With exclusive contributions from Le Divorce costume designer Carol Ramsey, Jill Burgess, creator of Everything Just So, analyses the film’s distinctive sartorial presence; specifically how a Hermès ‘Kelly’ bag can be elevated from status symbol to movie character. In the 2003 Merchant Ivory movie Le Divorce, based on the novel by Diane Johnson, Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson) travels from Santa Barbara to Paris to visit her pregnant sister Roxeanne (Naomi Watts), who is subsequently abandoned by her unfaithful husband Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud). Isabel becomes involved with an older married politician, Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte), uncle of Charles-Henri, thus further complicating matters in this comedy-drama of impeccable manners. During…

Yes, amazingly, Anna B. Sheppard’s much talked about work on Inglourious Basterds has been overlooked by the Costume Designers Guild (CDG). Though this is not the only surprise announcement… Marina Draghici has been given the nod for Precious, which is perhaps a shock considering the very ordinary, albeit period, costumes worn by the cast (including queen diva Mariah Carey no less). Yet this is what costume design is all about; sometimes intentionally visible, sometimes intentionally invisible. The Costume Designers Guild, and this is reassuring given their name, can clearly tell the difference. The CDG separate their nominations into three categories: Period, Contemporary and Fantasy. Inglourious Basterds is the obviously controversial…

If you haven’t already watched the blistering new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, do not delay any longer. It should draw in even the most fervent detractor of the popular fantasy series. The only problem now is we expect the film to be nothing short of AMAZING. Following on from the costume snippets glimpsed in the teaser trailer (among the endless giant captions zooming towards the screen), here we get to see even more of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and co in their ‘civvie’ attire. Further coverage of Hermione (Emma Watson) in a very pretty deep red dress is a highlight, as is seeing Harry…

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…

Clio Barnard’s stark yet heart-wrenching film The Selfish Giant (2013, UK) offers two fantastic performances from its young stars in their acting debut. Matt Price discusses how his costume design for the film reflects the strong, relatable characters so well… It is lunchtime in London as costume designer Matthew Price shuffles into the Curzon, Soho. Recently collaborating with Clio Barnard on the Bafta nominated film, The Selfish Giant, reuniting after experimental documentary The Arbour, Price is surprisingly reserved about his work. “I wasn’t really sure if they’d take me on again,” he says of Barnard and producer Tracey O’Riordan. “The Arbour did quite well so I didn’t know if they’d……

In honour of The Times’ film critic Kevin Maher’s list of iconic movie rebels, we take a look at what it truly takes to make a tough guy in cinema. What constitutes a tough guy, as in ‘man’, on film is usually a traditional interpretation of masculinity. There is always room for the sensitive hero in a sweater and slacks, but for those who watch movies as ingrained wish fulfilment, the sexy and sweaty man’s man needs suitable attire to reflect his personality. But it is not just about the garments themselves. A jacket is a jacket, but a leather jacket is a symbol. A wax jacket on the other…

Le full trailer for Luc Besson’s latest film as director, Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec) has arrived on the net. It is the early 20th Century and ladies wore massive hats. Watch le trailer with subtitles HERE Based on the dual French/Belgian comics of writer/illustrator Jacques Tardi, the movie, like the books, follows the escapades of heroine Adèle Blanc-Sec, an eligible investigative journalist who battles crime and mythical monsters while all the time endeavouring to ‘act like a lady’. The stories first appeared in 1976 and are set in the 1910s and later on around 1918, after Blanc-Sec is cryogenically frozen for the duration…

Author Caroline Young has just released a fascinating new book entitled Hitchcock’s Heroines (published by Insight Editions). It celebrates and studies the women in Hitchcock movies; their influence, semblance and iconography. What’s more, Young also examines the role costume design plays with these women, both the characters and the actresses who played them, and how they can be interpreted as far more than just ‘icy blondes’. Here we have an extract of the book exclusively for Clothes on Film: Kim Novak’s grey suit the colour of San Francisco fog in Vertigo, Grace Kelly as the too-perfect woman in Rear Window, and Janet Leigh’s black and white sets of underwear to……

Watch the trailer HERE The latest trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender has arrived in all its CG glory. Sumptuous looking costume design by Judianna Makovsky. The film is a live-action version of Nickelodeon’s TV animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, about a fantastical world where ‘benders’ (steady) can control the elements Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. A deceptively young man Aang (played by Noah Ringer) must restore peace after the ‘Fire Nation’ openly declares war. Aang is ‘The Avatar’, basically a physical manifestation of the four classical elements, though at the start of the story he can only manipulate Air. Judianna Makovsky has been costume designer on…

A real legend of the industry, Greek born costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge, has died aged 88 years old. Designing for both stage and screen since 1950s, Aldredge was perhaps best known for her work during seventies era Hollywood on films such as Three Days Of The Condor (1975), Network (1976) and Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). She collaborated with Ralph Lauren for The Great Gatsby in 1974, though ostensibly Lauren just provided shirts and some suiting, in which she sparked a high street fashion revival for the delicate, waistless shifts worn by Mia Farrow’s character Daisy. The costumes were made in less than two weeks – an astonishing achievement.…