white tie | Clothes on Film

Friday 6th May sees the release of Florence Foster Jenkins, the 1944 set true story of a woman, Ms. Foster Jenkins herself (played by Meryl Streep) who heard nothing but sweet angels in her head, yet couldn’t actually sing for a toffee. Her manager and husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) hides the truth during the private recitals, but when Florence agrees to sing live at Carnegie Hall, things begin to get a little tricky… Costume designer for Florence Foster Jenkins is Consolata Boyle, a BAFTA award winner probably best known for her work on The Queen (2006), The Iron Lady (2011), and more recently Philomena (2013) – and yes there…

NO SPOILERS Real and mythological, figurative and literal; monsters of all kinds abound in Sky Atlantic’s new period horror series Penny Dreadful. We might expect a skulking figure in a top hat and frock coat to be scary, though who would have thought a bustle and redingote could be so terrifying? Well, step forward Eva Green as enigmatic Vanessa Ives. Not hero nor villain, but a dead eyed clairvoyant who definitely shouldn’t be invited to dinner parties. Penny Dreadful is set in 1891, although is more a literary parallel universe than true reflection of the era. Some of the characters featured are written for the show (Vanessa), some existed in…

Proving that frock coats and heavy lace dresses really are terrifying.