A few random images from The American starring George Clooney, really for no other reason than the costume design by Suttirat Anne Larlarb is so stylishly contemporary and, despite the title, clean and European. It’s going to be a good looking film. The American (directed by Anton Corbijn) is an upcoming thriller about expert assassin Jack (Clooney) who holes up in Europe after his last disastrous job. He vows his next hit will be his last, but being as this is a feature length movie that was not very likely to happen. And it doesn’t. George Clooney’s serious hitman Jack, here casual in hip length lightweight jacket and black zip…

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……

Not much call to comment on a solitary official image from espionage thriller The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Only to say that after Public Enemies and Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood is now tackling contemporary couture costuming instead. For our money this is potentially an even more interesting area for Atwood. Obviously her stage/period/ fantasy outfits on the likes of Sweeney Todd, Nine and Memoirs of a Geisha, cannot be ignored. They’re terrific. She’s terrific. However following her early work on The Silence of the Lambs and The Mexican, contemporary costume perhaps offers Atwood an even greater challenge. Rather than recreate, the contemporary costumer often has to…

MILD SPOILERS Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is far and away the most ‘A New Hope-like’ film in the series yet. In terms of tone, sure, but particularly costume. What costume designers Glyn Dillon and David Crossman have so expertly achieved with Solo is making a contemporary looking movie set during the late 1960s. Star Wars: A New Hope was released in 1977 which puts Solo’s timeline around a decade before, or likely just over. But hang on, isn’t this a science fiction movie? What does when it’s made have to do with the space opera world being brought to life on screen? Well the seventies in particular was……

As we’ve just posted our essay about Meryl Streep’s Burberry trench coat in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), it seems fitting we have a round up of the best coat related posts in the Clothes on Film archive. This is coats purely as outerwear too. So, even though lounge suit jackets are traditionally referred to as coats, here they stay as jackets. Likewise Victorian frock coats; that is a round up for another day. Click the image to read the article. The plush fur-trimmed coat worn by Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins in 1920/30s set The Changeling (2008). Jolie referred to her costumes as “dolls’ clothes”, which is more costume designer…

On the eve of The Great Gatsby world premiere in New York City, F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar and fashion historian, Dr. Deirdre Clemente, was invited to the launch of the Plaza Hotel’s ‘Fitzgerald Suite’. Present was Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin who has lavishly and intelligently festooned a room that offers its nightly dweller a chance to soak up all things Scott, Zelda and Gatsby. Of course they talked costume, and Clothes on Film have the exclusive. Deirdre Clemente: Your work on the film translated into unique partnerships. Everyone is talking about Brooks Brothers and Prada, but tell me a little bit about the work you did at The Plaza.…

Jane Seymour was just 22 years old when she played white witch Solitaire in Live and Let Die (1973). Her wardrobe was a mixture of uniform (as tarot reader), casual (escaping the poppy fields, New Orleans airport) and sexualised (sacrificial peasant dress, various chemises). Most illustrative of her kooky characterisation however are the maxi-dresses. There is something intrinsically spiritual about a maxi dress; the way it flows and veils the body. It gels with the divine aspect of Solitaire and later, with a rapidly decreasing neckline, epitomises her sexual awakening by Roger Moore’s randy new 007. When we first meet Solitaire it is only from the waist up, sitting in…

We chat to costume designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer about her work on terrific new Amazon comedy, Troop Zero. 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…

Based loosely on the real life theft of £12,000 of gold bullion from a moving railway train in 1855 (though in the movie the amount had swelled to £25,000), The First Great Train Robbery (1979) features a hefty slew of period costumes for its modest $6,000,000 budget. It is also Michael Crichton’s best film as a director, adapted from his own novel published in 1975. 1855, London: most definitely a time of gentlemanly excellence. Before the lounge suit took hold in the late nineteenth century, the frock coat (or variations thereof) and trousers, whether single or double breasted for formality, was considered the only way for man to dress in…

Recently debuted at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Mr Nice (directed by Bernard Rose) is the 1970s-80s set biopic of drug dealer turned author Howard Marks (played by Rhys Ifans). Costume designer Carloine Harris has enthusiastically recreated the era’s vibrant fashion look, so here are some images to whet your vintage primed appetite: Levi’s classic sawtooth pocket denim shirt. Arrived as an update to the company’s original denim shirt (now in several guises) in 1954. Denim was ubiquitous by the 1970s (moreover in 1976 Levi was the world’s foremost denim manufacturer). It was worn by upper classes, lower classes, old, young, kids and even criminals. The customised version seen here features…