Director Brian Helgeland’s Legend (2015) tells the based-on true story of Ronald and Reggie Kray: twins (both played by Tom Hardy), East End boys, racketeers, murderers, icons. The Krays were shaped during the 1960s, a post World War II boom for England. They came to symbolise the smartly dressed gangster for a new youth-orientated generation. They had money and they wanted to flaunt it – and that meant suits and a lot of jewellery. Costume designer for Legend, Caroline Harris, boasting over 20 years experience in both film and television with credits such as Mr Nice (2010), Red Riding (2009) and Fleming (2014), here chats exclusively to 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…

Does Japanese period costume reflect on contemporary fashion? French born writer Aurélie Coulibaly appraises the hipster style of Norwegian Wood. Youth, love, Japan, 1960s; Norwegian Wood (2010, directed by Anh Hung Tran) is a fable on loss and growing up. Set from the summer of ’67 through to a spring morning just a few years later, somewhere between child and adulthood, we meet an assorted group of angelic characters to move any sensitive soul. We are in Tokyo, and along with the hectic political context of students’ protests against established order, alternatively contemplating tormented Naoko (Rinko Kikushi) and youthful Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) in their intense, yet poetic relationship with Toru…

A real legend of the industry, Greek born costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge, has died aged 88 years old. Designing for both stage and screen since 1950s, Aldredge was perhaps best known for her work during seventies era Hollywood on films such as Three Days Of The Condor (1975), Network (1976) and Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). She collaborated with Ralph Lauren for The Great Gatsby in 1974, though ostensibly Lauren just provided shirts and some suiting, in which she sparked a high street fashion revival for the delicate, waistless shifts worn by Mia Farrow’s character Daisy. The costumes were made in less than two weeks – an astonishing achievement.…

Two weeks of costume stories. Sheena Napier DTSFT cover this prolific costume designer’s chat at the V&A. And if you’ve not heard of Ms Napier we’ll just say: Backbeat, Poirot, Enchanted April. Sandy Powell Nice rundown of Ms. Powell’s Young Victoria event at the Getty Center. Lauren Fonville guest posts for Frocktalk. Wendy Benstead The costumer for stage and screen talks to Guise about her career so far, from sewing on her old Bernina to dressing Paloma Faith. We’ve met Wendy and she’s lovely. Debbie Reynolds Auction The Finale. Still time to sell your car, house, spouse. 14 Worst Movie Trainers Actually like most of these. Captain America: The Winter…

Although we didn’t visit the So Dior exhibition at Harrods personally, we were lucky enough to have a photographer swing by and snap some pics for us. Sad to have missed this one as the gowns in particular are exquisite. So Dior ran from 16th March to 14th April inside definitive department store Harrods. It was billed as a retrospective of Christian Dior’s contribution to fashion and perfumery constructed on three floors with a pop-up shop and cafe. A Dior takeover might be more accurate. Elegant Princess Margaret personified everything Christian Dior loved about England. Harrods was reputedly his favourite store. Dior initially trained as an architect before pursuing a…

Seemingly on a par with Tron Legacy: the movie is the mechanising machine surrounding it. Yet apparently this is no simple case of ‘cash-in and run’, it never was. Disney grasped the mindset of Tron from the very beginning. The name means more than product; it is a lifestyle choice. One might assume that Disney, the entertainment behemoth who continued financing Tron creator Steven Lisberger’s ambitious digital project in 1980 would have taken over the reigns and demanded a gamut of merchandise options to make Lucasfilm weep. Not so, claims Lisberger. There was surprisingly little compromise in their creative/fiscal balancing act: There is a fairly unknown quote from Walt Disney.…

Not much to go on, but this project is already looking a bit WOW. Director Christophe Gans is adapting French fairytale La belle & la bête for the screen starring Léa Seydoux as the Belle and Vincent Cassel as the Beast. Costumes are by Pierre-Yves Gayraud (Cloud Atlas, The Bourne Identity), seemingly channelling fantasy via mid-late 18th century France, which is roughly when the original story is set, plus a tiny bit of Eiko Ishioka thrown in for good measure. Gans directed Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), an insane yet quite brilliant adventure/horror, based on a true story and also set in late 1700s France. Costumes for that film were…

Arts Illustrated is an elegant new magazine looking at the best and most interesting in culture and design from around the world. Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty has a regular column in the magazine entitled ‘The Fabric of Cinema’ in which he analyses the symbolic application of costume design in movies, both old and new. The maiden issue of Arts Illustrated focuses on neo-surrelism, and the first Fabric of Cinema column is about that master of costume surrealism, Eiko Ishioka. Laverty takes an in-depth, sometimes critical look at her work with particular focus on The Cell. Below are the first two paragraphs of the article, the remainder of which…

Less a costume movie and more a fashion one, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) is typical of its celebrated naughty director Russ Meyer in all the best possible ways. Meyer fills the screen with a beautiful cast in cute outfits and expects us to take it all seriously. Thing is, he actually has something serious to say. Emphatically not a sequel to Valley of the Dolls made in 1967 (although that was its original intention), this softcore send-up was filmed soon after the tragic murder of actress Sharon Tate – star of Valley of the Dolls. Here Myer admonishes not only the perils of fame itself, but of…