Recently Clothes on Film editor, Chris Laverty was invited to discuss the costumes, themes and food in HBO mini-series, Mildred Pierce. Joined by journalist, Georgie Hobbs; senior content producer for Sky Atlantic, Ben Boyer and Julia Murphy Buske from the Primrose Bakery, we chatted in detail about what made this superb adaptation come alive. HBO ‘Sessions’ video (including expert pie making tutorial) below: For further discussion of Ann Roth’s meticulous and beautifully symbolic costumes in Mildred Pierce, try our article on the functionality and sex appeal of the housedress, plus keep your eyes peeled at Clothes on Film over the coming week for more on the subject… HBO’s Mildred Pierce…

strong>Part one of a new Dual Analysis costume film review. Costume designer Anthea Sylbert was prolific following Rosemary’s Baby. Roman Polanski’s atmospheric horror was essentially her big break and apparently one of her toughest challenges too. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) tells the story of young newlyweds Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) who move into an apartment building that turns out to be a haven of witches lead by old timers Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer). On the promise of a big career, Guy allows the witches to impregnate Rosemary with the seed of the devil. Rosemary is trapped and alone, surrounded by an…

Costume design is more than just period – much more. Contemporary costume has an even tougher job of defining character and establishing setting. Yet every once in a while a period film comes along with clothes, hats and accessories so impeccably researched and realised on screen that it is impossible not to get swept along in the majesty of the past. Predominately early 1930s set Lawless is one such example. Costume designer Margot Wilson (The Thin Red Line, The Proposition, The Road), has created one of the richest costume palettes of 2012, and all in a believable real world setting. Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Ms. Wilson talks us…

A brand new international trailer for Burlesque has pranced onto the internet, bursting at the bodice and swinging its tassels. It’s arrived in other words. The film charts the highly coloured tale of Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera), a wide-eyed small town girl who moves to Los Angeles on a whim and ends up becoming a hit headliner on the burlesque stage. Club owner Tess (Cher – yep, she’s back) teaches Ali the moves, though soon discovers she already has the singing part covered. It looks daft and enjoyable, like a trip to the seaside in winter. Just nobody mention Showgirls. Opps. Very plainly, ‘burlesque’ is risqué theatrical entertainment involving comedy,…

Paddy Considine plays The Guardian journalist Simon Ross in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). And thanks to costume designer Shay Cunliffe, he wears a Belstaff man bag. Nothing unusual about him carrying a bag, he is a reporter after all. Except that, somehow, there is; even in this day and age when gender blending style has never been more prominent, it still looks ‘wrong’. But why? Male journalists tend to fall into two categories: those that shave on a regular basis, and those that don’t. Ross is the former, a squeaky clean type in inoffensive brown fine stripe moleskin jacket, white and blue stripe shirt and dark rinse jeans. The man…

So here we go, our first Dual Analysis with Maggie from The Costumer’s Guide. First up, Chris from Clothes on Film gives his thoughts on The Young Victoria: While it ticks all the boxes of what many deem to be a typical costume drama, e.g. upper class backdrop, domestic intrigue, suppressed lust, elaborate sets and, of course, costumes, The Young Victoria (2009) is a more valid commentary on the burden of extreme wealth and duty as barrier to happiness. The film is not always successful, as director Jean-Marc Vallée generally prioritises flair over feeling, though a committed and engaging central romance kept lively by screenwriter Julian Fellowes pulls the story…

This week’s world according to costume design. Man of Steel Superman’s cape was CGI for much of the movie. Makes sense when you think about it. Look of Love Stephanie Collie on recreating 1960s Soho. Fascinating for anyone who knows the time and/or setting. Behind the Candelabra Deirdre Clemente and Aisling O’Connor explain why Liberace’s costumes mattered, because they really did. Beyond Gatsby Typically engrossing DTSFT piece about interpreting the 1920s on film. Examples from Thoroughly Modern Millie, Chicago, Midnight in Paris… Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Costume design in the Indian film industry. Revenge ‘It felt like a natural extension’, Jill Ohannesson talks about her upcoming Revenge clothing line. Living…

Big names all round for this moody, glossy looking thriller: Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, directed by Ridley Scott and, best of all, costumes by Scott’s longtime collaborator Janty Yates. Ms. Yates is best known for her Academy Award winning designs on Gladiator, and more recently Prometheus. But she does far than period and sci-fi. For The Counsellor it’s sharp, sometimes deliberately loud contemporary costume that occasionally recalls her work on Hannibal and Miami-Vice. She used designer names for the principals, including Armani (Fassbender and Cruz), Versace (Bardem) and Thomas Wilde (Diaz). It’s all up there on screen. The film is based on the first…

Photographer Terry O’Neill has been snapping shots of James Bond behind the scenes since his arrival in 1962. This book, tied together with essays written by journalists, cultural historians and interviews with Bond girls is a collection of O’Neill’s finest and most revealing work. Though many of the images have not been widely published, O’Neill’s work is easily recognisable by his eavesdropping, yet highly artistic style. Surely you have seen that classic shot of Bond creator Ian Fleming close-up in dotted silk cravat smoking a cigarette? O’Neill took it. Despite some perfunctory text, All About Bond wisely focuses on O’Neill’s photographs. The best feature Sean Connery goofing about on set,…

Okay, so Jackie Earle Haley’s brave attempt at becoming Freddy Kruger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 did not come off as well as hoped. However, his immediately recognisable costume is still emblematic as ever – albeit now with some subtle differences. Costume designer for A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot Mari-An Ceo had a wealth of considerations to take into account when creating her version of ‘that sweater’, not least that the green and red striped colours are so dark along side each other they are barely perceptible to the human eye (indeed, many think Freddy’s sweater is actually red and black to this day). In this video…