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Phantom Thread: An Insight into Autism and Relationships
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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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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About Time to Dress Upper Middle Class
SPOILERS Despite all the hoo-ha over films such as Blue Jasmine and Stoker contemporary is still pretty much overlooked as a form of costume design. If it’s invisible, well, nobody notices it, and if it’s designer it becomes all about ‘the fashion’ (OMG TOTES WANT THOSE SHOES). We are currently in an age when costume design means period and sci-fi. It comes to the extent that if a costumer wants to tell a story through contemporary attire, he/she needs either a director with a key grasp of semiotics, or one that doesn’t care less about semiotics and offers a degree of autonomy. Watching About Time we presume that Richard Curtis…
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Peaky Blinders: Q&A with Costume Designer Stephanie Collie
If you’re not watching BBC 2’s gangster western Peaky Blinders, stop reading now and seek it out on iPlayer – there’s still one episode left so you have time to join the party. Peaky Blinders is the slow burning tale of a volatile, family led criminal gang, headed by calculating brother Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), and their rise to power in post-World War I Birmingham. It does not sound glamorous and it isn’t, yet is all the more compelling for embracing the filthy side of what many considered to be the cusp of the ‘Roaring Twenties’. Not in Birmingham it wasn’t. Thankfully Peaky Blinders had costume designer Stephanie Collie (Lock,…
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Argo: Interview with Costume Designer Jacqueline West
Costume designer Jacqueline West talks exclusively to Clothes on Film about her period recreation work on Ben Affleck’s Oscar favourite Argo.
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Sharen Davis Costume Interview: Django Unchained
Django Unchained costume designer Sharen Davis exclusively explains her work on the film.
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Argo Buy a Sports Jacket: The Thinking Man’s Hero Attire
Ben Affleck’s pseudo-cowboy costume in Argo harks back to the golden age of the sports jacket.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Costume Round Up: Part 2
Second and final part of Clothes on Film’s sartorial run-through of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with exclusive input from costume designer Jenny Beavan.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Costume Round Up: Part 1
First of Clothes on Film’s two part sartorial run-through of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with exclusive input from costume designer Jenny Beavan.
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The Conversation: Gene Hackman’s Raincoat
With exclusive insight from costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers, we investigate the story behind Harry Caul’s distinctive plastic raincoat.
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Review: The Woman in Black
Proving that frock coats and heavy lace dresses really are terrifying.
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Midnight in Paris: Nostalgia Fashion
Sonia Grande’s costume design for Midnight in Paris offers everything we expect of 1920s Paris and the contemporary nouveau riche.
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