The international trailer for Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis brings anticipation to the max. Not just a costume fest, but a costume fest with meaning, who could not be excited by this film? No need for us to cover the plot again or recap the incredible costume design by Amy Westcott and Rodarte sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy. After Christmas we will publish an interview with director Darren Aronofsky discussing fractured identity and how costume can form part of a filmic narrative. Until then, for those in the United Kingdom who have not seen the film (we have, sorry!), this enticing trailer will just have to do.…

Glasgow born fashion designer Holly Fulton is to contribute ten outfits for Sarah Jessica Parker in the Sex and the City sequel. Not bad going as the film is likely to be a ninety minute catwalk with occasional rudies. Created for Fashion East, Holly Fulton’s outfits are delicious vintage inspired soup with a garnish of insanity. Maybe not what one would immediately expect for the glitzy ra-ra world of SATC. Fulton herself, though, would disagree. Speaking to British Vogue: “I like to associate my designs with women who are distinctive individuals and wear them in their own way, so it’s a brilliant opportunity for a new designer like myself to…

Costume stories for the festive season. Shame that none of these have anything to do with Christmas. Bronx Bombers on Broadway Let’s all go to the theatre.Tyranny of Style has published an eye-opening interview with Bronx Bombers costume designer David C. Woolard. Having worked in theatre first hand, CoF got just a little bit nostalgic. The Innocents (1961) GORGEOUS gothic costume sketches. Patia Prouty Banshee and Justified’s costume designer talks about her work on both shows in this superb interview for True To Me Too. Punch-Drunk Love Girls Do Film get all caught up in colour. American Horror Story Lou Eyrich left Glee to costume killer nuns and aliens. She…

Clothes on Film were granted a private tour of world-renowned Angels the costumiers. The glamorous look of the mid-1930s threads its way through dual love stories in W.E. Win a pair of tickets to see Madonna’s controversial costume fest W.E. at The London Film Festival on 23rd October.

NO SPOILERS Real and mythological, figurative and literal; monsters of all kinds abound in Sky Atlantic’s new period horror series Penny Dreadful. We might expect a skulking figure in a top hat and frock coat to be scary, though who would have thought a bustle and redingote could be so terrifying? Well, step forward Eva Green as enigmatic Vanessa Ives. Not hero nor villain, but a dead eyed clairvoyant who definitely shouldn’t be invited to dinner parties. Eva Green as Vanessa Ives. Green’s costumes are tinged with arachnid symbolism, such as webby lace and orb-like patterns on her frocks. One of the show’s promo posters (HERE) has Green in a…

On first discovering that the late Eiko Ishioka’s costumes for Tarsem Singh’s fairytale update Mirror Mirror: The Untold Adventures of Snow White are to be featured in an ‘app’ for Apple products we were, to put it mildly, sceptical. On further consideration, however, this is actually a fun and really quite sweet idea. Simply titled ‘Dress Up Snow’ this free app showcases several of Ishioka’s most typically imaginative and extravagant outfits for the movie, all worn by Lily Collins as Snow White – alas none for Julia Roberts’ Evil Queen. Users can alter a cutesy rendered image of Collins wearing different ensembles, in addition to changing the scenery, adding accessories,…

Betsy Heimann’s costume design for Reservoir Dogs (1992) spawned a legacy in pop culture and fashion that is still being felt today. Heimann and director Quentin Tarantino determined a cinematic sub-genre by redefining the appearance of the petty gangster. From shambolic to symbolic; a man in a black suit, white shirt and black tie walking in slow motion is possibly the single most memorable costume image of the nineties. Here, talking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Ms. Heimann describes how the Reservoir Dogs look came together: “I am very pleased that the narrow silhouette I created influenced and still influences men’s fashion” she offers. “I think that Quentin is responsible…

MILD SPOILERS Costume designer Michael Wilkinson’s main accomplishment with American Hustle has largely been overlooked in favour of praising him as some kind of vintage stylist with an eye for provocative gowns and desirable heels. The truth is he has carefully brought to life a world, not of parties and glamour, but cheap sex and dirty desperation. The costumes in American Hustle do tell a story, particularly through their ever darkening colour palette, yet Wilkinson’s deftest skill is reflecting an era when fashion was as confused as the politics surrounding it. American Hustle is an unapologetic tale of low down dirty double-crossers whose clothes, like them, were a lie. A…

With the release of Disney/Pixar’s latest adventure Brave (directed by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews); featuring colourful tartan cloaks and the Tudor-esque dresses of its heroine Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), it is worth considering exactly what role costume plays in animated film. Does this craft even exist for animation? Clothes on Film talk exclusively to simulation supervisor for Brave, Claudia Chung, about this process and whether or not costume truly has a viable, practical function outside of live action cinema: Educated at University of California-Berkeley, Claudia Chung joined Pixar in 2002 after interning for summer in 2001. Her first role was as rendering technical director on Finding Nemo (2003),…