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 1980s,  Clothes on Film Video,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    The Fashionable Style of Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone

    1 Jan ’20 /

    The costume style evolution of Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone (1984).

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    Body of Lies: Mark Strong in Huntsman

    4 Nov ’09

    Wall Street: Michael Douglas’ Gekko Shirt

    6 Apr ’10

    Working Girl: The Culture of Power Dressing

    27 Sep ’13
  • Clothes from 1970s,  Clothes on Film Video,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    Jane Fonda and the Costumes of Klute (1971)

    19 Aug ’19 /

    As a new feature for Clothes on Film, we will uploading regular videos (say every couple of weeks) to YouTube examining the costume design of new and classic movies, plus selected television and trailers. This is mainly because Clothes on Film’s creator and editor Christopher Laverty (waves) has been busy on other projects (ahem, buy the book) and has not had the opportunity to update the site as much as he’d like. Returning to more regular posting, it felt like a change was needed as there are already over 400 articles currently on here. Hence the idea of video. There will be some written articles added, but for the most…

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    Long and Lean: The Silhouette of High Rise

    15 Apr ’16

    Live and Let Die: Roger Moore’s Chesterfield Coat

    4 Jul ’09

    Style Icon of the Season: Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation

    18 Dec ’13
  • 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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    Oscars 2020: Red Carpet Livestream

    8 Feb ’20

    Hanging by a Thread: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

    31 Jan ’14

    Review: Skyfall

    16 Oct ’12
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Girls on TV,  Guys on TV,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Alienist: Costume Featurette Provides Glimpse into Gilded Style

    26 Apr ’18 /

    Netflix have released a short featurette about costume design for The Alienist, giving an overall glimpse at the work of Michael Kaplan and his team in putting together the era of 1896, New York. What is enticing about The Alienist, apart from the fact that it’s brilliant whodunit telly, is that it is set outside of England, which is so often the preserve of dramas such as these. This is NY style at a point in history when those with money were about to get a whole lot more. Expensive, in other words, and if you had deep enough pockets your taste in fashion would echo this. Check out the…

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    War Horse: Exclusive Interview with Kathleen Kennedy

    19 Jan ’12

    Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adele Blanc-Sec: Full Trailer

    23 Mar ’10

    True Grit: Full Trailer Moseys Along

    5 Oct ’10
  • 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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    Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adele Blanc-Sec: Full Trailer

    23 Mar ’10

    Dark Shadows Trailer: Campy, Period Blending Costume Fun

    16 Mar ’12

    Review: Les Misérables

    20 Dec ’12
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    Beauty and the Beast at Central Saint Martins

    17 Mar ’17 /

    To tie-in with the release of Disney’s new live-action version of Beauty and Beast, the project’s Oscar winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran teamed up with students from Central Saint Martin’s college in London to reinterpret ensembles from the film. These are outfits designed in homage to Beauty and the Beast, taking specific elements here and there, a song, colour or concept and creating something entirely new. Whether these are fashion or art pieces is ultimately unclear – what stands out though is their reach beyond that of merely marketing a big movie. Just as an idea it would be fantastic to see more films promoting their costumes in this way.…

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    Full Alice in Wonderland Trailer Hits: Potty But Pretty

    16 Dec ’09

    Realism through Identity: Clothing in The Last of Us

    30 Nov ’13

    UK Film Review: Terminator Salvation

    23 May ’09
  • Clothes from 1940s,  Clothes from 1950s,  Interviews,  Premium

    Costuming The Dressmaker

    9 Nov ’15 /

    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 what for; she wasn’t even a costume designer then, just a talented young fashion grad from East Sydney Tech on a six-month scholarship to France. When it was time to go home, she took the beautiful roll of fabric back down under with her. Fast forward three decades and a couple of dozen films later (including Lantana, Bran Nue Dae and Lawless), and Wilson has finally found a screen role for her magnificent weave –…

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    His Girl Friday: Rosalind Russell’s Chevron Striped Coat

