An American Werewolf in London A screening at the Billy Wilder theater in Los Angeles on the 26th, with Deborah Nadoolman Landis in attendance to sign copies of her book ‘Hollywood Costume’ (we’re in that!). Shawna Trpcic It’s question time with Shawna Trpcic. What a fun idea! Halloween FrockTalk’s guide to looking suitably fab and/or disgusting. Thor: The Dark World Costume designer Wendy Partridge (another new set of hands for Thor) chats briefly about her work on the upcoming film. Rush Inspired by her friend Ellen Crawshaw working as a costume assistant on Rush, fashion historian and all round sartorial resource Amber Butchart analyses cars and Formula 1 style in…

Basic Instinct is a movie that even its director Paul Verhoeven has described as “nonsense”, yet one cannot argue with the impact of the white dress Sharon Stone wears for the interrogation scene. Plus there is far more going on here than an absence of underwear. When this erotic thriller was released in 1992 it was notorious long before projectors whirred to life. Picketed on set by gay and lesbian groups in San Francisco for what they considered to be a stereotypical and offensive view of homosexuality, the film was lucky to have gotten made at all. Of course this was before the furore over that close up, not to…

Although Tron (1982) is often cited as the first use of computer animation in mainstream film, there is far more to its significance than what we see on screen. As an artistic influence on everything from fashion to music, Tron has created a cultural cosmos we now term its ‘legacy’. All this thanks to a 29 year baby boomer who dared to dream idealistic… Creator and director of the original Tron, Steven Lisberger, freely admits that his film, the very idea in fact, was born out of hippie ideology; the creation of unity between the analogue and digital world: We were idealistic. The Gen-Xers are much more realistic, but at…

If there’s one thing that doesn’t mean much in World War Z, it’s looking presentable. This is costume at its worst, so to speak. Clothes that have been thrown through panes of glass or off the top of buildings, torn, stained and saturated with blood. This is the art of breaking down. Breaking down, distressing, aging, these basically achieve the same result – they make clothes seem more believably lived in, or in the case of World War Z’s zombie hoards, believably dead in. Clothes in movies are broken down by many tried and tested methods. Professional ‘agers’ chisel with files and sandpaper, unpick seams, wash over and over, even…

In a week of new and exciting trailers, the first for director Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby must surely be the most thrilling of all, certainly for aficionados of exotic period costume and lots of twinkly things. Based purely on tone this frenetic footage is likely to upset literary purists, but to those familiar with Luhrmann’s back catalogue (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), the gaudy, flashy visuals and controversial choice of contemporary music (Jay-Z and Kayne West) will not come as a great surprise. Thankfully two time Academy Award winner Catherine Martin’s costumes are showcased in all their OTT glory. Deliberately impossible to miss; this is 1922, the…

A preview of Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty’s article on the vibrant costume design of Dick Tracy for Arts Illustrated magazine. Truly unique, Dick Tracy is as close to a comic strip brought to life as any film before or since. This was director and star Warren Beatty’s goal; not to interpret the comic, but to paint it directly onto a cinematic canvas. He achieved this by embracing the superficial qualities of the painted page, the bright colours, exaggerated structures, madcap caricatures, and placing them front and centre. Dick Tracy is an all knowing pantomime. The original Dick Tracy comic strip first published in the United States in 1931,…

Everyone has high hopes for this film, so be among the first to discover whether Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides lives up to the hype by entering our exclusive preview tickets competition. Clothes on Film has TWO PAIRS of tickets to give away to a special early screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in London’s West End on 9th May at 6.30 pm. Basically that is two winners that can each take along a friend, loved one or harassing relative to see one of the biggest films of 2011 – over a week before it is released! The plot? Well, Johnny Depp is back…

As predicted, a new Tron Legacy trailer has debuted at San Diego Comic Con, along with eight minutes of finished footage (which we’ll admit we haven’t seen). It’s all go for the MCP. The design of the black Tron Legacy light suit is frankly wicked, a prefect modern update from Jeff Bridges’ stretchy number in the original, both functional looking and sexy (co-star Garrett Hedlund describes it as “the wardrobe of a lifetime”). These new suits appear to be made from Lycra, mesh and leather, possibly in two or three pieces, housing various sized illuminated sections wired with electricity. Just by the by, THIS company have some officially licensed replicas…

If you have played The Last of Us on Playstation 3 it has likely ruined video gaming for you. The world created is so vivid and believable that every game afterward just feels dated and empty. Throughout, The Last of Us is unwaveringly real, full of seemingly inconsequential details such as every weapon or object you carry being attached or able to fit into your character’s backpack. Contrast this with Grand Theft Auto V where a rocket launcher appears out of your trouser pocket and it’s clear that if game developers really want to create a living, breathing parallel to reality they need to treat it as reality – no…

Clothes from films set during 1920s A fortnight ago to the day, Clothes on Film creator and editor Christopher Laverty joined fashion historian Amber Jane Butchart to give one of two talks and a Q&A chat at The British Library in[…] Costume designer Mark Bridges described There Will Be Blood (2007) as his most challenging film, referring to the difficulties he faced in transporting costumes to the remote location in West Texas, after director Paul Thomas[…] Here’s a bit of justified promotion for an event you will absolutely want to see: fashion historian, DJ for Jazz FM, author and Clothes on Film contributor, Amber Jane Butchart, teams up with your…