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 21 Mar ’13 2 Nov ’17 16 Nov ’09

MINOR SPOILERS At a pivotal juncture during the Fathers & Sons episode of Godless (2017), the camera tracks into a pink ribbon tied on the back of young woman’s hair; a woman who is suffering from the onset symptoms of smallpox and unlikely to find recovery. Later in the episode we pan across dozens of freshly dug but unnamed graves each with it’s own crucifix. We don’t see the woman again, but on one of the crucifixes is tied a pink ribbon. Such is the power of even the slightest costume and accessory details in Godless, the narrative is informed by their very presence. Costume designer for Godless was Betsy……

Well this just looks ridiculous fun. Daniel Radcliffe, who as an actor gets more interesting by the day, running around with guns bolted to his hands trying not to get killed in a deadly game of reminiscent of the The Running Man (1987) on crack. Costume wise, Guns Akimbo falls into that bracket of vague futurism / ironic grunge. It’s a tantalising tableau of long coats and soiled t-shirts against a buttoned up societal backdrop of white collar anonymity. Costume designer Sarah Howden has only worked on costuming short films prior to Guns Akimbo, but has considerable background in visual effects via Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014),…

Pulp (1972) stars Michael Caine as Mickey King. Strolling around Malta in a white cord suit and kipper tie, he is the epitome of badly folded cool. Pulp was written and directed by Mike Hodges as only his second feature. It reunited the director with Michael Caine one year after they made grim, seminal revenge thriller Get Carter together. Often described as the ‘anti-Carter’, this film, as its title suggests, is happy to be its low-brow cousin. Caine as apathetic yet successful novelist Mickey King is drawn into a world of sub-007 spy and murder shenanigans when he accepts the job of ghost writer for a reclusive actor’s autobiography. It’s…

There have been two big costume reveals in the last few days, so it hardly seems surprising that Sherlock Holmes 2 (working title) should round out the week with its first official image courtesy of LA Times. What can we earn from this shot then? Not a lot, obviously. What we know of the plot, that this sequel is set in 1891, one year after the original film, that Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) is pursuing possibly history’s first supervillain Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) and sidekick Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) is settling down with Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly), is as vague as it is enticing. Moreover with Stephen Fry…

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,……

A few days back, Warner Bros. released the first official image and synopsis from The Hangover Part II – Todd Philips’ follow up to his own mega success comedy. You have no doubt read/seen both by now, but we do have a little something to add… Clothes on Film recently had a quick chat with costume designer Louise Mingenbach as she was shooting The Hangover: Part II in Thailand. According to Louise, a safari suit with sandals and socks were exactly what she considered Zach Galifianakis’ character, well intentioned man-child Alan, would deem appropriate for a trip to southeast Asia (note, too ,what appears to be Louis Vuitton luggage). Moreover…

Want another look at Janty Yates’ costume design work for Ridley Scott’s upcoming Robin Hood? Thought you might. Most of the ensembles seem to be late Medieval inspired, though we must also factor in creative license and a diverse historical timeline behind the original folk story. This is the origin of outlaw Robin Hood without the singing and probably with a lot of pummeling. Difficult for Janty Yates, as the setting predetermines what we expect to see, yet we also want something new. In other words, it has to look like traditional Robin Hood with a ‘modern’ twist – and that does not mean Reebok in the Hood Pumps and…

Moxy Creative has designed an extraordinary collection of movie posters based on iconic male costume. Whet your appetite here then pop over to EveryGuyed to view the rest. They are all superb, but our personal favourite is this one for Dumb and Dumber (1994). A vastly overlooked film in terms of costume design; Mary Zophres’ barmy formal attire for Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) is hilarious. This poster uses just a pair of plain black Derby shoes – an obvious nod to Verbal Kint’s (Kevin Spacey) costume as created by Louise Mingenbach for The Usual Suspects (1995). With one shoe cocked to the side, nothing more…

Directed By: Tom Hooper Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter The King’s Speech is a majestic tale set in a world of buttoned-up repression and austere buildings that creak as much as their inhabitants. Tom Hooper’s direction is confident and explicit. There is little subtext beyond the obvious contrast with our current royal family and the media control over their lives. Opting for reflection rather than display, plus no doubt hampered by a minuscule budget, costume designer Jenny Beavan speculates the 1925–39 setting rather than recreates it. For example, Colin Firth as frustrated King George VI, or ‘Bertie’ to those he held dear, was a Naval officer, a…