Ann Roth’s Emmy nominated costume design for Mildred Pierce has received considerable press, mainly for Kate Winslet’s richly tailored suits and Evan Rachel Wood’s glamorous Katharine Hepburn-esque lounge ensembles. Yet the show’s outwardly dowdy housedresses and waitress uniforms are just as interesting. Further to our earlier essay on the former, we shall analyse the displaced sex appeal of the latter. The sex appeal of the uniform, in this case Mildred’s plain white cotton waitress uniform, buttons at the front, trimmed in brown gingham with a simple rever collar, is entirely one-sided. Lecherous customers grope Mildred as if they have somehow earned the right. These men are aroused by Mildred’s uniform,…

Director Peter Jackson’s big budget King Kong (2005) remake is set in 1933 (same as the original). This is slap bang in the middle of America’s Great depression, tasking costume designer Terry Ryan with creating looks that replicate the obvious poverty of the time plus the go-for-broke ensembles adopted by many people for glamorous night time events and parties. Ryan costumed King Kong heroine Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) in two distinct categories: New York attire and film within a film outfits, i.e. those worn on board the ship to Skull Island and while on the island itself. Ann’s New York look is largely in keeping with the era; although with…

Mark Strong as Hani Salaam is sole sartorial encouragement in Body of Lies (2008), a movie choc full of (intentionally) awful clothes. With headliners Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe dressed inconspicuously as possible, DiCaprio in tracksuit bottoms and untucked shirts and Crowe entirely in Target, Strong’s razor-sharp Jordanian intelligence chief is granted ample opportunity to shine. HANI SALAAM (as CIA man ROGER FARIS grabs him by the arm) Please, let go of the jacket. Damn right. Mark Strong’s wardrobe was outfitted by Huntsman of Savile Row. Body of Lies costume designer Janty Yates did not have time to have his suits tailored, so hoped instead to find something off the…

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,…

SPOILERS For anyone with an eye to costume, The Avengers: Infinity War (2018) seemingly takes few evolutionary leaps. This makes perfect sense when we consider the timeline following particularly significant events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2017). Infinity War costume designer Judianna Makovsky (previously on board for The Winter Soldier, 2014; Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, 2016) has crafted a combination of instantly familiar looks for a jam-packed canon of characters where nobody wants to be missed, but nobody should stick out above anyone else either. It’s a real balancing act, which is something we are should sure Thanos himself would appreciate. Judianna……

Directed by Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow Summer blockbuster season has officially kicked off with one of the most anticipated releases of the year – Iron Man 2. The first Iron Man was a surprise hit of 2008, it resurrected Robert Downey Jr.’s career and even made AC/DC cool again. Taking a different tact to The Dark Knight, it kept the tone light and went down a storm with critics and fans alike. Two years later, we have the sequel. The story picks up six months after events of the first film; Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is trying adjust after revealing his secret identity…

MINOR SPOILERS Movies that feature contemporary fashion, particularly high-end and particularly for women, are a tricky sell costume wise. While men’s semi-formal to formal attire is generally shaped around the fundamental guise of the lounge suit, women’s clothing has a lot more avenues and possibilities. In addition to colour and pattern there is shape and form, which can vary dramatically for the fashionable wearer. What can vary dramatically can also date dramatically and this can be major stumbling block for costume designers. Films centred around the world of fashion, or those that include a lot of fashionable garments such as The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Clueless (1995) and Funny Face…

After Earth is Amy Westcott’s first attempt at a sci-fi feature. Her M.O tends to be contemporary costume, such as The Wrestler (2008) and award winning work on Black Swan (2010). But even then she seeks out subtext amongst typical genre interpretation. Black Swan for example is a psychological horror whereby costume reflects the inner workings of the protagonist’s mind so actually becomes part of the narrative. After Earth is similar in this respect because the film’s primary ensemble, the ‘life suit’ worn by Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) is synthetic in construction yet organically synched with the human body. Without his suit, Kitai could not survive Earth’s hazardous environment; his…

We have teamed up with ace movie t-shirt maestros Last Exit to Nowhere to find the coolest dressed character in the movies. As the season of generosity is upon us, we have FIVE t-shirts to give away to FIVE separate winners. That’s an über trendy film t-shirt, of your choice, on your lucky body. Happy Christmas. As we said, what would like to do is find the coolest dressed character in film. Now, what we basically mean by this is whoever, he or she, exudes the most amount of self-assurance on screen. As an example, consider Cousin Eddie (played by Randy Quaid) in the image above from National Lampoon’s Christmas…

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…