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    The Wolfman: Some Pics for the Weekend

    As it is the weekend how about some photos from Universal’s upcoming The Wolfman starring Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. The Wolfman is director Joe Johnston’s remake of a 1941 film of the same name. It is set during the Victorian era, late 1880s to be precise. The costume design is by Milena Canonero (Ocean’s 12, The Darjeeling Limited). We have Benicio del Toro in the title role as Lawrence Talbot, a man inflicted with the curse of the werewolf. Anthony Hopkins plays his estranged father, Hugo Weaving a Scotland Yard police inspector sent to investigate mysterious deaths in the hamlet of Blackmoore, while Emily Blunt rounds out the…

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    The Iron Lady: Costume as Distinction, Gender and Protection

    The Iron Lady (2011) is a film full of interesting sartorial clues put in place by costume designer Consolata Boyle. While it chooses not to deal in depth with the career of Margaret Thatcher, instead focusing on a story of a sick and lonely old woman remembering a rose tinted past, it certainly employs colour and clothing as indicators of mood, gender, power, emotion and, of course, political allegiance. The first shot of The Iron Lady depicts an almost unrecognisable Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) buying a pint of milk. She is dressed in a loose fitted beige anorak, beige floral print headscarf and sensible flat shoes; she is the picture…

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    Oscar Nominations: At Least One Surprise

    The Academy Awards go one smarter than BAFTA by including the late Eiko Ishioka for Mirror, Mirror in their Best Costume Design nominees. Otherwise it is business as usual for all the big hitters. However one other costume designer on this list especially deserves her statuette (clue: amazingly she has never been nominated before)… Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran Les Misérables – Paco Delgado Lincoln – Joanna Johnston Mirror, Mirror – Eiko Ishioka Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood Django Unchained: Where on earth is Sharen Davis..? We have already covered the issue of only big name, big budget period and fantasy films getting a look-in for Costume…

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    Film Review: Freebie and the Bean

    Starring: Alan Arkin, James Caan, Loretta Swit Directed by: Richard Rush Freebie and the Bean (1974) is the ultimate buddy movie. The constantly shifting dynamic of the two leads, the realistic, erratic inconsistency in their behaviour defines this sub-genre. Not by chemistry, but by sheer unpredictability. Although Bean (Alan Arkin) is the smartly dressed one, buttoned up in a 1960s rug salesman’s suit, he can be just as wild as Freebie (James Caan). Like his partner, Freebie is a borderline corrupt cop (he hooks free threads, they both indulge in police brutality); unlike his partner, Freebie likes trashing cars and dressing as a honky pimp. He tends to be first…

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    Costume Stories: This Week, The Butler and Evil Dead

    A few of the week’s costume titbits. The Butler Costume designer Ruth Carter explains her work on The Butler. Honest, with lots of detail – absolutely worth a read. …and Oprah’s ‘fashion evolution’ in the film. T-shirts “Kiss me I’m Polish”. Cool Supercuts video: a history of t-shirts in movies. As enjoyable as it sounds, i.e. very. Evil Dead Presenting the Evil Dead bikini. It’s hell on your crotch. Kristen M. Burke Wonder what costume design veteran and all round hero Kristin Burke has been up to recently? She’s been making cock socks, that’s what – cock socks designed to under loincloths worn by Mohawk Indians. No rude business, thank…

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    Costume Designers Guild Award for Doctor Parnassus

    Award winners from the CDG are in for a celebratory weekend. Monique Prudhomme’s sensational costumes for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus won in the ‘Excellence in Fantasy Film’ category, once again leaving fellow nominee, and all round big hitter, Avatar, out in the cold. Other recipients at the 12th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards included Doug Hall for Crazy Heart in the ‘Contemporary’ section, eclipsing our prediction Marina Draghici for Precious, which is unfortunately off the Academy’s list on March 7th as well. In television, Janie Bryant took the prize for her continually exciting work on Mad Men in ‘Period/Fantasy’. While ‘Mini-series’ saw Catherine Marie Thomas get the nod for…

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    New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Trailer is No Drag

    If you haven’t already watched the blistering new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, do not delay any longer. It should draw in even the most fervent detractor of the popular fantasy series. The only problem now is we expect the film to be nothing short of AMAZING. Following on from the costume snippets glimpsed in the teaser trailer (among the endless giant captions zooming towards the screen), here we get to see even more of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and co in their ‘civvie’ attire. Further coverage of Hermione (Emma Watson) in a very pretty deep red dress is a highlight, as is seeing Harry…

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    Ice Cold Movie Posters Inspired by Male Costume

    Moxy Creative has designed an extraordinary collection of movie posters based on iconic male costume. Whet your appetite here then pop over to EveryGuyed to view the rest. They are all superb, but our personal favourite is this one for Dumb and Dumber (1994). A vastly overlooked film in terms of costume design; Mary Zophres’ barmy formal attire for Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) is hilarious. This poster uses just a pair of plain black Derby shoes – an obvious nod to Verbal Kint’s (Kevin Spacey) costume as created by Louise Mingenbach for The Usual Suspects (1995). With one shoe cocked to the side, nothing more…

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    Costume Stories: This Week, Anna Nicole and House of Cards

    Interesting costume design stories you might have missed this week. Anna Nicole ‘A rags to riches tale of a pretty but plain girl growing up in small town Texas’, so says the strapline. Deborah Everton discusses her costuming of Agnes Bruckner as the tragic title character. Mad Men Janie Bryant looks back on season six and picks some choice cuts. …and responds to questions on Twitter House of Cards Tom Broecker gives THR the lowdown on costuming Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey in the acclaimed (and brilliant) Netflix show. A nice companion piece to own our article HERE. Christies auction Check out the costume lots. $6,746 for Timothy Dalton’s top…

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    Audrey Tautou Chanel Sailor Pants For Perfume Advertisement

    Neatly illustrating the previous post with Kirsten Dunst donning Chanel inspired sailor pants as part of her 1920s pyjama beachwear in The Cats Meow is elegant French actress Audrey Tautou wearing the real deal. In this new advertisement for Coco Chanel’s now 84 year old perfume Chanel No.5 directed by Amélie’s Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Audrey Tautou slips on a stylish pair of black silk-satin sailor pants coupled with black spaghetti straps fitted bodice for just a few seconds of screen-time. The whole ad is filled with stunning Chanel creations (now under the creative leadership of Karl Lagerfeld) and is worth watching over and over again for this very reason. In fact…