Quite deliberately, We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) provokes discussion. Why is Kevin evil? Was he born that way? Did his mother make him that way by withholding love? Is he a manifestation of his mother’s own hatred toward humanity? Questions one could argue that director Lynne Ramsay and screenwriter Rory Kinnear (adapted from Lionel Shriver’s novel) never intended their audience to be able to answer satisfactorily. To describe the film as ‘arty’ would be doing everyone involved a disservice, but there is no getting away from its obvious stylisation. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, production designer Judy Becker and costume designer Catherine George deserve credit for combing their talents to…

In 1935, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made cinema history with their most successful film partnership, Top Hat. However, it wasn’t Astaire’s headgear that got people talking; it was Rogers’ ostrich feather dress worn in the Oscar-nominated song ‘Cheek to Cheek’. The fact remains that this is quite possibly the most memorable, beautiful and romantic musical number ever captured on film, and Rogers’ dress contributes to this greatly. Whenever Astaire and Rogers dance, they are making love without undressing, without even kissing in the majority of their films; “they is angels” remarks unfairly condemned criminal Kofi as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the lovers perform ‘Cheek to Cheek’…

The latest book by fashion historian, and now TV presenter Amber Butchart (A Stitch in Time on BBC 4 – second season please), is a comprehensively researched stroll through the best dressed folk ever to exist on the planet. The Fashion Chronicles: The Style Stories of History’s Best Dressed is laid out to be effortlessly readable, split into sections ranging from Ancient (and we mean ancient; basically like the first clothes ever) to 20th and 21st Century. Each entry gets a couple of pages of engaging historical notes and background justifying their inclusion along with a photo / picture or two. It works; it doesn’t feel like study or revision,…

The highly anticipated season five premiere of Game of Thrones aired across the globe this week, giving us tantalising glimpses of where our favorite characters are now. We saw two brief scenes of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), who had a major makeover at the end of Season Four. With this new direction in her character, where will she end up in Season Five? In this little addendum to our previous analysis of her wardrobe, we explore the character clues in Sansa’s striking new look (costume design by Michele Clapton). Sansa has not had it easy so far. During the last few seasons she has been trapped in King’s Landing, tortured…

MILD SPOILERS The hoodie has as much to say about it’s wearer as, say, the white t-shirt does. By which I mean that, depending on context, it can say anything. The white t-shirt can imply clean, erotic, the worker – or a combination of all three. In the eyes of contemporary media, the hoodie largely suggests youth. Shady youth, someone not keen to reveal their identity because they are planning on robbing you or worse. Put the hoodie on a black man and it is pretty much akin to walking down the street in a striped jumper with a sack marked ‘swag’. Luke Cage is not set to change that…

Daphne du Maurier‘s original novel My Cousin Rachel apparently does not specify the exact period in which it’s set, but implies some time toward the end of the 19th century on the Cornish coast. This new version of the story starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin actually positions itself in a specific time frame, as decided upon by director Roger Michell and costume designer Dinah Collin, namely the year 1840. We have an exclusive featurette about the costume design of My Cousin Rachel, which although brief goes into some detail about what to expect from the finished film: What is most fascinating is just why 1840 was chosen. It was…

It was late November, 2016 when I visited the set of The Conjuring 2 (directed by James Wan). The reason I never wrote about it for Clothes on Film or anywhere else was because of my official role on the day: I was playing an extra (or background artist if you like) during the film’s Maida Vale pub scene. Specifically this is the moment when real life husband and wife paranormal investigator team, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) meet with noted experts in their field to discuss the validity of their current case, aka the Enfield poltergeist. I made the finished cut, by the skin of my…

A quiet week for costume. Game of Thrones New costume and props exhibition to travel around the world. No dribbling over the embroidery, but you can sit on the Iron Throne. …and check out Daenerys’ ‘hot new dress’ in this video featurette at The Mary Sue. Avengers: Age of Ultron Another day, another superhero story. Possibly a few early clues about freshly cast Paul Pettany’s costume. Silent Witness We’ve just stumbled across this article, probably from the early 2000s, that neatly demonstrates what costume designers have to put up with when stars of popular drama series’ overindulge. The 22nd Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition Actual costumes from…

Jim Caviezel as new Number Six spends most of his time in the preview footage wearing a green V-neck sweater… The best darn movie of the seventies you’ve never seen. A bobbed hair ‘modette’ girl wears a cute brown and cream mini-dress during the house party sequence. Karl Urban in a natural linen tunic shirt; Kirill stands out, but only because he is supposed to. A capitalist wet dream; one that we have long since woken up from screaming. A straightforward loosely tied scarf around the handbag and Joan is the most stylish woman in the office. Harold Ramis chats candidly about Ghostbusters 3. This provides perfect opportunity for a…

MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT Minor, seemingly insignificant touches matter in the realm of sci-fi costume. They inspire curiosity, ignite recognition and establish a believable setting in which a story can unfold. Costume designer for Star Trek Into Darkness, Michael Kaplan, obviously grasps this concept. Returning as reboot costumer, he keeps things simple yet effective. A splash of colour here, a recognisable neckline there; again he manages to appease lifelong Star Trek fans without alienating newcomers. Kaplan and director J.J. Abrams’ smartest move is to acknowledge but not overplay Star Trek heritage. Never be too self-referential, never try too hard not to be; it’s a balancing act. Uniforms worn by the crew…