SPOILERS If you’ve heard anything about Phantom Thread (2017, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson), you are bound to uncover a multitude of thoughts on the astounding Academy Award winning costume work of Mark Bridges or the retirement role of Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock, 1950s fashion house couturier. But one of the key components to Reynolds is missing from the discussion: Autism. Reynolds’ (Daniel Day-Lewis) daily dressing routine. Phantom Thread opens with Reynolds (Day-Lewis) getting dressed to formalities of the era. Polished shoes, ironed trousers, a fresh button-down shirt, with the addition of long magenta socks to introduce the notion of creativity, or perhaps particularities to the character. The scene…

Costume your life. Caroline Harris Fleming costume designer talks about getting into the business, and if she’d be up for Bond… Pitch Perfect 2 The Mindy Project’s Salvador Perez set to design for Elizabeth Banks’ directional debut. He already collaborated with Banks on Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The Invisible Woman Michael O’Connor chats briefly about his Oscar nominated contribution to the film. The Grandmaster Even more briefly, though no less welcome, William Chang Suk Ping talks about his work on The Grandmaster. Ray Holman Broadchurch, Silk, Doctor Who…have a browse around this always excellent costume designer’s website. Downton Abbey The costumes travel to the U.S. We predict this’ll…

Gangster Squad is a fantasy grounded in reality. One of the coolest costume design names in the business, Mary Zophres, unveils a Los Angeles catwalk circa 1949. Maybe not 100% what actually existed but given the romanticised tone of the movie, exactly what hoped to see. To be clear, Mary Zophres has not ignored historical accuracy. After working on films such as Catch Me if You Can (2002) and True Grit (2010) she is known for her dedication to factual detail, yet never at the expense of telling the story her director wishes to. In this instance director Ruben Fleischer has approached Gangster Squad as an old school matinee. While…

If you live anywhere near the Getty Center in Los Angeles, get yourself along to their ‘Dressing the Part: Historical Costume on Film’ event, not least because it features a panel chaired by former CDG president Deborah Nadoolman Landis. Commencing this Spring, two exhibitions are taking place at the Getty Museum relevant to period costume design in movies: ‘Fashion in the Middle Ages’ analyses how manuscript illuminators depicted dress from tradesmen to kings to pops, while ‘Paris: Life and Luxury’ examines the rich wealth and inventiveness of 18th century Parisian costume. The event gets underway with an introduction to medieval and 18th century fashion by art historian Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, followed…

For a big budget movie about a lone astronaut who gets stranded on Mars, the spacesuits in The Martian are surprisingly sober in terms of design. There is an attempt here to make everything seem as plausible as possible, costume design especially. Director Ridley Scott’s regular costumer Janty Yates has created possibly the sexiest spacesuits ever seen on screen, and what’s more they are functional. To paraphrase a line in the film, she had to “science the shit out of them”. Yates collaborated with NASA looking specifically at their Z1 and Z2 prototypes to create an EVA (‘Extravehicular Activity’ – any time the crew must go outside) suit and surface…

Cool, coordinated, just a little loud; this is the timeless appeal of Jack Carter’s 3 piece suit. In portraying cinema’s ultimate anti-hero, Michael Caine wears his costume like a second skin. Get Carter was shot mainly on location in Newcastle for just £750,000. By no means a tremendous success on its release (in the U.S. Get Carter was a double feature with a Frank Sinatra movie), it has since acquired cult status and is now widely recognised as one of the greatest British films ever made. Much has been written about the ‘style’ of Carter; photo shoots of models in trench coats carrying shotguns, etc, yet there has been little…

Part two of a Dual Analysis with KB from FrockTalk.com. This movie is brilliantly designed in that the characters are concisely and efficiently illustrated. These characters are clearly defined from the beginning, and their costumes tell us exactly who they are from the moment we meet them. In this sense, they are archetypes, strongly drawn and easily recognized. For a movie as wacky and all over the place as The Big Lebowski, the visual simplicity of these characters helps the audience to stay engaged. Example: Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski. Here is what he wears when we first meet him: He’s in public, wearing a bathrobe, buying half and half, paying…

Directed By: John Cameron Mitchell Starring: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest While it may be uncomfortable to watch, Rabbit Hole is nonetheless essential viewing. Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) are a suburbanite couple in mourning from the recent death of their young son. As Becca seeks solace in repression interspersed by outbreaks of rage, Howie wants to share his pain in hope of catharsis. Unsurprisingly their togetherness, their marriage, is slowly breaking apart. This is a film that defines its characters’ identity by their grief and how they choose to experience it. Kidman is a model of self-control as the Cath Kidston-esque housewife who seemingly has it…

During his twelve year stint as James Bond 007, Roger Moore wore some exceedingly contemporary costumes, perhaps none more so than his shocking plaid jacket from The Man with the Golden Gun. Think Lulu’s theme song is the loudest thing in the movie? Think again. The Man with the Golden Gun arrived in cinemas Christmas, 1974, a year after the release of Live and Let Die. Audiences and critics gave the film a lukewarm response. Its muddled plot and over-reliance on situation comedy was grating and despite the imposing presence of Christopher Lee as Bond’s nemesis Francisco Scaramanga a.k.a. The Man with the Golden Gun, it felt a particularly limp…

Costume catch up time. Puttin’ on the Glitz Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty will be teaming up with the incomparable Amber Jane Butchart for an exciting talk at the British Library. Man of Steel Michael Wilkinson talks about his design process on the film, plus his overall approach to costuming in general at this LACMA event. For Tyranny of Style, Brianne Gillen records the details. Divergent Carlo Poggioli’s costume sketches and character info. Looks good, but will probably save reading this until after watching. Due 21st. Constantine First look at the trenchcoat wearing, Sting-alike lead character for NBC’s new television series. True Detective Costume designer Jenny Eagan talks about……