After her flimsy pink slip on Skull Island, this is the second most significant outfit Naomi Watts wears as Ann Darrow in King Kong (2005). As simple as evening wear gets (though strictly in the context of the film it is stage wear), Ann’s white gown is authentically period accurate; 1930s was the couture decade to introduce evening dresses in their now familiar form. That a plain cut-on-the-bias dress such as Ann’s could be worn at any formal party function today without raising so much as a martini glass demonstrates the far-reaching influence of thirties designers; major names such as Gilbert Adrian and Edward Molyneux; those who prioritised simplicity and…

Costume your life. Caroline Harris Fleming costume designer talks about getting into the business, and if she’d be up for Bond… Pitch Perfect 2 The Mindy Project’s Salvador Perez set to design for Elizabeth Banks’ directional debut. He already collaborated with Banks on Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The Invisible Woman Michael O’Connor chats briefly about his Oscar nominated contribution to the film. The Grandmaster Even more briefly, though no less welcome, William Chang Suk Ping talks about his work on The Grandmaster. Ray Holman Broadchurch, Silk, Doctor Who…have a browse around this always excellent costume designer’s website. Downton Abbey The costumes travel to the U.S. We predict this’ll…

Oi! Costume! The Fifth Element Jean Paul Gaultier’s original costume for when Prince was cast as outrageous Ruby Rhod. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire A few more words with Trish Summerville about one of the most anticipated costume films of the year. Downton Abbey Caroline McCall discusses challenges of working on the show. Noticed all the purples and blacks worn by Lady Mary this season? That’s because she is still in mourning. Catching Fire Jennifer Lawrence wanted to wear “everything” apparently. Understandable from what we’ve seen of the costumes so far. Video: Ms Summerville explaining even more about those Katniss and co costumes. Exciting, exciting… Costume Cafe Podcast Lauren Delany…

Director Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim was always bound to be a detailed visual feast of FX, sets and costume design. Nonetheless the real main players in this film wear no costumes at all, the kaiju (Japanese for ‘strange beast’) and the tower-block sized Jaeger robots (German for ‘hunter’) built to defend Earth from their attacks. As such it fell to costume designer Kate Hawley, fresh from The Hobbit’s design team, to emphasise the humanity of Pacific Rim’s smaller-scale, flesh and blood characters. Hawley’s job was made extra difficult because most of these characters are involved in the military Pan Pacific Defence Corps, and yet we arrive (intro excluded) at…

Costume designers face a quandary: keep contemporary set films up to date, but ensure that they do not appear hideously outmoded in the future. In short they need to create a look that is both fashionable and timeless. Not an easy task. With this in mind consider some predicted winter/fall trends in women’s and men’s wear. If you spot any in this season’s movies there is either a seriously forward-thinking costume designer at work, or one who is going to regret his/her choices in the future. The great Edith Head once got caught showcasing what she thought would be the latest fashions in a film then lived to regret it;…

Much was made of Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut. Barrymore, as a Hollywood veteran, however, used many of her connections to help with the success of Whip It (2009). One of those connections was the well-respected Costume Designer, Catherine Marie Thomas. Known for her adept diversity, Thomas has been the designer on films as wide-ranging as Kill Bill (Vols. I & II) and The Prairie Home Companion. With Whip it, however, Thomas found herself in a position of freedom, as Roller Derby is traditionally known as having an “anything goes” approach to uniforms; from fishnets to feathers, nothing is off the table. With team names like The Sirens, The Holy Rollers,…

When news broke that the last installment of Harry Potter was to be released as two separate films, cynical groans echoed around the world. Plus it was going to be in 3D, but Warner Bros thankfully pulled the plug on the much-maligned post-shoot conversion to deliver it in glorious 2D instead – for Part 1 anyway. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 picks up at the very end of The Half Blood Prince with Harry still ravaged by guilt over the death of Professor Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione join Harry to find the last remaining Horcruxes in order to destroy Lord Voldermort’s (Ralph Fiennes) immortality. Meanwhile, Voldermort and…

Trailer two for Shutter Island in pin sharp HD has hit the net. Leonardo DiCaprio and co revisit 1950s fashions under the discerning eye of director Martin Scorsese. Watch the trailer HERE Based on Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name and retaining its 1950s timeframe, Shutter Island follows two federal marshals, Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), as they investigate the disappearance of a mental patient from a creepy island facility in Massachusetts. Shutter Island promises to be a serious costume movie. Not just because of the enticing fifties setting, but also because Scorsese is someone who understands the important role clothes play in definition of…

Director: Michael Winterbottom Starring: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba In 1952 Jim Thompson penned the book The Killer Inside Me from the perspective of a serial killer called Lou Ford. It was proclaimed as one of the best noir stories ever written. Shocking in its description of violence towards women, the book, and now the film, questions how such propensity is the fabric of human nature. After a stylistic title sequence, we arrive in the 1950s; Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is the deputy-sheriff of a small town in Texas. He is kind, generous but has slight arrogance about him. Lou has been assigned the task of coercing prostitute Joyce…

If you live anywhere near the Getty Center in Los Angeles, get yourself along to their ‘Dressing the Part: Historical Costume on Film’ event, not least because it features a panel chaired by former CDG president Deborah Nadoolman Landis. Commencing this Spring, two exhibitions are taking place at the Getty Museum relevant to period costume design in movies: ‘Fashion in the Middle Ages’ analyses how manuscript illuminators depicted dress from tradesmen to kings to pops, while ‘Paris: Life and Luxury’ examines the rich wealth and inventiveness of 18th century Parisian costume. The event gets underway with an introduction to medieval and 18th century fashion by art historian Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, followed…