservoir Dogs: Gangster Silhouette

    2 Apr ’12
  • Clothes from 1990s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Grifters: Be Careful What You Wear

    6 Jun ’13 /

    First in our two part retrospective of neo-noir classic The Grifters with exclusive insight from the film’s assistant costume designer Mark Bridges.

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    The Big Lebowski: Chris and KB Chat About the Film

    28 May ’10

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

    25 Sep ’18

    Dual Analysis: The Big Lebowski – Chris’ Thoughts

    1 Jun ’10
  • Girls in Films,  Girls on TV,  Guys in Films,  Guys on TV,  Premium

    Costume Design and Fashion: A Multi-Million Dollar Industry

    14 May ’13 /

    Analysing the sometimes tense relationship between fashion and costume design.

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    Saving Mr. Banks: Costume Design Featurette

    12 Dec ’13

    Clueless: Crayola Brights & Rich Girl Prep

    11 May ’12

    Johnny Depp in Public Enemies: Costume as Plot

    12 Apr ’11
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Clothes from 1950s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    Anna Karenina: Jacqueline Durran Talks Jewellery & Costume

    11 Jan ’13 /

    Costume designer Jacqueline Durran discusses her unusual approach for Anna Karenina – 1870s Russia via 1950s couture.

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    Review: Jane Eyre at Haddon Hall

    9 Sep ’11

    The Lighthouse: All Hail a High Waist Trouser

    4 Feb ’20

    Homecoming: Betsy Heimann on Costuming Godless

    15 Dec ’17
  • Clothes from now,  Film Reviews,  Guys in Films

    Review: Cosmopolis

    29 Jun ’12 /

    Cosmopolis satisfies as everything avant-garde cinema should be; an immaculate journey into weird.

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    Lord Christopher Laverty 2 Comments

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    Fantasy Reality: Catherine George on Costuming Okja

    14 Jul ’17

    Colleen Goes Contemporary: First Official Pic from The Tourist

    14 Jun ’10

    Running Scared: Costume Designer Kristin Burke – Part 2

    23 Feb ’10
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    Catherine Deneuve in Potiche: Still Belle

    10 Oct ’11 /

    Potiche confirms that Catherine Deneuve will always be Belle de Jour, only now with added sense of humour.

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    Dual Analysis: The Big Lebowski – KB’s Thoughts

    7 Jun ’10

    Alien Anthology: A Revolution in Sci-Fi Costume Design

    19 Oct ’10

    The Conversation: Gene Hackman’s Raincoat

    13 Mar ’12
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