Lesley Holmes | Clothes on Film

There has been an insane amount of discussion online about Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, Claire Dearing, since the release of Jurassic World (2015, costume designed Daniel Orlandi), mostly concerning the ‘running in heels’ sequences. I felt it would be interesting to take a broader look at the costumes of the female leads in both the original Jurassic Park (1993, costume supervised by Sue Moore) and Jurassic World and contrast in the characters. Dr Ellie Sattler the Paleobotanist as played by Laura Dern in the original movie is a hugely underrated feminist action hero. She is allowed to be clever, brave, practical and physical yet display ‘feminine’ traits at the same…

Part two of our essay looking at sartorial identity in Sons of Anarchy, featuring exclusive insight from series costume designer Kelli Jones. Catch up with part 1 HERE. The women of SAMCRO include porn stars and pole dancers, but the club matriarch is Gemma played by Katey Sagal, formerly known as Peg Bundy in Married with Children. Gemma is the Queen of this world so her look is regal rock chick, “to make her look badass without looking like a slut. This sexy mama bitch doesn’t need to TRY” costume designer Kelli Jones says. With her background in music (she has performed with the likes of Bette Midler, Gene Simmons…

Sons of Anarchy portrays the fictionalised world of an outlaw motorcycle club; although the plots are dramatic in the extreme, many of the details are firmly based in realism, including the costuming. Series creator Kurt Sutter has described it as pure soap opera, but this family drama has earned the tag of “Hamlet on Motorcycles”. It has been embraced by pop culture and by the biker community, and spurred an upsurge in sales of Harley Davidsons (and a $25k SOA branded bike). Motorcycle club culture took off after WW2, when returning veterans with experience of riding bikes on service, and often undiagnosed post-traumatic stress, took to the lifestyle looking for…