Costume designer Gary Jones took on the difficult task of bringing The Wizard of Oz back to life for a new millennium and a new audience that had grand expectations. Yet in the end his overall look for Oz the Great and Powerful was more grounded in reality than most of us expected. This is about as far away from pantomime fantasy as you can get. Some of the outfits are, dare we say, wearable, even if you don’t have a costume party to go to. We inspected four of them close up back in February (read our analysis HERE) so can attest at their relative simplicity. However don’t underestimate…

There is a problem with the costumes in The Wolf of Wall Street, and it has nothing to do with the film itself but the coverage they have received. Namely, that this coverage is incorrect. Articles such as this one for Vogue France, or this for The Hollywood Reporter, or a ‘suit guide’ by Esquire, concentrate almost solely on Giorgio Armani’s contribution to the project with barely a mention of costume designer Sandy Powell. And this is the Sandy Powell by the way: 10 Oscar nominations and so well respected she has an OBE for services to the industry. It was Powell who costumed The Wolf of Wall Street, not…

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield Directed By: Martin Scorsese Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese concocts a cracking children’s fantasy in homage to silent movie magician Georges Méliès; his beloved Hugo barely drops a cog in its methodically realised mechanical world. Scorsese has unmistakably made a children’s movie. Some may argue not as it is crammed full of references to early moving pictures that only adults could probably recognise. Yet Scorsese’s purpose, like that of his hero Méliès, is to entertain and inform. For all the po-faced wittering by cinema scholars that Hugo is meant for them, one has to wonder if deep down Scorsese really cares if any…

SPOILERS Ahead of a detailed interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan (currently hard at work on Episode VIII), we take a brief look at his undeniable achievement in bringing the 1970s – early 80’s back to life right here in the present. How do you make the now look old when paradoxically it is supposed to be the new? Well, you go simple. We say simple, but we mean ‘back to basics’. This is not the prequels; The Force Awakens takes place thirty years after the Rebellion defeated the Empire. Now both sides are in state of rebuilding so there is little call for Padmae’s…

No actress personifies the vivid style and nutty playfulness of the flower power years more than Goldie Hawn. From the disheveled crop of sunny blonde locks and psychedelic mini dresses to the teeny bikinis and hand-painted slogan tattoos, Goldie’s most notable looks left an indelible stamp on 1960s pop culture. For three years her giggly, dizzy blonde routine and flawless comic timing charmed American television viewers and made her the most popular member of the ‘Laugh-In’ roster and her work on the legendary TV show led to her first starring role in a major motion picture, 1969’s Cactus Flower. In Cactus Flower, Goldie is cast as a Greenwich Village-dwelling hipster,…

That is the long and the short of it: according to the wise words of this month’s Vogue India, Clothes on Film are one of the leading voices in digital fashion coverage. The exact words of their writer Dal Chodha were ‘game changer’, so we’ll happily run with that. You can read the full Vogue article in THIS PDF. We’re on page 156, the piece begins at p 148. Honestly we are not entirely sure what being bestowed such an honour means, but with names such as Victoria Beckham and Burberry included in the list we must be doing (and saying) something right. It does make Clothes on Film seem…

As spoilt yet charming Frances Stevens, Grace Kelly wears a total of ten separate costumes in Alfred Hitchcock’s lavish romantic caper To Catch a Thief (1954). All outfits were designed by easily the most famous costume designer who ever lived, Edith Head. Typical for Head, Frances’ outfits are a mix of steady, daring and occasionally bizarre, including a pale yellow one-piece swimsuit with ‘cats eye’ sunglasses, an unflattering blue tunic trouser suit and wild 18th century gold lamé gown with piled up sausage curls wig. For our coverage, three of the more interesting ensembles have been chosen, each reflecting a facet of Frances’ personality and in some way informing the…

The week in costume stories and links. FIDM Gorgeous costumes on display from 2013 released movies. Tyranny of Style takes you there… Some more good FIDM photos at Frocktalk. Downton Abbey Insightful gallery notes by costumer Caroline McCall. Sure, baby boys in the early 1920s would’ve worn a dress, but that would definitely have confused viewers. How Wool is produced for Fabric Riveting Costume Cafe podcast with Franny Kansteiner of Gum Tree Farm and Organic Wool Works. Costumer of Awesome Second shout for this beyond hilarious, gif heavy tubmlr by an (unnamed) costume designer currently working in the business. The Walking Dead Another thorough interview with costume designer Eulyn Womble,…

They have finally done it. After four years in development, Nike has recreated their famous Nike MAG trainers worn by Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II (1989). Thing is, at their current price on eBay you will be unlikely to ever actually see a pair, let alone own them. Nike has opted for eBay only auctions to sell these new pairs of which only 1,500 have been made. All proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation to benefit sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease. Bidding is currently around the $5,000 mark and climbing fast. With just a few hours left until the first auctions…

Three international banners for Tron Legacy have just been released by Disney. The information drip feed for this film is relatively slow, but these do at least reveal some detail of the light suit costume. To be fair the Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn banner is the only new one. Here he is wearing a long twill weave coat with flared sleeves over his robe (which we must say seems entirely computer rendered in this image). Those light boots look amazing, however. Incidentally, Adidas have made some Tron inspired Stan Smiths to tie in with the movie, as well as two high-tops revealed at Comic Con in July. Unfortunately these…