MINOR SPOILERS For all the inevitable chrysalis transformation of singer Ally (Lady Gaga) during A Star is Born (2018, directed by Bradley Cooper), the most subtle, yet real sartorial reflection of character belongs to her mentor and lover Jack (Cooper). Costumed by Erin Benach (Drive, A Place Beyond the Pines), Jack is the epitome of the casual rock star. Stage wear, day wear, evening wear, drinking wear, sleeping wear – it’s all the same. His simple clothes mask a mind so damaged it can only be subdued with the bottle. Jack lives in t-shirts (plain, dark or neutral colours), untucked shirts (dark or a green graph-check), brown calf leather jacket,……

We revisit sci-fi classic Inception a decade after its release with MVP, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland. Finally we have a trailer for Tom Hardy’s Capone and it looks jim-jam tastic. Amongst staggering aural and visual assault, perhaps one of the quietest aspects of Dunkirk (2017, directed by Christopher Nolan) are its costumes – and this is to its credit. Dunkirk is the type of film that requires you to engage quickly with everything you see on screen. Jeffrey Kurland’s costume design is masterful in this regard. A sea of subtly differentiated green and brown with the pop of naval uniforms and briefly glimpsed civilian wear. This is 1940 at its…

Biba did things differently. It was a shopping revolution. If a Biba sales assistant approached a potential customer browsing and asked “Can I help you?” they would have been fired on the spot. Biba was unique. Topshop is not Biba. Beyond Biba: A Portrait of Barbara Hulanicki (directed by Louis Price, 2009) is exactly that; a relatively short (56 minutes) but detailed look at a woman defined by the brand she created. This is a patient story, surprising in parts but mostly just enlightening. There is much to learn from this film, although it never feels as though you are being lectured. The innovative fashion and lifestyle brand Biba was…

The following is an abridged interview with Deborah Nadoolman Landis by Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty for Moviescope magazine. Read the full version in issue 31 available now. “It’s like we’ve been in rehearsals and now we’re going to open on Broadway. Wait till you see it – you’re gonna flip out!” Prof. Deborah Nadoolman Landis is the closest costume design has to living royalty. She has costumed countless films including Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Blues Brothers and Coming to America (for which she was Academy Award nominated), stood as two-term president for The Costume Designers Guild, is a senior lecturer for UCLA (University of California, Los…

Paddy Considine plays The Guardian journalist Simon Ross in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). And thanks to costume designer Shay Cunliffe, he wears a Belstaff man bag. Nothing unusual about him carrying a bag, he is a reporter after all. Except that, somehow, there is; even in this day and age when gender blending style has never been more prominent, it still looks ‘wrong’. But why? Male journalists tend to fall into two categories: those that shave on a regular basis, and those that don’t. Ross is the former, a squeaky clean type in inoffensive brown fine stripe moleskin jacket, white and blue stripe shirt and dark rinse jeans. The man…

He is the whitest of the white trash, the kind of man who dumps raw sewage in a storm drain and kidnaps your boss as a Christmas present. And the only man to ever combine a leather belt with a bathrobe. Randy Quaid has played lovable moocher ‘Cousin Eddie’ in four separate National Lampoon films, but his most famous performance still resides at yuletide. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989, directed by Jeremiah C. Chechik) has weathered years of apathy to become something of a seasonal favourite. Watching Chevy Chase’s bipolar family man Clark Griswold lose his rag every December is now a festive tradition . Yet Clark is not really…

A new trailer for Daniel Radcliffe’s Guns Akimbo has arrived and it’s hilarious. The latest book by fashion historian, and now TV presenter Amber Butchart (A Stitch in Time on BBC 4 – second season please), is a comprehensively researched stroll through the best dressed folk ever to exist on the planet. The Fashion Chronicles: The Style Stories of History’s Best Dressed is laid out to be effortlessly readable, split into sections ranging from Ancient (and we mean ancient; basically like the first clothes ever) to 20th and 21st Century. Each entry gets a couple of pages of engaging historical notes and background justifying their inclusion along with a photo…

We interrupt normal programming to ask a favour: Please vote for Clothes on Film as Best Male Blog in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2011. This is a big deal for Clothes on Film; it is recognition for all those who work hard on the site creating original, focused content about costume in cinema (NB: the reason we are in the Best Male Blog category is because that’s where we were nominated). To vote all you have to do is enter your email address at the link below (you won’t get spammed), find Male Blog and then click Clothes on Film. Deadline for votes is 30th September. VOTE FOR CLOTHES ON…

A new VLOG looking back over the still stunning costume design on of Inception. We chat about why James Bond wearing a Tom Ford suit is almost a waste of time for the From Tailors with Love podcast.

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 15 Apr ’16 7 Jul ’11 7 Jun ’13 The costumes of Rumble Fish express the importance of teenage dress codes before the segregating journey into adulthood. Contributor 4 Comments 1 Jan ’20 27 Aug ’10 11 Mar ’11