The leggy lure of Bombshell. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Bombshell: Below the Belt 8 Nov ’13 21 Jan ’11 4 Feb ’14

Public Enemies (2009, directed by Michael Mann) is chock full of accurately recreated and as such eminently covetable, early 1930s era garments, as designed by multi Oscar winner Colleen Atwood. Perhaps most enticing of all, however, is how one particular garment, a plain wool overcoat, actually powers the narrative of the film. It is the coat that killed John Dillinger. When we meet John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp), his criminal career, primarily as a bank robber, is in full swing. He is wearing that conspicuous badge of honour for all those in his ‘gentlemen’s’ fraternity – expensive clothes. They were the ‘bling’ of their day and tended to be…

Director Darren Aronofsky came to prominence with 1998’s Pi, a bold and imaginative take on the body shock genre. His latest film Black Swan harks back to that work; the tale of a young ballerina undergoing psychological transformation, her identity thrown into question on the most visceral of levels. Clothes on Film spent some time with Aronofsky, picking his mind on the challenges of portraying such specific concepts as perfection, representation and commitment within the film. Clothes on Film: How do you plan your projects? Your work is so diverse. Darren Aronofsky: I think it’s a case of double down every time, chips are on table; each one’s just about…

Costume design and meaning in short film. Proving that frock coats and heavy lace dresses really are terrifying. Adèle Blanc-Sec’s world is akin to a fantasy Belle Époque; 1910s attire dotted among reanimated corpses and a dinosaur. A prevalent theme in the first episode of Mildred Pierce starring is how domestic costume can be read as a signal for sexual availability. As TracyDi Vicenzo in OHMSS, Diana Rigg wore a daring 1960s wedding ensemble. Lucinda Wright talks to Clothes on Film about her contribution to The Suspicions of Mr Whicher starring Paddy Considine. Angelina Jolie suits the unstructured dresses and cloche hats in Changeling perfectly.

Starring: Kathy Bates, James Caan, Richard Farnsworth Directed by: Rob Reiner Screenwriter William Goldman applies his mastery of the clean, lean literary adaptation to this Stephen King penned shocker. Apart from the daft fist-fight ending, Goldman works well with Misery (1990) director Rob Reiner. They let the story unfold at a relaxed pace with cleverly integrated subplots to keep things moving. The narrative is steered by the health of its ailing protagonist, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan). The better he gets, the worse his situation becomes. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) wears a grey wool pinafore dress as she tends to Paul for the first time following his accident. The pinafore,…

Recently Clothes on Film editor, Chris Laverty was invited to discuss the costumes, themes and food in HBO mini-series, Mildred Pierce. Joined by journalist, Georgie Hobbs; senior content producer for Sky Atlantic, Ben Boyer and Julia Murphy Buske from the Primrose Bakery, we chatted in detail about what made this superb adaptation come alive. HBO ‘Sessions’ video (including expert pie making tutorial) below: For further discussion of Ann Roth’s meticulous and beautifully symbolic costumes in Mildred Pierce, try our article on the functionality and sex appeal of the housedress, plus keep your eyes peeled at Clothes on Film over the coming week for more on the subject… HBO’s Mildred Pierce…

Neatly illustrating the previous post with Kirsten Dunst donning Chanel inspired sailor pants as part of her 1920s pyjama beachwear in The Cats Meow is elegant French actress Audrey Tautou wearing the real deal. In this new advertisement for Coco Chanel’s now 84 year old perfume Chanel No.5 directed by Amélie’s Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Audrey Tautou slips on a stylish pair of black silk-satin sailor pants coupled with black spaghetti straps fitted bodice for just a few seconds of screen-time. The whole ad is filled with stunning Chanel creations (now under the creative leadership of Karl Lagerfeld) and is worth watching over and over again for this very reason. In fact…

It was late November, 2016 when I visited the set of The Conjuring 2 (directed by James Wan). The reason I never wrote about it for Clothes on Film or anywhere else was because of my official role on the day: I was playing an extra (or background artist if you like) during the film’s Maida Vale pub scene. Specifically this is the moment when real life husband and wife paranormal investigator team, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) meet with noted experts in their field to discuss the validity of their current case, aka the Enfield poltergeist. I made the finished cut, by the skin of my…

We revisit sci-fi classic Inception a decade after its release with MVP, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland. A brief video dip into the costume design of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. There is a problem with the costumes in The Wolf of Wall Street, and it has nothing to do with the film itself but the coverage they have received. Namely, that this coverage is incorrect. Articles such as this one for Vogue France, or this for The Hollywood Reporter, or a ‘suit guide’ by Esquire, concentrate almost solely on Giorgio Armani’s contribution to the project with barely a mention of costume designer Sandy Powell. And this is the Sandy…

In 1958 Paramount released Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock’s disturbing tale of death and obsession, love and loneliness. Receiving only average reviews on its release, Vertigo is now hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. Hitchcock’s direction, Bernard Hermann’s score and Robert Burks’ cinematography are particularly praised. Less often celebrated, argues art critic Iris Veysey, is Edith Head’s costume design. Head’s work, particularly in dressing Kim Novak, helped to ground characters and signpost the narrative in a complex and convoluted plot. Dressing Novak in the dual role of Madeleine/Judy, Head’s designs successfully define two distinct characters, one polished and sophisticated, the other brassy and cheap. Madeleine is introduced as a wealthy shipping heiress and…