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 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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    T2 Trainspotting: Nostalgia Trip

    6 Feb ’17

    Exclusive Interview with Toy Story 3 Director Lee Unkrich

    19 Jul ’10

    Review: The American

    15 Oct ’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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    Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

    4 Mar ’13

    A Colourful Tale: The Costume Canvas of Dick Tracy

    27 Feb ’15

    Film Review: Iron Man 2

    3 May ’10
  • 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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    To Catch a Thief: Grace Kelly’s Beach Wear

    5 Apr ’11

    North by Northwest: Cary Grant’s Kilgour Suit

    13 May ’09

    New Shutter Island Trailer Debuts: Serious Fifties Costumes

    3 Oct ’09
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    The Passenger: Always at Odds

    2 Nov ’17 /

    Filmmaker Nic Fforde discusses how he come to realise the importance of costume design in his projects. Stories in films are all familiar to us in some way, no matter how remote the setting. The hell that unfolds aboard the Nostromo in Alien, LA’s icy criminal underworld in Heat or Rope’s Ivy League dinner party – a good story well told will whisk you away to its own self–contained world. All the tools of filmmaking are there to help create these worlds. What part does costume play in all this? My day job is to make films for advertising. We work on low budgets with small documentary crews. Whatever our…

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    Argo Buy a Sports Jacket: The Thinking Man’s Hero Attire

    16 Nov ’12

    Argo: Interview with Costume Designer Jacqueline West

    16 Feb ’13

    Live and Let Die: Yaphet Kotto’s Brown Suede Trench Coat

    26 Feb ’10
  • 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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    Kick-Ass Character Posters: Costumed Superfreaks

    11 Mar ’10

    2001 and Hardy Amies: When Fashion and Film Collide

    21 Dec ’12

    Moon: The Double Meaning of Sam Rockwell’s Costume Design

    25 May ’12
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  News,  Premium

    Exclusive Costume Featurette for My Cousin Rachel

    31 May ’17 /

    Daphne du Maurier‘s original novel My Cousin Rachel apparently does not specify the exact period in which it’s set, but implies some time toward the end of the 19th century on the Cornish coast. This new version of the story starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin actually positions itself in a specific time frame, as decided upon by director Roger Michell and costume designer Dinah Collin, namely the year 1840. We have an exclusive featurette about the costume design of My Cousin Rachel, which although brief goes into some detail about what to expect from the finished film: What is most fascinating is just why 1840 was chosen. It was…

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    Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood

    1 Apr ’14

    Oz the Great and Powerful: Costume Interview with Gary Jones

    5 Jul ’13

    Costume Designer Anaïs Romand Discusses House of Tolerance

    7 Sep ’12
  • Clothes from 1960s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    Legend: Interview with Costume Designer Caroline Harris

    25 Sep ’15 /

    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 post World War II boom for England. They came to symbolise the smartly dressed gangster for a new youth-orientated generation. They had money and they wanted to flaunt it – and that meant suits and a lot of jewellery. Costume designer for Legend, Caroline Harris, boasting over 20 years experience in both film and television with credits such as Mr Nice (2010), Red Riding (2009) and Fleming (2014), here chats exclusively to Clothes on Film…

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    Art of Rosemary’s Baby

    7 Mar ’11

    Brighton Rock and Mod: Trailer Hits

    24 Nov ’10

    Deo Veritas: Creating the James Bond Cocktail Cuff Shirt

    25 Oct ’13
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Interviews

    Why is Miss Piggy Wearing a Vivienne Westwood Wedding Dress?

    11 Feb ’14 /

    When Clothes on Film visited The Muppets Most Wanted set back in March of 2013, we were given a tour of the bustling ‘wardrobe’ (their words) department, as overseen by costume designer Rahel Afiley. You can read more about that HERE, but after chasing Ms. Afiley around the room while she was trying to work, we managed to get a bit more out of her about using designer fashion, i.e. Vivienne Westwood, in the film. As always we are pushing the same old costume/fashion debate, though in this instance hearing from a costume designer on the front line is rather enlightening. Focusing specifically on Miss Piggy, for she is the…

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    Eiko Ishioka: Trapped in Her Own imagination

    15 Jul ’13

    Net-a-Porter to Launch Hunger Games Capsule Collection

    5 Sep ’13

    Woman Inherits the Earth: Femininity in Jurassic World

    19 Jun ’15
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    12 Years a Slave: Rags and Tatters

    20 Jan ’14 /

    We may have to eat our words, but as it stands 12 Years a Slave is unlikely to win the Best Costume Design Oscar. It does tick some of the necessary boxes: it’s period (mid 19th century), features both crinolines and cravats, and is part of the popular ballot. Yet being as the protagonist spends most of his time in just an increasingly distressed tunic shirt, the Academy may just feel costume designer Patricia Norris has really not worked hard enough. Flippancy toward the Academy aside, 12 Years a Slave remains a wonderfully rich costume experience. Every fibre leaps off the screen with detail and feeling. The cool weave of…

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    Costume Designer Anaïs Romand Discusses House of Tolerance

    7 Sep ’12

    The First Great Train Robbery: Sean Connery’s Victorian Coat

    5 May ’09

    Sherlock Holmes Costume Guide Part 1: Frock Coats & Bustles

    17 May ’10
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls on TV,  Premium

    Game of Thrones Costume Analysis: Cersei Lannister

    6 Sep ’13 /

    Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is the quintessential evil queen, right up there with The Queen from Snow White and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. Or is she..? Throughout Game of Thrones we have been given clues as to Cersei’s motivations and character, and by the end of Season 3 she has become, partially at least, a sympathetic character. While Cersei was not involved with the Walder-Frey-Marry-One-Of-My-Daughters plotline, which famously leads to the gruesome ‘Red Wedding’; that plot really drove home that point that in this world women are only worth how beautiful they are. Even Robb Stark, one of the so-called good guys, was horrified at the…

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    The Pure Nerd-Joy of Mysterio’s Costume in Spider-Man: Far From Home

    22 Jul ’19

    Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

    4 Mar ’13

    Woman Inherits the Earth: Femininity in Jurassic World

    19 Jun ’15
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls on TV,  Premium

    Game of Thrones Costume Analysis: Daenerys Targaryen

    16 Jul ’13 /

    The costume evolution of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.

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    X-Men: First Class Costumes

    20 Jan ’11

    Interview with 47 Ronin Costume Designer Penny Rose

    2 Jun ’14

    Thor: Costume Revealed. Sort Of

    30 Apr ’10
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Girls in Films

    Lovelace Trailer: Lovely Dresses

    9 Jul ’13 /

    UK Lovelace trailer is full of lovely 70’s dresses.

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    Rocky: Talia Shire as Adrian, From Geek to Chic

    17 Mar ’10

    From Tailors with Love Podcast: Discussing the Tom Ford Look

    24 Jan ’20

    Ellen Mirojnick Describes Costumes for Behind the Candelabra

    7 Jun ’13
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