Here is an extract from an enlightening interview with Ann Roth, costume designer of Working Girl (1988), The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) and now 1930s set TV drama Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet. Read the full interview over at Harper’s Bazaar to learn why costume design is definitely NOT fashion design. Interestingly, Ann Roth touches upon a similar point made by The Tudors’ costume designer Joan Bergin in our exclusive interview. Bergin explains that, like Roth, she creates for characters, not catwalk. This is a common misconception of the costume designer’s role. Sometimes there is overlap, intentional or not, but costumes are intended to serve the narrative; any allusion to…

Part 2 of our detailed look at the costumes in Tron Legacy. After examining the overall creation and construction of the light suits, we have now moved onto specific design elements for individual characters. Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn The only son of Kevin Flynn, Sam is 27 years old, daredevil, rebellious and haunted by the unexplained disappearance of his father. He is sucked into the Grid while following up a mysterious message apparently sent from inside his father’s old video games arcade. Hedlund’s primary costume is a disc game suit. It was far and away the most difficult for associate costume designer Christine Bieselin Clark and her team to…

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan Directed By: Steven Spielberg War Horse is desperately pretty, sentimental and heartfelt to the point of exhaustion. In other words the return of late 1980s, very early 90’s schmaltzy Spielberg. Whether this is something to celebrate or lament we shall leave up to you. Steven Spielberg shoots through the eyes of a talented illustrator. Filthy trenches, plumes of poison gas, a disastrous Calvary charge; all as beautiful as they are horrific. Add in the continuous swell of John Williams’ score and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski‘s yolky sunsets (no cgi) and War Horse is every frame a Spielberg movie. Not subtle, the final act or…

The first trailer for director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of War Horse has arrived online. It is only two minutes long so there is not much to see, but see it you should because it looks sumptuous. War Horse is based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel of the same name about a young Englishman’s bond with a horse during the First World War. The horse itself comes into contact with many characters and events throughout the story including serving in the British Calvary and befriending a French farmer. The screenplay is by Richard Curtis and Lee Hall, with some of the less abstract elements of Nick Stafford’s stageplay apparently remaining. Long time…

Join Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty for a special Oscars Red Carpet Livestream. You better believe he’s wearing a custom made crown. We chat about why James Bond wearing a Tom Ford suit is almost a waste of time for the From Tailors with Love podcast. A brief glimpse at the costume world Mark Bridges created for Joker. Author Matt Zoller Seitz has published a continuation of his superb book The Wes Anderson Collection (2013), entitled (deep breath) The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. The former is a detailed look at Anderson’s output so far, influences, meaning and interpretation of his work; the latter covers exclusively Anderson’s…

Michael Kaplan’s career is one film after another of “wow, he did that?” cinema: Blade Runner, Flashdance, Seven, Fight Club, Burlesque, plus dozens more. Kaplan’s connection to Star Trek began as costume designer on J.J. Abrams’ reboot in 2009, and now he is back for the sequel. Despite admitting he was no expert in the world of Star Trek before signing on, his work on both movies has been praised; particularly the Enterprise crew uniforms (that reoccurring Starfleet pattern is a classy touch). Here chatting exclusively to Clothes on Film, Michael Kaplan explains his approach to costuming Star Trek Into Darkness (out everywhere this week). SPOILERS WITHIN Costume sketch of…

Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Le Divorce costume designer Carol Ramsey explains how a Hermès Kelly can be elevated from status symbol to character. Jeffrey Kurland has once again spoken exclusively to Clothes on Film about his inspiring costume design for Inception. Here are a few images from the film that you have probably seen already. Ray Holman chats exclusively about dressing Matt Smith as the new Doctor.

Clothes from films set during Victorian/Edwardian era to post war The higher the waist, the closer to god. The importance of costume colour for the colourblind casting of The Personal History of David Copperfield. 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…

A couple of days ago we paid a visit to Brooks Brothers in London. Unfortunately for the disappointed staff we were not planning on spending anything, instead we just wanted to see Catherine Martin’s costumes on display from The Great Gatsby. We snapped a few photos but they are largely terrible thanks to an unsteady hand and underpowered camera. Still, they should give you a flavour of the costumes if nothing else. There are three displays featuring half a dozen dresses with male mannequins dotted in-between – all of which are wearing tuxedos/evening suits. This is a shame because Brooks Brothers provided 1920s patterns of all suit styles for the…

How Richard Burton’s character in Villain (1971) dresses to impress and intimidate. Jack Sparrow has finally become the irritating wiseass who just won’t leave the party. Win two pairs of tickets to an exclusive screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in London on 9th May. Harr!