Following on from an insightful chat about The Big Lebowski, here is part one of our Dual Analysis costume review with Kristin M. Burke from FrockTalk.com. Fewer motion pictures have warranted so much over analysis as The Big Lebowski (1998). The Coen Brothers, extraordinarily talented as they are, simply did not write all the hidden meanings that magazines, blogs, and now even books have subscribed to the piece. The Big Lebowski is a far-out fun detective homage, just not as deep as some people think. So without disappearing on our own magic carpet ride, let’s have a look at the film’s costume design by Mary Zophres (Ghost World, 2001; A…

Grace Kelly (as Lisa Fremont) wears five separate outfits in Rear Window (1954) including one negligee. Three of these are exceptional standouts, each neatly representing a different sector of 1950s women’s fashion: dress, casual and tailored. All will be covered in time, but for now let’s start with the ‘fresh from the Paris plane’ dress, as designed by Edith Head, unquestionably the most famous movie costumer of all time; known for her clean and elegant ‘taste maker’ style: Fitted black bodice with deep V cut down to the bust and rear to the small of the back, off the shoulder neckline, cap sleeves. Here Head actually seems to pre-date the…

Director Peter Jackson’s big budget King Kong (2005) remake is set in 1933 (same as the original). This is slap bang in the middle of America’s Great depression, tasking costume designer Terry Ryan with creating looks that replicate the obvious poverty of the time plus the go-for-broke ensembles adopted by many people for glamorous night time events and parties. Ryan costumed King Kong heroine Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) in two distinct categories: New York attire and film within a film outfits, i.e. those worn on board the ship to Skull Island and while on the island itself. Ann’s New York look is largely in keeping with the era; although with…

Of all the mismatched, gaudily patterned and coloured attire Jeff Bridges as ‘The Dude’ wears in The Big Lebowski (1998, directed by the Coen Brothers), the ubiquitous Cowichan-type Pendleton cardigan sums up his character best of all. Threadbare, scruffy and in need of a good wash, the pair sure do go well together. Without indulging too detailed a history lesson, Cowichan is a style of knitting developed in the mid-nineteenth century by native Coast Salish women of the Cowichan tribe in British Columbia, Canada. Superficially it is similar in design to Fair Isle knitwear in Scotland. Although, amongst other differences, such as the more ‘jigsawy’ shape of Fair Isle, traditionally…

Spring. It’s long overdue and so is spring fashion. While winter clothes inspired by trends of 2010 fall collections are still prevalent, stores are piling up with spring lines that were on runways during September. Two attention grabbing trends in women’s fashion this upcoming season are prints and turbans, empathised in hit 1988 comedy Coming to America (directed by John Landis). U.S. Vogue currently features seven designers with their 2011 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collections, referring to them as the “American All-Stars” of New York fashion in a spread entitled ‘Gangs of New York’. Rodarte, by Kate and Laura Mulleavey, who have made Vogue’s top ten season after season, are among the…

This insightful comedy about the hopelessness of love is every inch a ‘fashion film’, both in terms of narrative and thanks to costume designer Dayna Pink’s enviable parade of menswear trends and elegant suiting. Crazy, Stupid, Love (directed by Glenn Ficara and John Requa) stars Steve Carell as Cal Weaver, a middle aged man who has forgotten how to be a man and Ryan Gosling as Jacob Palmer, a bar culture player who helps Cal regain his self respect. Clothes in the film are prioritised over the man. They denote what we wear reflects how we evolve. Or in the case of Cal during the very first scene, how we…

The Phantom of the Opera (2004, directed by Joel Schumacher) is a lavish depiction of its world, examining the nature of facade – the un-reality of the stage, the masked Phantom of the title, and the duality of “costume” within costume (the majority of clothes on screen are designed as costumes for use in performances in the narrative). Costume designer Alexandra Byrne makes use of symbolic colour palettes and silhouettes to bring this heightened world to life. We are first taken into the world of the Opera Populaire, 1870, with the dress rehearsal of “Hannibal”. It is interesting to note that not all are wearing full “costume” – corsets and…

Jennifer Garner’s costumes in 13 Going On 30 (2004) are some of the most fun for a romantic comedy of recent years. In a plot which sees gawky teenager Jenna Rink (Garner) flash thirteen years into the future to find herself editor of Poise fashion magazine, it is unsurprising if the clothes she wears are somewhat…ahem….‘colourful’. At the start of the film, when Jenna is indeed 13, there is an array of 1980s fashions on show, including pale dyed denims, bejewelled off-the-shoulder tops and colours so bright they are practically luminous. Costume designer Susie DeSanto (Miss Congeniality, 2000) really went to town. When time jumps forward, however, and Jenna is…

Costume catch up time. Puttin’ on the Glitz Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty will be teaming up with the incomparable Amber Jane Butchart for an exciting talk at the British Library. Man of Steel Michael Wilkinson talks about his design process on the film, plus his overall approach to costuming in general at this LACMA event. For Tyranny of Style, Brianne Gillen records the details. Divergent Carlo Poggioli’s costume sketches and character info. Looks good, but will probably save reading this until after watching. Due 21st. Constantine First look at the trenchcoat wearing, Sting-alike lead character for NBC’s new television series. True Detective Costume designer Jenny Eagan talks about…

For a big budget movie about a lone astronaut who gets stranded on Mars, the spacesuits in The Martian are surprisingly sober in terms of design. There is an attempt here to make everything seem as plausible as possible, costume design especially. Director Ridley Scott’s regular costumer Janty Yates has created possibly the sexiest spacesuits ever seen on screen, and what’s more they are functional. To paraphrase a line in the film, she had to “science the shit out of them”. Yates collaborated with NASA looking specifically at their Z1 and Z2 prototypes to create an EVA (‘Extravehicular Activity’ – any time the crew must go outside) suit and surface…