    18 Jun ’09

    Get on Up: Sharen Davis Shares Costume Design Sketches

    9 Dec ’14

    Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

    25 Jul ’11
  • Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    The Intern: Jacqueline Oknaian Costume Interview

    2 Oct ’15 /

    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 Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro in that most tricky of cinematic costume: ‘office attire’. Fashion and practicality collide in what needs to be stylish but relatable clothing inside a believable setting. Here Ms Oknaian chats exclusively about her work on the film. Anne Hathaway has the perfect office wardrobe, where did you get your inspiration for her smart, but chic looks? I related to her character personally because I’m a mother and I’ve worked…

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    Eastern Promises: Viggo Mortensen’s Double Breasted Suit

    3 Jun ’09

    Brian de Palma’s Passion: Costume as Contemporary Hitchcock

    16 Oct ’14

    Kurt and Bart Discuss the Costume Design of Stoker

    8 Mar ’13
  • Girls in Films,  Girls on TV,  News

    Arnold Scaasi (8 May 1930 – 3 August 2015)

    6 Aug ’15 /

    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. Streisand was up for Best Actress for her movie debut in Funny Girl and was established as something of an ‘individual’; usually described as ‘kooky’, she was completely different from anyone else, an innovator of style, and challenging and changing the ideas of beauty. So it is no surprise that when it came to her clothing choice for the Oscars, Streisand resisted the usual protocol of an evening gown and instead opted for a most…

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    War Horse: Interview with Costume Designer Joanna Johnston

    27 Apr ’12

    Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

    19 May ’11

    Changeling: Angelina Jolie’s Fur Trimmed Coat

    5 May ’10
  • Clothes from 1960s,  Clothes from 2000-10,  Girls in Films,  Premium

    Beautiful Oppression: Tilda Swinton in I am Love

    5 Jun ’15 /

    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 Recchi family, as selected by costumer Antonella Cannarozzi, are generally minimalist, in plain colours with little embellishment. I am Love is actually set in Europe around 2000, but its central characters are trapped as the well-heeled repressed of the sixties. Just as sexual, artistic and cultural expression was blossoming, the old guard struggled to make sense of this new world so regressed even more vehemently into their old one. The Recchi’s seem to live…

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    Janie Bryant Talks Mad Men Season 4: “Glitzy, not so glitzy”

    1 Jul ’10

    How to Steal a Million, or £60k for an Audrey Givenchy

    9 Dec ’09

    Deena Appel on the Costume Design of Austin Powers: Goldmember

    9 Oct ’18
  • Clothes from now,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    Brian de Palma’s Passion: Costume as Contemporary Hitchcock

    16 Oct ’14 /

    Director Brian De Palma has made movies heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock before, but Passion (2012) is the first one whose characters look like they stepped out of one of Hitchcock’s classic films. Karen Muller-Serreau’s bold and colourful costumes communicate the characters’ hidden desires and make watching Passion a sensory experience. This melodrama centres on two ad executives, Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) and her boss Christine (Rachel McAdams), who have a deadline to come up with an ad campaign for a new smartphone. In her sleep, Isabelle thinks of a great idea. The two other principal characters are Isabelle’s assistant Dani (Karoline Herfurth) and Christine’s boyfriend Dirk (Paul Anderson) who get…

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    The Hangover 2 Image Debuts: More Costume Wackiness to Come

    29 Nov ’10

    Black Swan: Interview with Darren Aronofsky

    17 Jan ’11

    Arthur: Trailer No. 2. Brace Yourself

    3 Mar ’11
  • News,  Premium

    Why Clothes on Film has been so Quiet Recently

    4 Jul ’14 /

    Note from the Editor: You may have noticed that Clothes on Film has not been updated as frequently recently. We’ve had some excellent analysis and a few strong interviews, but in general content has been considerably lighter than usual. Well there is a reason for this… I have recently signed my first publishing deal to produce a book about, unsurprisingly, clothes in film. Specifically this will be a book about fashion in film. Apologies if this reads a tad vague; I promise more details will follow in the coming months. I will say now, however, that it is not just another tome describing pretty dresses or sharp suits in movies,…

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    First Trailer for Tom Hardy’s Capone: Inspirational Lockdown Robe Attire

    16 Apr ’20

    Kick-Ass Character Posters: Costumed Superfreaks

    11 Mar ’10

    New Tron Legacy Trailer Lights up the Screen

    23 Jul ’10
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