From what is a hopefully legit rendering published by ComicBookMovie, we have our first clear look at Chris Evans’ new costume for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Big changes are afoot for Steve Rogers, aka the Captain. First we had costume designer Anna B. Sheppard’s well received paratrooper style uniform for The First Avenger (2011). Then we had Alexandra Byrne’s slightly less well received, vivid red and blue streamlined version for Avengers Assemble (2012). And now we have this, Judianna Makovsky’s own interpretation for The Winter Solider: The Winter soldier costume by Judianna Makovsky. This new suit has more in common with The First Avenger than Avengers Assemble. Gone are…

The week in costume design stories and links. Arrested Development Costume designer Katie Sparks on duplicates and 70’s shirts. On 26th May it all happens. Deep breath, deep breath… The Dirty Picture Niharika Bhasin Khan: “My job is to get into the director’s head and see how he sees the characters.” Pain and Gain How to create trash on screen. Oblivion Marlane Stewart’s simple, streamlined costumes for Tom Cruise and company. Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo Playtex designed the spacesuit. Yep. Star Wars Episode VII Just in case you missed it, Michael Kaplan landed the biggest job in the universe. Behind the Candelabra Sensational interview with costume designer Ellen Mirojnick by costume…

It may not warrant scholarly interest, but National Treasure 2 is an enjoyable enough adventure, with globetrotting locations, a zippy script and trendy Diane Kruger, back again to show how contemporary fashion with a plot is far more fun than a flick through Vogue. After creating an eye-catching (and cleverly ironic) ball gown for Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase in the original film, Judianna Makovsky returned to design for sequel National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007, directed Jon Turteltaub). Most of the principal cast returned too, including Nicolas Cage as treasure hunter Ben Gates. Although, again, it is Diane Kruger who draws most of our attention. National Treasure 2…

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT Having recently finished a six week, six episode run on the BBC, John le Carré adapted spy drama The Little Drummer Girl was divisive in terms of audience reaction. Some found the plot impossible to follow, others revelled in the cloak and dagger shenanigans of twenty-something Charmain ‘Charlie’ Ross (Florence Pugh), a low level actress drawn into a high stakes mission of infiltrating a Palestinian revolutionary group in 1979. The show’s costume design by Sheena Napier and Stephen Noble inspired equal division. While most enjoyed the eye-popping period ensembles and how they exemplified character, just as many were left confounded by their conspicuous presence. One thing that cannot…

With its explosive mix of comedy, drama and racial politics, Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing (1989) remains one of the most controversial and powerful films of the 80’s. Much of its enduring popularity can be attributed to an iconic aesthetic achieved through a combination of the writer-director-star’s expansive yet intimate vision, Ernest Dickerson’s glowing cinematography and – journalist Ashley Clark argues – Ruth E. Carter’s vibrant, expressive costume work. Carter’s contribution is vital in three key areas: establishing a sense of place and adding depth to the characters, supporting the film’s themes, and contributing to a bold onscreen representation of blackness which, as suggested by Ed Guerrero, “challenges and…

Second and final part in our sartorial analysis of Sherlock Holmes (2009), complete with insight from costume designer Jenny Beavan. Excited by the mystery of Lord Blackwood’s apparent ‘resurrection’, Holmes actually makes a genuine effort to appear neat for once (the restaurant date does not count as he was prompted). Holmes strolls into the cemetery beside Watson and Constable Clark wearing a black single breasted whale cord frock coat, high fastening with stand collar waistcoat in green and gold flower pattern silk, striped silk scarf, light grey pinstripe trousers, white shirt with unbuttoned cuffs, wideawake hat (too wide a brim for a trilby, too soft for a homburg) and round-framed…

Chances are you have not seen Snowpiercer yet due to its limited availability and release fiasco. If so, skip this interview and watch the film first. Go in clean, because Snowpiercer really is as good as everyone’s telling you. Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, it is essentially a dark (often literally) sci-fi thriller about a perpetual motion train carrying the last remnants of society after a global ice age. Themes of cruelty, disparity and sacrifice abound, and strong, sometimes horrific visual references bombard the screen. The exceptional costume design by Catherine George ties all this together in a way that is readable and indicative, yet never threatens…

It’s the most celebrated, the most special, the most significant watch of all time; Rolex is symbolic of many things in the movies: style, wealth, attitude, and perhaps most importantly, taste. That is not to say a Rolex is elitist, but rather that the wearer on screen, anyone from James Bond to Steve McQueen, is someone possessed of the knowledge that there is no better. Rolex is the pinnacle. The history of Rolex on film is not nearly as interesting as the scope of its wearers and how this simple act of either subtle or ostentatious display can define character. Take James Bond, a man whose breeding was forced upon…

Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is the quintessential evil queen, right up there with The Queen from Snow White and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. Or is she..? Throughout Game of Thrones we have been given clues as to Cersei’s motivations and character, and by the end of Season 3 she has become, partially at least, a sympathetic character. While Cersei was not involved with the Walder-Frey-Marry-One-Of-My-Daughters plotline, which famously leads to the gruesome ‘Red Wedding’; that plot really drove home that point that in this world women are only worth how beautiful they are. Even Robb Stark, one of the so-called good guys, was horrified at the…

With its explosive mix of comedy, drama and racial politics, Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing (1989) remains one of the most controversial and powerful films of the 80’s. Much of its enduring popularity can be attributed to an iconic aesthetic achieved through a combination of the writer-director-star’s expansive yet intimate vision, Ernest Dickerson’s glowing cinematography and – journalist Ashley Clark argues – Ruth E. Carter’s vibrant, expressive costume work. Carter’s contribution is vital in three key areas: establishing a sense of place and adding depth to the characters, supporting the film’s themes, and contributing to a bold onscreen representation of blackness which, as suggested by Ed Guerrero, “challenges and…