Janty Yates, costume designer for director Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sci-fi prequel Prometheus, is multi-award nominated and an Oscar winner for Gladiator (2000). She almost always collaborates with Scott (they have made seven pictures together and counting), but has an impressive catalogue of stand-alone work including Jude (1996), Plunkett & Macleane (1999) and Miami Vice (2006). Clothes on Film caught up with Ms. Yates for an exclusive chat about the space suits and fatigues in Prometheus, which she describes as containing some of her proudest work since Gladiator. SPOILER WARNING: We suggest only reading this after you have seen the film. Clothes on Film, Chris: What was the costume brief for…

It does not take long to realise all the recurring themes in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), are explicably linked to one jacket that may or may not have been worn by Jimi Hendrix, and now worn by infamous Susan (Madonna), a New York drifter whose carefree life is followed via the personals section in a tabloid by a bored suburban housewife living in New Jersey named Roberta (Rosanna Arquette). The film’s costume designer is Santo Loquasto, but the jacket in question is unmistakably Madonna, in that it’s totally unique and difficult to forget. The khaki green metallic fabric is perfectly offset by a brash black and gold swirling pattern on…

Part two of our essay looking at sartorial identity in Sons of Anarchy, featuring exclusive insight from series costume designer Kelli Jones. Catch up with part 1 HERE. The women of SAMCRO include porn stars and pole dancers, but the club matriarch is Gemma played by Katey Sagal, formerly known as Peg Bundy in Married with Children. Gemma is the Queen of this world so her look is regal rock chick, “to make her look badass without looking like a slut. This sexy mama bitch doesn’t need to TRY” costume designer Kelli Jones says. With her background in music (she has performed with the likes of Bette Midler, Gene Simmons…

As a preamble for costume designer Kristin Burke’s upcoming analysis of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), here is an (edited) chat we had about the film, US/UK insults, rude knitting and the Virgin Mary. It’s worth a read. Kristin Burke: So what I thought was interesting about your review was that it focused on fashion – I think that the film was terribly fashionable, especially for the time. At first glance, the meaning, the purpose of the costumes was lost for me in terms of its fashion. And you really addressed it in talking about Mary Quant. Chris Laverty: You’re right; I did see it as a fashion movie, at least on…

Director Todd Phillips has spilled some proverbial beans on the sequel to his comedy smash The Hangover. He has not said much but he has said no Vegas. The Hangover was arguably this year’s funniest movie. It featured a motley group of guys who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and then wake up the following morning with no memory of the night before, no groom, and a baby in the closet. The result was 96 minutes of deftly played, silly fun that, it must be said, felt pretty wrapped up by the end. Still with so many varied characters and another potentially disastrous situation to thrust them…

Directed By: Tom Hooper Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter The King’s Speech is a majestic tale set in a world of buttoned-up repression and austere buildings that creak as much as their inhabitants. Tom Hooper’s direction is confident and explicit. There is little subtext beyond the obvious contrast with our current royal family and the media control over their lives. Opting for reflection rather than display, plus no doubt hampered by a minuscule budget, costume designer Jenny Beavan speculates the 1925–39 setting rather than recreates it. For example, Colin Firth as frustrated King George VI, or ‘Bertie’ to those he held dear, was a Naval officer, a…

Matt Spaiser, creator of excellent blog The Suits of James Bond analyses the world’s sharpest spy in the film that started it all – Dr. No. James Bond has most likely influenced people’s suit-wearing habits more than any other fictional character has. Dr. No (1962, directed by Terence Young) established the classic look for the character for the many films that followed. Throughout Dr. No, Sean Connery wears five unique tailored ensembles. Each outfit is simple, classic and worthy of imitation. The idea was to put Bond in suits that were distinctly British, but keep things simple because a secret agent should never stand out. Yet because of this simplicity,…

Doctor Who, the quirky British sci-fi television series about a time travelling alien and his friends, premiered in 1963. Since then there have been twelve Doctors (and a War Doctor), each with their own unique looks to match their unique and often eccentric personalities. With the debut of the Twelfth Doctor fast approaching, this post takes a look back at the three Doctors we’ve seen so far (not including the War Doctor) on Doctor Who since it was rebooted in 2005 (or New Who, as some like to call it) and guesses at what we can expect from Doctor number twelve. Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor Who. Costume designer:…

Part 2 of Clothes on Film‘s sartorial rundown of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011, directed by Guy Ritchie), complete with exclusive input from the film’s costume designer Jenny Beavan. Assume spoilers within, and lots of them. We join the story for its second act, as Professor James Moriarty’s (Jared Harris) dastardly plot slots into gear… Departing respectfully early from Dr. John Watson’s wedding, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) arrives to meet Moriarty for the very first time in a black velvet frock coat with frogging (visibly looser than his previous coat), clean but un-pressed striped shirt with plain collar, dark brown silk scarf and grey check waistcoat. Conversely…

Director Darren Aronofsky came to prominence with 1998’s Pi, a bold and imaginative take on the body shock genre. His latest film Black Swan harks back to that work; the tale of a young ballerina undergoing psychological transformation, her identity thrown into question on the most visceral of levels. Clothes on Film spent some time with Aronofsky, picking his mind on the challenges of portraying such specific concepts as perfection, representation and commitment within the film. Clothes on Film: How do you plan your projects? Your work is so diverse. Darren Aronofsky: I think it’s a case of double down every time, chips are on table; each one’s just about…