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 1970s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews

    Troop Zero: It’s Birdie Time

    20 Jan ’20 /

    We chat to costume designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer about her work on terrific new Amazon comedy, Troop Zero.

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    The Warriors: Leather Vest

    17 May ’09

    Lovelace Trailer: Lovely Dresses

    9 Jul ’13

    The Little Drummer Girl: A Colourful Pretence

    14 Dec ’18
  • Clothes from 1960s,  Clothes from 1990s,  Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

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

    25 Sep ’18 /

    With Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), costume designer Deena Appel created one of the most iconic screen looks of all time. That is no overstatement; Austin Powers has been copied and homaged and wheeled out every year as a Halloween costume, with very little credit put Appel’s way. It is a rather sad indictment of how the industry works that, despite its importance, especially in a film such as Austin Powers, a costume designer will rarely see any kudos come their way. Awards? Well, you might have a chance if your film is set in Victorian England or Disney-verse, but other than that not so much. With this…

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    Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

    8 Dec ’09

    Belle de Jour: Sex and Alienation

    13 Oct ’09

    Two For the Road: Audrey Hepburn in Denim

    9 Aug ’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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    Katie Holmes in The Kennedys: Armani’s Copy of a Copy

    5 Aug ’11

    Rear Window: Miss Lonelyheart’s Green Dress

    6 Nov ’09

    Grease: The ‘Pink Ladies’ Wear it Well

    22 Sep ’09
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    Star Wars Episode VII: The Costumes Awaken

    21 Dec ’15 /

    SPOILERS Ahead of a detailed interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan (currently hard at work on Episode VIII), we take a brief look at his undeniable achievement in bringing the 1970s – early 80’s back to life right here in the present. How do you make the now look old when paradoxically it is supposed to be the new? Well, you go simple. We say simple, but we mean ‘back to basics’. This is not the prequels; The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the Rebellion defeated the Empire. Now both sides are in state of rebuilding so there is little call for Padmae’s…

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    Man of Steel: New Featurette Discusses the Superman Suit

    3 Jun ’13

    New Thor Pic: Now Hopkins & Hiddleston

    14 Jul ’10

    Alien Anthology: A Revolution in Sci-Fi Costume Design – PT2

    26 Oct ’10
  • Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel

    27 Mar ’15 /

    Author Matt Zoller Seitz has published a continuation of his superb book The Wes Anderson Collection (2013), entitled (deep breath) The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. The former is a detailed look at Anderson’s output so far, influences, meaning and interpretation of his work; the latter covers exclusively Anderson’s latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This is far more than a bolted on sequel, however, and one of the reasons we know this is because Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty was asked to contribute a chapter. More than that, it has recently joined The New York Times bestseller list. A pretty, candy-coloured slab of hardback, Seitz’s follow up…

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    Film Review: 2012

    19 Dec ’09

    Sherlock Holmes Costume Guide Part 2: Tweed Suits and Ulsters

    20 May ’10

    The American Charity Sale: Own Clooney’s Zegna Suit

    2 Sep ’10
  • Clothes from 1980s,  Clothes from 1990s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Internal Affairs: A Black and White World

    6 Dec ’14 /

    Internal Affairs (1990) is an excellent stone cold thriller. The costumes are a subtle tease, revealing personal information that the characters never say out loud. Like many movies released in the late 1980s/1990s, Internal Affairs radiates uneasiness caused by shifting societal attitudes – anything that threatens a straight male chauvinist black-and-white world. Costume designer Rudy Dillon punches through this black-and-white world with ensembles that poke fun at the status quo and subsequently subvert them with eroticism, perhaps ironically using only a colour scheme of black and white. The straight white male chauvinist is Dennis Peck (Richard Gere), a police officer in Los Angeles who controls his colleagues by involving them…

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    Anchorman 2 Trailer: Ron and Friends Meet the 80’s

    19 Jun ’13

    Film Review: Dolores Claiborne

    6 Sep ’10

    Arthur: Trailer No. 2. Brace Yourself

    3 Mar ’11
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Premium

    Four Slices of Costume Pie from the Star Wars VII Trailer

    28 Nov ’14 /

    There is little point in Clothes on Film delving too deeply into the first trailer for director J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars sequel The Force Awakens, mainly because it is just so much speculation at the moment, which of course is part of the fun, but also because there are far smarter (or more interested) minds on the Internet who will do a better job. That said how can you watch that trailer and not have an opinion? So here are ours, and with no contribution whatsoever from Star Wars VII costume designer Michael Kaplan. If he told us anything at this stage he would be thrown in the Sarlacc pit…

