SPOILERS Ahead of a detailed interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan (currently hard at work on Episode VIII), we take a brief look at his undeniable achievement in bringing the 1970s – early 80’s back to life right here in the present. How do you make the now look old when paradoxically it is supposed to be the new? Well, you go simple. We say simple, but we mean ‘back to basics’. This is not the prequels; The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the Rebellion defeated the Empire. Now both sides are in state of rebuilding so there is little call for Padmae’s…

Mark Bridges exclusively explains his costume choices for retro epic Boogie Nights. Lord Christopher Laverty 4 Comments 19 Aug ’19 15 Apr ’16 17 May ’09

George Lazenby’s fashionable Bond is sartorially similar to Daniel Craig in Skyfall. A new compilation of sartorially revealing James Bond photographs by Terry O’Neill. As TracyDi Vicenzo in OHMSS, Diana Rigg wore a daring 1960s wedding ensemble.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano Directed By: Paul Brickman Ploddingly paced and dull, Risky Business (1983) is a comedy so devoid of fun as to actually be depressing. Tom Cruise shows star potential, though to assume in 1983 he could mature into one of the most bankable actors on the planet would require a serious leap of faith. He is quietly outshone by co-star Rebecca De Mornay, yet being as her performance is composed and sultry, but as a scheming hooker not even slightly believable, this makes Cruise’s future achievements all the more commendable. Neither actor plays a character easy to warm to. Cruise as high-schooler Joel…

There is not man behind the mask; the mask is The Lone Ranger. Lord Christopher Laverty 1 Comment 19 Aug ’11 28 Jul ’10 20 May ’10

There is not man behind the mask; the mask is The Lone Ranger. Lord Christopher Laverty 1 Comment 9 Jul ’12 5 Dec ’12 20 Jan ’14

Goldmember (2002, directed by Jay Roach), the final film (so far) in the Austin Powers series again shifts its timeline. However, rather than a negligible, though comparatively significant, jump from late to very late 1960s, here we dive into that most raucous of decades – the 1970s. And then back to 2002 (do keep up). For costume designer Deena Appel (pictured above, bottom left with Jay Roach) it was a wildly ambitious undertaking. Not to mention the film also features a well-known music and movie star, just about to launch into the stratosphere: Beyoncé. Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film and closing out our epic in-depth look at the Austin……

Costume designer Ann Roth’s template for Working Girl (1988, directed by Mike Nichols) is especially astute with regards to the social and geographical make up of its characters. Protagonist Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is a homely girl raised and living in Staten Island, New York. Currently working as a secretary in Manhattan (not ‘executive assistant’, reflecting vernacular of the time), as is her best friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack). Tess, however, has gained a degree through night school and harbours ambitions to use it for more constructive tasks than answering the telephone and fetching toilet paper for bawdy stockbrokers. After being set up for a ‘date’ that turned out to be…

Unquestionably the most historically significant outfit Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy wears in the show is her rose pink tweed suit. Lord Christopher Laverty 3 Comments 25 Oct ’18 16 Sep ’10 6 Jun ’18

The second installment (part one HERE) of our extensive interview with Austin Powers trilogy costume designer Deena Appel, this time focusing on The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999, again directed by Jay Roach). Things change up in The Spy Who Shagged Me, for in addition to costuming the modern and swinging sixties world of Austin Powers, his character also travels to 1969, i.e. the ‘hippie era’. The first film was a tremendous success and Appel’s contribution solidified her as the only person who could return to costume this fabulous, vibrant landscape. Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, and providing never before seen or published costume sketches from the movie, Deena……