Blog Journal | Clothes on Film

Posted by Chris Laverty on September 11, 2009

Costume designers face a quandary: keep contemporary set films up to date, but ensure that they do not appear hideously outmoded in the future. In short they need to create a look that is both fashionable and timeless. Not an easy task.

With this in mind consider some predicted winter/fall trends in women’s and men’s wear. If you spot any in this season’s movies there is either a seriously forward-thinking costume designer at work, or one who is going to regret his/her choices in the future.
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Posted by Chris Laverty on August 7, 2009

Ghost Town (2008) is one of the finest romantic comedies of ever. It’s a grown up film about grown up problems (regret, companionship, second chances – they’re all themes); it’s not a sickly sweet teen romance. Even though the situation is fantasy, the characters themselves are totally believable in their world.

Moreover the screenplay by David Koepp and John Kamps is written with absolute economy and constructed without an ounce of fat. Not one scene in the movie is wasted, each being packed with character and story revelations – some subtle, some part of the main plot, but all driving the narrative towards a deeply satisfying and moving conclusion.
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Posted by Chris Laverty on June 6, 2009

Having recently caught the video for ‘Great DJ’ by The Ting Tings again on TV, two things hit home: 1) How sexy lead singer Katie White looks in her retro jersey dress and 2) How technically redundant the word ‘retro’ has become.

Of course all fashion is retro; everything we wear is influenced by what has gone before. That’s the point; we band the word around as a kind of generic reference to anything that’s old and hip, often without ever assigning a specific era. If it looks like something your mum and dad would have worn, well then it’s retro.
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