As Clothes on Film has it on good authority that Black Swan is ‘spectacular’ and because we have an interview with director Darren Aronofsky upcoming closer to the UK release date, here are some striking images to get you in ‘that place’. Black Swan tells the story of two ballerinas (played by Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis) on a New York production of Swan Lake. As rehearsals for the show intensify, their apparently transparent personalities diverge with both an intense rivalry and unusual friendship developing. Amy Westcott is costume designer for Black Swan, while the overall costume look of the film was very much a collaborative process with Darren Aronofsky,…

George Lazenby’s fashionable Bond is sartorially similar to Daniel Craig in Skyfall. The costumes of Rumble Fish express the importance of teenage dress codes before the segregating journey into adulthood. Armour and indecisiveness: Audrey Hepburn is more than a little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The religious and cultural significance of the costume design in foreign language Oscar winner A Separation. The subtle differentiation of character through costume design in Moon. “Fashion victim” or “ensemble-y challenged”. Examining the legacy of Mona May’s costume design for Clueless. Edith Head’s costume design for Vertigo demonstrates the power of clothes in forming identities on-screen. The glamorous look of the mid-1930s threads its…

Clothes and costume related movie news The press love Prada’s involvement with The Great Gatsby, but exactly how much does this help the film’s costume design? The Costume Designers Guild Award nominations right some wrongs and ignore quite a few others. Oscar announces their Costume Design nominees and at least make up for one BAFTA shortfall. BAFTA Costume design nominations announced. Worthy, but no surprises. Fascinating video about Hardy Amies costumes for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Julien’s Hollywood Icons and Idols sale draws high bids for famous costumes, but not the big numbers seen last year at the Debbie Reynolds auction. Forgive the self-promotion as we draw your attention to…

The UK trailer for Lovelace has debuted with all the grainy razzmatazz you would expect of a film set in the world of 1970s porn. However, although Linda Lovelace’s oral talents are drawing most grasps in this footage, we were more impressed by the costumes. Every single dress gorgeous Amanda Seyfried wears is gorgeous. Forget Anna Karenina, Catching Fire, The Great Gatsby, this is the film we want to see spark a fashion revolution/revival. The 70’s is generally considered a joke as far as style is concerned, but surely this kneejerk opinion is on the wane? Tell us Seyfried as Linda Lovelace does not look amazing in every single outfit…

Here’s a link to a video Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty shot for men’s style journal Mr Porter as part of their Ask the Experts section. The topic is denim jackets in movies, from Hud (1963) to Back to the Future (1985) to Drive (2011), with a potted history of the garment thrown in for good measure. It is about three minutes long and definitely worth a watch, even if we do say so ourselves. © 2013 – 2014, Lord Christopher Laverty.

Finally we have a trailer for Tom Hardy’s Capone and it looks jim-jam tastic. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on First Trailer for Tom Hardy’s Capone: Inspirational Lockdown Robe Attire 14 Jan ’11 13 May ’09 5 Aug ’11 How Richard Burton’s character in Villain (1971) dresses to impress and intimidate. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Richard Burton is The Dandy Villain 17 May ’09 31 Mar ’17 10 Oct ’09

Does Japanese period costume reflect on contemporary fashion? French born writer Aurélie Coulibaly appraises the hipster style of Norwegian Wood. Youth, love, Japan, 1960s; Norwegian Wood (2010, directed by Anh Hung Tran) is a fable on loss and growing up. Set from the summer of ’67 through to a spring morning just a few years later, somewhere between child and adulthood, we meet an assorted group of angelic characters to move any sensitive soul. We are in Tokyo, and along with the hectic political context of students’ protests against established order, alternatively contemplating tormented Naoko (Rinko Kikushi) and youthful Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) in their intense, yet poetic relationship with Toru…

The leggy lure of Bombshell. Public Enemies demonstrates how costume can actually drive a story narrative. Costume designer Amy Westcott has finally been rewarded for her work on Black Swan with a CDG Award. For those of you lucky enough to live in LA, literally racks of costumes have just on display at The FIDM Museum. A solitary official image from The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Contemporary costume design by Coleen Atwood. Just because it’s Friday, here are four glossy images from Tim Burton’s upcoming version of Alice in Wonderland. Beautiful costumes by Colleen Atwood.

If you have seen Paranormal Activity 2 then you are probably still awake from when you left the cinema, so how about using your insomnia constructively to read about the clever ‘ordinariness’ of the film’s costume design by Kristin M. Burke? Kristin Burke is a costume designer with a packed IMDb resume including such diversity as The Cooler, Running Scared and Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. With Paranormal Activity 2 (directed by Tod Williams) she faced the difficult task of creating a completely realistic look that would live or die on its credibility. If for one second we did not believe that what we saw on screen was real, the story…

By the mid 1970s, denim had been accepted as day wear for everyone and yet still remained intrinsically associated with adolescent ‘drop out’ culture. Warren Beatty was 37 at the time of shooting The Parallax View (1974) so could hardly be described as young; he looks a touch too old for his sky-blue western Levi ‘Trucker’ denim jacket and brown twill hip-hugger pants. Nonetheless the casual denim jacket remains a potent symbol of seventies action hero. Mainstream acceptable yet scruffy, Beatty’s attire resists his character Joe Fredy’s profession as a serious, determined journalist, but not his wayward personality. A denim jacket seen in this era subliminally plants the seed of…