Levi’s® Spring Bottom pants are a most fascinating garment. Introduced in 1889 they are essentially jean trousers intended for Victorian (and later Edwardian) gentlemen. This is the first time Levi’s had focused their products on such an audience. Previously their stock in trade was miners and loggers, but this was a very early attempt by the company to branch out. Spring Bottom pants are a classic item of denim history, yet most folk have probably never heard of them. With this in mind we contacted costume designer Jenny Beavan recently and asked if she would consider putting them in the next Sherlock Holmes film. No-one was paying us to do……

This is the most fun and elaborate outfit Grace Kelly wears in To Catch a Thief. Lord Christopher Laverty 8 Comments 9 Dec ’14 15 Feb ’11 27 Feb ’15

Certainly the most memorable costume Diane Kruger wears in National Treasure (2004) is a luscious silk evening dress; particularly in regards to what her character puts it through. For this fun Disney adventure, Kruger plays National Archives curator turned fortune finder Dr. Abigail Chase. From blow drying the Declaration of Independence to searching an ancient cavern for Freemason gold, she gets more to do than merely follow Nicolas Cage’s ‘treasure protector’ Ben Gates around and scream whenever the bad guys pull their guns out. Abigail swinging from the back of a moving vehicle in an unashamedly flouncy gown is one of the more memorable images from the film. Moreover this…

Two weeks of links. It’s exciting. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Mindbogglingly thorough look at the costumes and modern fashion influence of GPB. Sleepy Hollow Kristin M. Burke’s headless costumes go on a little jaunt to ignite Emmy fever. …and here’s an interview with Ms. Burke where she talks about her career so far. And quilting. Maps to the Stars Not seen this yet but Superqueen makes a captivating case for this film being the new Drive in terms of heavy gloves symbolism. Maleficent A very brief insight into Angelina Jolie’s extravagant look. Look out for Clothes on Film’s coverage (hopefully) soon. …a bit more about Anna B. Sheppard’s process. …and Nathalie……

Examining the shirt collars of all the gentleman in 1941 noir classic, The Maltese Falcon. Fred Williamson as Tommy Gibbs adopts the gangster codes of 1930s cinema in blaxploitation classic Black Caesar. Catherine George’s costume design demonstrates how we read physicality on-screen. Gripping entertainment with subtext on everything from ethnicity to hierarchal costume. To be a saboteur you must surely dress like one. Good news for those who enjoyed Bud’s evolution from button-down shirts to striped Gekko shirts and red braces.

Where to start with Penny Rose? Pirates of the Caribbean? Evita? King Arthur? Most recently of course 47 Ronin (directed by Carl Rinsch). You do not hire Penny Rose for something small. This is not to say she won’t work on independent and low budget projects, just that her CV is becoming increasingly packed with huge scale period and/or fantasy studio movies – basically the kind of pictures that would make most costume designers weep. Multiples, armour, uniforms, plus Ms. Rose practically always builds from scratch. Not a fan of ‘shopping’ or even slightly interested in fashion, Penny Rose is old-school hands on, no-nonsense and no fear. Nonetheless, there is……

If you’re not watching BBC 2’s gangster western Peaky Blinders, stop reading now and seek it out on iPlayer – there’s still one episode left so you have time to join the party. Peaky Blinders is the slow burning tale of a volatile, family led criminal gang, headed by calculating brother Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), and their rise to power in post-World War I Birmingham. It does not sound glamorous and it isn’t, yet is all the more compelling for embracing the filthy side of what many considered to be the cusp of the ‘Roaring Twenties’. Not in Birmingham it wasn’t. Thankfully Peaky Blinders had costume designer Stephanie Collie (Lock,…

The scruffy gumshoe style of Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart (1987). With very special trousers. A brief glimpse at the costume world Mark Bridges created for Joker. Jacqueline Oknaian has costumed Ugly Betty (2008-10), Sex and the City 2 (2010) and The Big C (2012-13), so it might be fair to say contemporary clothing is her forte. For The Intern she dressed Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro in that most tricky of cinematic costume: ‘office attire’. Fashion and practicality collide in what needs to be stylish but relatable clothing inside a believable setting. Here Ms Oknaian chats exclusively about her work on the film. Anne Hathaway has the perfect…

A rundown of why Hollywood Costume at the V&A is the best event you will see all year. Hollywood costume comes to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum in the most exciting exhibition of its type ever announced.

Internal Affairs (1990) is an excellent stone cold thriller. The costumes are a subtle tease, revealing personal information that the characters never say out loud. Like many movies released in the late 1980s/1990s, Internal Affairs radiates uneasiness caused by shifting societal attitudes – anything that threatens a straight male chauvinist black-and-white world. Costume designer Rudy Dillon punches through this black-and-white world with ensembles that poke fun at the status quo and subsequently subvert them with eroticism, perhaps ironically using only a colour scheme of black and white. The straight white male chauvinist is Dennis Peck (Richard Gere), a police officer in Los Angeles who controls his colleagues by involving them……