The gangster genre’s central protagonist (antagonist?) is conspicuous in his journey from street kid to street king by coveting the finest fabrics and tailoring that money can buy. He becomes a vain, petty man destroyed by inability to reconcile his old simpler world with the politics of his new one. It is no accident that most of the principal characters in gangster films are minorities, symbolising a detachment from society and upending of the American dream. He/she can be as rich and powerful as he/she wants, but for those born on the wrong side of the tracks (i.e. minorities, if conforming to the genre model), the only way to fulfil…

Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake whips out the same suit and hammer. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Trailer for Spike Lee’s Oldboy: Nothing New? 15 Dec ’09 27 Nov ’09 6 Feb ’17

MILD SPOILERS Director Ben Wheatley’s latest, Free Fire, is set in Boston, 1978, but was actually shot in Brighton in 2015. Being as the plot revolves around ten characters involved in a one hour plus shoot-out inside a disused factory, from a sartorial point of view things get rather grubby. The film’s BAFTA nominated costume designer Emma Fryer has already worked with Wheatley on The ABCs of Death (2012) and A Field in England (2013) so is used to the way his stories tend to go bananas in the final reel. Free Fire unfolds practically in real time, which amps up the tension but allows for no mistake with costume.…

Beetle Juice was a wakeup call; the so-called ‘goth’ look had been dragged out from obscurity and put on to the big screen. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Dual Analysis: Beetle Juice – KB’s Thoughts 31 May ’13 4 Nov ’09 9 Sep ’11

From The Observer, Bill Nighy lists five things he knows about style. Lord Christopher Laverty 3 Comments 20 Jan ’11 22 Oct ’10 27 Feb ’10

There has been an insane amount of discussion online about Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, Claire Dearing, since the release of Jurassic World (2015, costume designed Daniel Orlandi), mostly concerning the ‘running in heels’ sequences. I felt it would be interesting to take a broader look at the costumes of the female leads in both the original Jurassic Park (1993, costume supervised by Sue Moore) and Jurassic World and contrast in the characters. Dr Ellie Sattler the Paleobotanist as played by Laura Dern in the original movie is a hugely underrated feminist action hero. She is allowed to be clever, brave, practical and physical yet display ‘feminine’ traits at the same……

A slight but worth watching video about the costume and production design for frothy Walt Disney biography Saving Mr. Banks. If you have not seen the film it won’t spoil anything, and will probably get you wanting to dress in sixties suits and dresses again, like Mad Men did in the early days.

If you live near the Getty Center, there really is no excuse not to attend their Dressing the Part: Historical Costume on Film event.

If you live near the Getty Center, there really is no excuse not to attend their Dressing the Part: Historical Costume on Film event.

Maleficent is a nasty piece of work. She curses a princess, Aurora, to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die before her 16th birthday. She wears black, has horns on her hat. She is sensational. Disney’s live action interpretation of Maleficent, based on their own adaptation of the Wicked Fairy Godmother in Sleeping Beauty (1959), has just released a teaser trailer. The film follows the story of how Maleficent (played by Angelina Jolie) came to be, from a beautiful kind-hearted girl to the twisted Mistress of Evil, similar in some respects to the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Basically a good gal gone bad, and who…