shift dress | Clothes on Film

MINOR SPOILERS First Man (2018) is not a movie overly preoccupied with fashion, And why would it be? The focus of the story is astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his journey to become the first person to ever walk on the surface of the moon. Armstrong wears a lot of button down shirts, short sleeve checks, neutral slacks, the odd dark single breasted suit for formal occasions – largely dour attire for a dour man. He also wears a space suit, several of them. However, outside of Emilio Pucci’s involvement in designing the logo for the Apollo 15 flight in 1971, fashion rarely intersects with the requirements of surviving…

When Arnold Scaasi opened his couture salon in 1964, he soon became a couturier to the stars. He was already a favoured designer for Barbra Streisand when he famously dressed her for the 1969 Oscars. Streisand was up for Best Actress for her movie debut in Funny Girl and was established as something of an ‘individual’; usually described as ‘kooky’, she was completely different from anyone else, an innovator of style, and challenging and changing the ideas of beauty. So it is no surprise that when it came to her clothing choice for the Oscars, Streisand resisted the usual protocol of an evening gown and instead opted for a most…

From stills of this film alone you could easily be forgiven in thinking that I am Love (Io sono l’amore, 2009) was set during the 1960s. The designer clothes draped worn by lead members of the Recchi family, as selected by costumer Antonella Cannarozzi, are generally minimalist, in plain colours with little embellishment. I am Love is actually set in Europe around 2000, but its central characters are trapped as the well-heeled repressed of the sixties. Just as sexual, artistic and cultural expression was blossoming, the old guard struggled to make sense of this new world so regressed even more vehemently into their old one. The Recchi’s seem to live…

Sonia Grande’s costume design for Midnight in Paris offers everything we expect of 1920s Paris and the contemporary nouveau riche.

Unquestionably the most historically significant outfit Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy wears in the show is her rose pink tweed suit.

Less a costume movie and more a fashion one, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is typical of its naughty director Russ Meyer in all the best ways.

Did you know that Calvin Klein has re-released the white dress that Alicia Silverstone made famous in Clueless? Yes, you probably did.

A solitary official image from The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Contemporary costume design by Coleen Atwood.

Angelina Jolie suits the unstructured dresses and cloche hats in Changeling perfectly.

Part two of a new Dual Analysis. Costume designer Kristin Burke from FrockTalk gives her thoughts on Rosemary’s Baby.

Anthea Sylbert was prolific following Rosemary’s Baby. Roman Polanski’s atmospheric horror was essentially her big break – and one of her toughest challenges too.

Featuring Yves Saint Laurent couture as cool and disaffecting its protagonist, Belle de Jour can be read effectively through costume.