Kurt and Bart are fascinating. Forged as art school drop outs in 1980s New York, their name is now a singular brand to movers and shakers in the media industry. Yet they are two people, two very real people: Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller, renowned costume designers and wardrobe stylists for film, stage, TV and commercials. Since the early 2000s, Kurt and Bart have really stepped up their work costume designing film (forgive the pun but they actually did costume Step Up 3D), although runaway hit Stoker is arguably their highest profile feature yet. In fact Stoker is the most beguiling film of 2013 so far for costume. This is…

American Psycho (2000, costume designer Isis Mussenden) is a late 1980s set film that highlights the importance placed on external appearance and the disparity that can lie between this and the true nature of a person. The ‘Psycho’ of the title, Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) is outwardly flawless. He has an extreme and involved personal beauty regime, consisting of special shampoos, body washes, face masks and scrubs, complemented by a strict diet and exercise plan that he completes daily and without fail. He believes in looking after himself – or at least his external self. Beneath this perfectly glossy exterior is emptiness – a lack of humanity, of…

Twenty-five years ago, costume designer Margot Wilson was a student living in Paris when she picked up a roll of red, moire silk fabric during a shopping trip to Milan. She didn’t know why, or what for; she wasn’t even a costume designer then, just a talented young fashion grad from East Sydney Tech on a six-month scholarship to France. When it was time to go home, she took the beautiful roll of fabric back down under with her. Fast forward three decades and a couple of dozen films later (including Lantana, Bran Nue Dae and Lawless), and Wilson has finally found a screen role for her magnificent weave –…

Grace Kelly (as Lisa Fremont) wears five separate outfits in Rear Window (1954) including one negligee. Three of these are exceptional standouts, each neatly representing a different sector of 1950s women’s fashion: dress, casual and tailored. All will be covered in time, but for now let’s start with the ‘fresh from the Paris plane’ dress, as designed by Edith Head, unquestionably the most famous movie costumer of all time; known for her clean and elegant ‘taste maker’ style: Fitted black bodice with deep V cut down to the bust and rear to the small of the back, off the shoulder neckline, cap sleeves. Here Head actually seems to pre-date the…

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page Directed By: Christopher Nolan Not everyone is going to like Inception. Not everyone likes, say, Fight Club, or Inglourious Basterds. Mainly because they went in expecting one thing and came out with something entirely different. And this is Inception in a nutshell. Slick, engaging, tense, yet maybe nothing at all like you expected. The screenplay by director Christopher Nolan, apparently decades in the making and originally a horror story, is constructed as his own personal maze in which to lose viewers. The meat of the film, the heist or ‘Inception’, incorporates several plots working concurrently towards a single narrative. Shooting at exotic locales…

This is part 2 (part 1 HERE) of an expanded article Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty wrote for men’s style resource MR PORTER analysing Michael Caine’s suits in The Italian Job. This post covers all the costumes he wore during the film. We rejoin Charlie and his ragtag crew at the big meeting when the gang are all introduced to each other. It had to be a Doug Hayward moment and thankfully does not disappoint. In actual fact it is probably Michael Caine’s best fitting suit in the whole movie: Dark blue worsted wool suit; double breasted jacket, wide peaked lapels, 6 on 2 fastening, slanted hip pockets, ticket…

Shocking news that veteran costume designer and costume supervisor Michael Dennison has died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. He was 58 years old. Dennison has contributed to films as diverse as Almost Famous (2000), Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and W (2008). Recently he had completed work on chic Julia Roberts starrer Eat Pray Love. At the time of his death he was costume designer on One for the Money featuring Katherine Heigl and John Leguizamo. Heigl had this to say upon hearing the news: It was an honour and a privilege to work with Michael. I am heartbroken by his sudden passing as is everyone here on the film. My…

Part one of a new Dual Analysis costume film review. Attesting that upbeat and silly often go hand in hand, Beetle Juice (1988) stands as one of director Tim Burton’s most cheerfully insane projects. If its blend of fantasy, horror, comedy proves too much for some, then the imaginative costumes by Aggie Guerard Rodgers and Bo Welch’s vibrant production design save the film from merely a cult following. Yet there is so much to see in Beetle Juice that the real enjoyment comes from re-viewing. This spooky tale revolves around the recently deceased Maitlands, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis). Just coming to terms with dying and forced to…

Suzy Benzinger, the costume designer of Blue Jasmine, chose iconic brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Missoni to serve as visual shorthand of what the modern-day wealthy socialite wears, but it is the white Chanel jacket that follows Jasmine from the beginning of the movie to the end which tells its own tale of what is happening to its owner. When we first see Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) she is flying first-class from New York to San Francisco to see her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). On the flight she dazzles a fellow passenger with the story of how she met her wealthy businessman husband Hal (Alec Baldwin). Or so she thinks.…

As the UK is missing out on the Iron Man 2 world premiere thanks to that giant ash cloud, we shall endeavour to cheer ourselves up with a few images from the film everyone has probably seen already. Iron Man 2 is one of costume designer Mary Zophres’ biggest productions to date. Although, the rumour goes, she did have a staff of twenty five assistants on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), so is obviously used to pressure. Working from a template established by original Iron Man’s costume designers Rebecca Bentjen and Laura Jean Shannon, she has created an already memorable looking set of principals. Disregarding…