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.[…]

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…

With so many movie streaming options now cropping up, we thought it would be worth drawing your attention to one of the best: Curzon on Demand. Our main reason for the love being that Curzon focus predominately on often neglected art-house cinema, plus their films are available to stream from the moment they are released at the cinema. The In Cinemas – On Curzon catalogue is pleasingly diverse, particularly from a costume point of view. Incorporating period features such as Wuthering Heights (2011), The Young Victoria (2009) and Peter Greenaway’s classic The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), to the subtextual delights of We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and Melancholia (2011).…

So what’s been happening this week then? Blue Jasmine ‘In costuming the past we lose the present.’ Wonder Woman Michael Wilkinson has basically said nothing about Wonder Woman’s outfit, yet we’re still hanging on his every word. Mad Men Jessica Paré chats about the show’s costumes and her own ‘French with a rock edge’ style. Dallas Costume designer Rachel Sage talks about her work on the TNT reboot. The Oscars Catherine Martin wins and wins BIG. Kudos. Red carpet fashion Tyranny of Style casts his educated gaze over the winners and losers. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D More Tyranny of Style, this time revisiting Ann Foley’s stylish contribution to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D…

Or when your costumes look like a building. Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s designs for High Rise (2016) are far more than that. But for a film set in such a heavily stylised world, especially one created by sci-fi author J.G. Ballard, homogeny is everything. In fact homogeny is terrifying. Everything is reflected in the aesthetic. The building towers, Tom Hiddleston’s trouser legs tower, and Luke Evans towers over everyone.  Director Ben Wheatley has claimed that he did not want High Rise to look like a ‘greatest hits of the seventies‘, but really that’s exactly what he’s got, certainly in terms of costume design – and that’s okay. It might not be the…

Sharen Davis is already a well established costume designer. Indeed she was Academy Award nominated for Dreamgirls (2006) and recently lauded for her work on The Help (2011). However chances are after Looper and her forthcoming contribution to Quentin Tarantino’s western Django Unchained, Ms. Davis will enter costuming A-List. Looper especially is a departure for her in terms of genre, a sci-fi thriller set in the near future, and yet typically she returned to the past for inspiration. Talking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Sharen Davis explains her unique retro vision for Looper (featuring original costume sketches): “I started my research on the script viewing films from the 1960s that…

Natalie Portman’s behind the scenes movie site MakingOf are running an exclusive interview with The September Issue director R.J. Cutler. He discusses the challenges he experienced making the piece and his thoughts on its main star, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. The September Issue is a documentary following all the work that goes into producing an issue of monthly fashion bible Vogue. The film focuses specifically on the September ’07 edition, which was the single biggest issue (840 pages) of a magazine, any magazine, ever produced. Chiefly though The September Issue is about renowned (infamous or famous, depending on your point of view) Vogue head honcho Anna Wintour. Given that she…

Okay, self promotion show off time. Clothes on Film is now the third Most Influential Cinema Blog in the UK according to Wikio. Back slaps and cheap champagne all round. Down two from one, but still… Here is the full Top 30 for May. If you can remember the chart countdown tune to Top of the Pops, hum it now: Now, two days ago I published a sneak preview of the May list provided by Wikio that continued to list Clothes on Film as the No.1 blog. Clearly that was wrong so here I am publishing an amendment. Still I did beat Mr. Kermode and his big BBC resources for…

Her Costume designer Casey Storm on creating a “warm and cosy and soothing” future. David Chronenberg: Evolution For WORN, Haley Mlotek examines the costumes on display at the Chronenberg exhibition, most of which are by[…] Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Le Divorce costume designer Carol Ramsey explains how a Hermès Kelly can be elevated from status symbol to character.

Here is a brief extract from editor Chris Laverty’s third ‘Fabric of Cinema’ column for international periodical Arts Illustrated. The main reason for a plug is the subject matter discussed: colour, without doubt one of the most fascinating aspects of theoretical costume study. Colour is so open to interpretation that any occasion costume designers dare to use it with intentional meaning constitutes a brave move. One of the finest costume events of the year so far, Stoker, provides just such an example. Costumers Kurt and Bart deliberately incorporated colour as a form of expression to be read alongside the film’s similarly intentional production design. A preview of the Arts Illustrated…