Netflix have released a short featurette about costume design for The Alienist, giving an overall glimpse at the work of Michael Kaplan and his team in putting together the era of 1896, New York. What is enticing about The Alienist, apart from the fact that it’s brilliant whodunit telly, is that it is set outside of England, which is so often the preserve of dramas such as these. This is NY style at a point in history when those with money were about to get a whole lot more. Expensive, in other words, and if you had deep enough pockets your taste in fashion would echo this. Check out the……

Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick brings Liberace back to life on stage and off. Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin bring us the twenties reloaded. Joanna Johnston chats about her work on Lincoln and what we can we can expect from her latest project Jack the Giant Slayer. The biggest compliment that can be paid to Joanna Johnston’s costumes in Lincoln is that you will hardly notice them. The Costume Designers Guild Award nominations right some wrongs and ignore quite a few others. Oscar announces their Costume Design nominees and at least make up for one BAFTA shortfall. BAFTA Costume design nominations announced. Worthy, but no surprises.

For HBO Sessions part 2, Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty was invited to discuss the period clothing of Boardwalk Empire. Not difficult to wax lyrical about costume designers John Dunn and Lisa Padovani’s authentic and readable work on the show, especially when said video is shot in a speakeasy style bar and a prohibition cocktail master class is included. Check out the new HBO Sessions below, and if you have not already seen Boardwalk Empire season 1, order a copy pronto. It’s unmissable television: We have plenty of Boardwalk Empire articles at Clothes on Film focusing mainly on season 1, so do have a rummage in the archive. As…

Our first Dual Analysis with Costumer’s Guide. To kick off, here is what Chris from Clothes on Film had to say.

Give us three minutes; we’ll give you the costume world. Amy Adams Current actress of the moment and friend of costume designers everywhere, Amy Adams, is to be honoured at this year’s CDG awards on 22nd February. Totò a colori Satin, peplums, artsy tortoiseshell spectacles and Sophia Loren with unshaven armpits. Superqueen explains exactly why we should all seek out Totò a colori. Game of Thrones Finally someone has realised it is ALL about the embroidery. The Great Gatsby Catherine Martin chats to HitFlix about “colour obsessed” Baz Luhrmann. Easy to Love Engrossing post by Kay Noske at Movie Star Makeover, all about Helen Rose’s fantastic colour combinations for Easy……

Grace Kelly (as Lisa Fremont) wears five separate outfits in Rear Window (1954) including one negligee. Three of these are exceptional standouts, each neatly representing a different sector of 1950s women’s fashion: dress, casual and tailored. All will be covered in time, but for now let’s start with the ‘fresh from the Paris plane’ dress, as designed by Edith Head, unquestionably the most famous movie costumer of all time; known for her clean and elegant ‘taste maker’ style: Fitted black bodice with deep V cut down to the bust and rear to the small of the back, off the shoulder neckline, cap sleeves. Here Head actually seems to pre-date the…

Establishing a new feature at Clothes on Film called Dual Analysis, the following review is written in collaboration with costume designer Kristin M. Burke (Death Sentence, Crossing Over); the intention being to provide a deeper, more balanced analysis of the film in question. For a detailed synopsis of the plot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), visit Kristin’s own site Frocktalk. Kristin’s Thoughts: I love this movie. It is so dark, and at the time it was released, taped into the zeitgeist of a large, young part of our population. In a post-hippie reality, with a culture embracing its own diversity at last, along comes a movie that talks about all…

This emerald green dress from Atonement (2007) could be the most famous item of clothing on film in the last decade. In fact, rather surprisingly, it was recently voted ‘Best Costume of All Time‘ by Sky Movies and readers of In Style; surprising because, despite its multifaceted beauty, there are many other magnificent costumes out there more deserving of the title. Nonetheless this long, slinky evening gown from a mini-epic set predominately during the mid-1930s to early 40s is an extraordinary achievement. It is not only a work of art to look at; it also precisely informs the narrative. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran created the dress from scratch. Her intention…

There are many eye-popping moments in Black Book (2006), aka Zwartboek, though probably the most PG friendly is when Carice van Houten transforms into a Resistance beauty of Jean Harlow-esque proportions wearing an unmissable red halterneck dress. Black Book is a World War II set action thriller directed Paul Verhoeven. Based on true events it charts the story of Ellis de Vries (formally Rachel Stein) played by Carice van Houten, a Jewish singer who joins the Dutch Resistance and then infiltrates the German Gestapo. Ultimately, however, the tide turns as she finds herself branded a traitor by her comrades and forced to go into hiding. It is unquestionably Verhoeven’s best…

On Tuesday 13th September, Clothes on Film makes its debut on U.S. television. Specifically, site editor Chris Laverty chats about the amazing costume design of Boardwalk Empire for a documentary entitled ‘The Money Decade’ at 9.45 pm on HBO (may differ for regional variations). Of course we do not want to blow our own trumpet too much, but this was surely worth a mention. Tune in if you can. It is actually an interesting programme covering Burlesque, the Jazz era and fashion trends of the early 1920s. Apart from Clothes on Film, you will find contributions from Boardwalk Empire costume designers John Dunn & Lisa Padovani, in addition to a…