lapels | Clothes on Film

Newly released on collectable Blu-ray, The Long Goodbye (1973, directed by Robert Altman) is the kind of film you feel ashamed for not watching more often. Starring Elliot Gould as Raymond Chandler’s pulp private dick Phillip Marlowe, this is a quirky, very seventies re-imagining of the Humphrey Bogart man-in-a-trenchcoat myth. The film is contemporary set, yet Gould’s Marlowe is a man out of place and time. Everything from his car to apartment to clothes is indicative of the P.I’s golden age; a world of cocktails, dames and pinstripe suits, not cat food, hippies and polyester. Hollywood’s effortless private detective was created in the post-Prohibition era of the 1930s-40s, and into…

Why does Tippi Hedren wear a green suit in The Birds, and what does it mean?

The Wolf of Wall Street trailer brings wide pinstripe suits and revolting ties.

Costume designer Jacqueline West talks exclusively to Clothes on Film about her period recreation work on Ben Affleck’s Oscar favourite Argo.

Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Le Divorce costume designer Carol Ramsey explains how a Hermès Kelly can be elevated from status symbol to character.

All the recurring themes in Desperately Seeking Susan are linked to one jacket.

Matt Spaiser, creator of The Suits of James Bond blog, analyses the style of 007 in the film that started it all – Dr. No.

The range of Edwardian coats cut for Dennis Price are recreated with remarkable historical accuracy.