Costume design in comedy film is a delicate balancing act between straight and farcical. How far can an outfit go before a gag is too conspicuous? Floppy hats? Clown shoes? For Due Date, costume designer Louise Mingenbach worked closely with Zach Galifianakis to create his character’s look. Immature and unaware, yet still believable; Ethan Tremblay is the archetype of comic dress up. Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Louise explains her costume choices for the movie, how to keep a joke from becoming tired and the process of designer/actor collaboration: Ethan’s costume is manifest in two stages, when he swaps out a plain grey t-shirt for a coral ‘Lilith Fair’…

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Durand Directed By: David Cronenberg POSSIBLE SPOILERS Cosmopolis is visual shorthand for David Cronenberg: vaguely futuristic setting, bursts of sex and violence, body horror; its literal and/or figurative consumption by disease, and a lean male protagonist driven by obsession and unable to reconcile his life. Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) is a billionaire broker travelling across Manhattan in his white limousine for a haircut. He sets out wearing black single breasted Gucci suit, plain white Gucci shirt, black silk necktie, black leather lace-ups, black leather belt, titanium Chanel wristwatch and black Oliver Peoples sunglasses. As Cosmopolis progresses, Packer’s attire disintegrates alongside his business empire and…

With Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), costume designer Deena Appel created one of the most iconic screen looks of all time. That is no overstatement; Austin Powers has been copied and homaged and wheeled out every year as a Halloween costume, with very little credit put Appel’s way. It is a rather sad indictment of how the industry works that, despite its importance, especially in a film such as Austin Powers, a costume designer will rarely see any kudos come their way. Awards? Well, you might have a chance if your film is set in Victorian England or Disney-verse, but other than that not so much. With this…

She arrives at the support group just as the hugging begins. “This is cancer, right?” she asks, her pallid skin and sunken eyes suggesting she could well be a sufferer. Except this is a support group for testicular cancer and Marla doesn’t have any balls, not the kind that can be removed by surgery anyway. Mischievous Marla Singer: black fur coat, sunglasses, squashed black hat and breathing through a cigarette. On the surface Marla looks like a femme fatale, though in truth she is not manipulative enough to fit the mould. In Tyler Durden’s words she is “rock bottom”. Once mislaid, now gone for good. As an embodiment of affected…

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……

Costume titbits you may have missed. America Hustle Tom and Lorenzo cast their expert eyes over the American Hustle character posters. Costumer of Awesome Who is the Costumer of Awesome? Whoever he/she is they clearly work in the business and have a unique plus hilarious way of putting said crazy biz in perspective for the rest of us. Sleepy Hollow Why does Ichabod never wash his clothes, you may or may not be daft enough to ask. The Art of Costume Design CUT! Costume and the Cinema – a period costume design exhibit at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. House of Versace Costume designer Claire Nadon got…

The Fortune (1975, directed by Mike Nichols) starring Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Stockard Channing has been unfairly judged as a madcap mess. Actually it is a slickly made screwball comedy, nowhere deserving of its turkey reputation. Costume designer Anthea Sylbert was responsible for recreating the story’s 1920s setting, an era as eclectic as it was revolutionary; as such The Fortune is as pleasing to the eye as it is funny. Sylbert worked The Fortune back to back with Chinatown (1974) and Shampoo (1975). Chinatown also starred Nicholson but was a different setting (thirties) and, for his character especially, a very different look. Shampoo was Warren Beatty’s picture; he was…

Costume colours in House of Cards are symbolic of vulnerability and power. Michael Kaplan gives Clothes on Film the lowdown on his Star Trek Into Darkness costumes. Spoiler warning: The costume clues and details of Star Trek Into Darkness. As TracyDi Vicenzo in OHMSS, Diana Rigg wore a daring 1960s wedding ensemble.

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 most spare and rudimentary. Here, Jeffrey Kurland chats exclusively to Clothes on Film about his process for creating the world of Dunkirk: SPOILERS THROUGHOUT Clothes on Film: How did you…

‘Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theatres in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon, and Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard.‘ That is the boilerplate pitch for The Muppets Most Wanted. Verbatim. If you think that sounds like…