It does not take long to realise all the recurring themes in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), are explicably linked to one jacket that may or may not have been worn by Jimi Hendrix, and now worn by infamous Susan (Madonna), a New York drifter whose carefree life is followed via the personals section in a tabloid by a bored suburban housewife living in New Jersey named Roberta (Rosanna Arquette). The film’s costume designer is Santo Loquasto, but the jacket in question is unmistakably Madonna, in that it’s totally unique and difficult to forget. The khaki green metallic fabric is perfectly offset by a brash black and gold swirling pattern on…

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

Ghostbusters (1984) is perhaps best known as the first ever big budget FX comedy and not for making any serious style statements. Yet tucked amongst the fluffy hair and khaki jump-suits sported by the Ghostbusters themselves is a classic example of mid-1980s opulence – Sigourney Weaver’s oversized cape coat: Full-length cape coat in blue wool with horizontal and intersecting vertical maroon stripes. Wide three-quarter length sleeves, stand collar, big button fastening. Matching cape running to three-quarter point at the rear. All contemporary women’s wear descended from male clothing, and nearly all male clothing descended from military dress. Sigourney Weaver’s cape coat is no exception. Based on a 19th century Garrick…

The Counsellor trailer hits with high-shine sartorial gloss. Costume designer Michael Kaplan reminisces with Clothes on Film about creating dark tourist Marla Singer in Fight Club. Spoiler warning: We examine the use of suits, iron or otherwise, in Iron Man 3 to conceal and recreate identity. Armour and indecisiveness: Audrey Hepburn is more than a little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Cosmopolis satisfies as everything avant-garde cinema should be; an immaculate journey into weird. The religious and cultural significance of the costume design in foreign language Oscar winner A Separation. Watch the first trailer for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows and burst with costume excitement. Gena Rowlands’ costumes as Gloria…

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

Well, if like Clothes on Film you followed the exciting Debbie Reynolds costume auction online, thanks to a couple of days’ decaf you may have calmed down enough to process the results. $4,600,000 (plus $1,058,000 in taxes and fees) for Marilyn Monroe’s Travilla ‘subway’ dress from The Seven Year Itch (1955) was just one mega bid of many. Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds has been collecting movie costumes, props and memorabilia for over fifty years. She had a dream of displaying her acquisitions in a specially created museum, but sadly this never happened. Instead she put the collection up for auction on 18th June in Los Angeles (with another to follow…

Matt Spaiser, creator of The Suits of James Bond blog, analyses the style of 007 in the film that started it all – Dr. No.

The importance of costume colour for the colourblind casting of The Personal History of David Copperfield. MINOR SPOILERS Okja (2017) is the second film that costume designer Catherine George has worked on with director Bong Joon-ho. Their first together, Snowpiercer (2013), despite being lauded by critics (and featuring Chris Evans), only received a limited theatrcial run in the U.S. and no release at all in the UK. Unlike Okja, Snowpiercer is an out and out sci-fi fantasy set when most of the world’s population have been wiped out and those who remain live on perpetually moving train. Okja is still a fantasy, it revolves around a little girl Mija (An…

In a week of new and exciting trailers, the first for director Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby must surely be the most thrilling of all, certainly for aficionados of exotic period costume and lots of twinkly things. Based purely on tone this frenetic footage is likely to upset literary purists, but to those familiar with Luhrmann’s back catalogue (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), the gaudy, flashy visuals and controversial choice of contemporary music (Jay-Z and Kayne West) will not come as a great surprise. Thankfully two time Academy Award winner Catherine Martin’s costumes are showcased in all their OTT glory. Deliberately impossible to miss; this is 1922, the…

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth Directed By: Gary Ross Set to ignite many a misconceived fashion editorial, The Hunger Games succeeds as pure costume delight because first and foremost it serves narrative. Judianna Makovsky has brought to life a new world, not created a magazine spread. The film is based on a trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins and centres around Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who volunteers to take her sister’s place for the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death contest in the wilderness between 24 ‘tributes’ aged 12-18 with only one winner gaining his/her freedom. Taking place in post-Apocalyptic North America presided over by a…