We are just under a week away from the Orange BAFTA Film Awards so now seems an appropriate time to consider who might win the prize for Best Costume Design (it will be a period drama) and why (because all the nominations are). We should again clarify that Clothes on Film enjoy period and fantasy costume just as much as contemporary, BUT we do consider it a shame that the latter category is often overlooked by simple virtue of being too good to be seen. If you have been taking advantage of Orange Wednesdays (and who doesn’t?), i.e. texting FILM to 241 from any Orange mobile to get two-for-one cinema tickets, you…

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 14 Aug ’17 31 Mar ’17 11 Nov ’11

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz Director: Quentin Tarantino World War II set Inglourious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino’s first ‘period film’ as such. It is an occasionally taxing two and half hours, not for the easily distracted. Though judging by Tarantino’s appreciation of how costume (military or otherwise) defined this brutal time, maybe he should revisit history’s atrocities more often. Via costume designer Anna B. Sheppard, Tarantino has deftly employed uniform to suggest a threatening presence in his antagonists. For the film’s first act, or chapter, SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) visits the home of a French farmer and his three daughters he suspects of harbouring Jews. Landa…

This is part 2 (part 1 HERE) of an expanded article Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty wrote for men’s style resource MR PORTER analysing Michael Caine’s suits in The Italian Job. This post covers all the costumes he wore during the film. We rejoin Charlie and his ragtag crew at the big meeting when the gang are all introduced to each other. It had to be a Doug Hayward moment and thankfully does not disappoint. In actual fact it is probably Michael Caine’s best fitting suit in the whole movie: Dark blue worsted wool suit; double breasted jacket, wide peaked lapels, 6 on 2 fastening, slanted hip pockets, ticket……

We chat about why James Bond wearing a Tom Ford suit is almost a waste of time for the From Tailors with Love podcast.

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…

Clothes on Film are offering you the chance to win a Cowichan style Pendleton cardigan as worn by Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. It will really tie your wardrobe together. Pendleton Woollen Mills made the original cardigan donned by Bridges as The Dude in the Coen Brothers’ classic The Big Lebowski. With a distinctive design based on the Chief Joseph blanket, it features a zip closure and cosy shawl neck. This 100% official re-release is also inspired by the Cowichan natives of British Columbia and knitted in lightweight 3 gauge wool. However, if you want a hole in the elbow like The Dude’s you will have to put it…

A fortnight ago to the day, Clothes on Film creator and editor Christopher Laverty joined fashion historian Amber Jane Butchart to give one of two talks and a Q&A chat at The British Library in London. The subjects under discussion were, respectively, the unexpectedly colourful clothing of Prohibition era gangsters as portrayed in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, and the influence of movies and movie star style on fashion during The Jazz Age. After Christopher and Amber finished their talks to a delighted audience (they clapped), everyone reconvened to the elegant backdrop of the main library grounds to swig cocktails and dance the night away to Alex Mendham &……

Lucinda Wright talks exclusively to Clothes on Film about her contribution to ITV’s adaptation of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher starring Paddy Considine. The date: 1860. Place: South West England. Costumes: an elegant recreation of the revolutionary Victorian age. Although probably known for costume designing the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who, Wright has worked in television since the late 1990s. She has also covered period costume before, principally with Henry VIII (2003) and Georgian era Fanny Hill (2007). The Suspicions of Mr Whicher is based on Kate Summerscale’s prize winning book about real life Scotland Yard detective Jack Whicher’s (Considine) investigation of an infant murder and his controversial conclusion that…

Kathleen Kennedy is one of the most successful movie producers in the world. Her films have earned over $5 billion in gross and the majority are household names: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), The Sixth Sense (1999), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), the list runs on and on. Chatting exclusively to Clothes on Film, Ms Kennedy explains how her role as producer impacts that of costume designer, specifically in regards her latest project War Horse (directed by Steven Spielberg). When we meet Kathleen Kennedy she is friendly, enthusiastic and keen to commend the work of War Horse’s costume designer, Joanna Johnston – “You…