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    Luke Cage: Swiss Cheese Hoodie

    14 Nov ’16

    World War Z and the Art of Breaking Down

    27 Jun ’13

    Man of Steel: New Featurette Discusses the Superman Suit

    3 Jun ’13
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Become The Babadook

    28 Oct ’14 /

    On the surface the Babadook is just another bogeyman: prickly, sinewy, all arched limbs and spiky digits. And this is the point: he is just another bogeyman; it is what he represents that really matters. Without spoiling too much, The Babadook is larger than life because he is the exaggerated physical manifestation of our demons. In this respect he could look like anyone – wherever our fears lead. Nonetheless for the purposes of dressing up as the Babadook for this Halloween, and having anyone actually guess who you are, the following is required: top hat, cape and some pointy things to stick on your fingers. To achieve maximum scare, however,…

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    Costume Round Up: Flights of Fantasy

    10 Mar ’13

    Inception: Jeffrey Kurland Costume Q&A

    31 Jul ’10

    First Official Pic: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

    5 Aug ’11
  • 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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    Colleen Goes Contemporary: First Official Pic from The Tourist

    14 Jun ’10

    Bridesmaids Q&A: Comedy Costume

    17 Jun ’11

    New Trailer for Tenet, aka The Best Film Ever Made

    23 May ’20
  • Clothes from Fantasy & Sci-fi,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Interviews,  Premium

    Snowpiercer: Q&A with Costume Designer Catherine George

    1 Aug ’14 /

    Chances are you have not seen Snowpiercer yet due to its limited availability and release fiasco. If so, skip this interview and watch the film first. Go in clean, because Snowpiercer really is as good as everyone’s telling you. Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, it is essentially a dark (often literally) sci-fi thriller about a perpetual motion train carrying the last remnants of society after a global ice age. Themes of cruelty, disparity and sacrifice abound, and strong, sometimes horrific visual references bombard the screen. The exceptional costume design by Catherine George ties all this together in a way that is readable and indicative, yet never threatens…

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    After Earth: Costume Designer Amy Westcott Explains Life Suit

    14 Jun ’13

    First Look at Captain America: The Winter Soldier Costume

    12 Jun ’13

    Become The Babadook

    28 Oct ’14
  • Clothes from 1930s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films,  Premium

    Dressed to Serve: Costume in The Grand Budapest Hotel

    4 Jul ’14 /

    SPOILERS From a costume point of view, and therefore a character point of view, The Grand Budapest Hotel (directed by Wes Anderson) is all about uniforms; those worn by men and women in official capacities and those adopted as a life uniform by those trapped in the past. Eccentric La Belle Époque hangover Madame D (Tilda Swinton) is the latter, Moustafa Zero (Tony Revolori), a newly appointed lobby boy in the pinnacle of majestic 1930s hotels, The Grand Budapest, is the former. While Madame D goes nowhere, perhaps because she has already been everywhere, Zero undertakes a journey and evolution of character, which subsequently means his clothing does too. In…

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    Gangster Squad: Gangster Gloss

    28 Jan ’13

    Changeling: Angelina Jolie’s Fur Trimmed Coat

    5 May ’10

    Water for Elephants: Latest Trailer and Stills

    18 Mar ’11
  • Clothes from 1837-1919,  Clothes from 1920s,  Clothes from 1930s,  Girls in Films,  Guys in Films

    Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood

    1 Apr ’14 /

    Costume designer Mark Bridges described There Will Be Blood (2007) as his most challenging film, referring to the difficulties he faced in transporting costumes to the remote location in West Texas, after director Paul Thomas Anderson called for a new concept three days before a re-shoot. However these challenges seem to channel the themes of the film itself: hardship, isolation, and the determination to overcome any obstacle to fulfil a goal. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a turn-of-the-century prospector, who receives a tip about a giant oil deposit under a family farm in California. The family includes Eli Sunday, a zealous preacher and faith healer who wants the money from…

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    The Young Victoria: Chris and Maggie Chat About the Film

    26 Jul ’10

    Louise Bourgoin as Adèle Blanc-Sec: Feathers in Her Hat

    12 Aug ’11

    Exclusive Costume Featurette for My Cousin Rachel

    31 May ’17
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