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[…]
Tag: uniform
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[…]
Star Wars Episode VII: The Costumes Awaken
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[…]
The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel
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[…]
Internal Affairs: A Black and White World
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[…]
Four Slices of Costume Pie from the Star Wars VII Trailer
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[…]
Become The Babadook
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.[…]
Brian de Palma’s Passion: Costume as Contemporary Hitchcock
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[…]
Snowpiercer: Q&A with Costume Designer Catherine George
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[…]
Dressed to Serve: Costume in The Grand Budapest Hotel
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[…]
Status and Signifiers: Costume in There Will Be Blood
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[…]
12 Years a Slave: Rags and Tatters
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[…]