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interview | Clothes on Film
We revisit sci-fi classic Inception a decade after its release with MVP, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland. We chat to costume designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer about her work on terrific new Amazon comedy, Troop Zero. Goldmember (2002, directed by Jay Roach), the final film (so far) in the Austin Powers series again shifts its timeline. However, rather than a negligible, though comparatively significant, jump from late to very late 1960s, here we dive into that most raucous of decades – the 1970s. And then back to 2002 (do keep up). For costume designer Deena Appel (pictured above, bottom left with Jay Roach) it was a wildly ambitious undertaking. Not to mention the…
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Tom Ford | Clothes on Film
We chat about why James Bond wearing a Tom Ford suit is almost a waste of time for the From Tailors with Love podcast. That’ll do, costume. That’ll do. Captain America: The Winter Soldier Hello Tailor is stealing away your life with her rundowns of this mildly popular comic book movie. Not all are costume based, though all are worth reading. Here is PART 1. PART 2 PART 3 PART 4! Keeping it Cap America, Tyranny of Style has an interview with the film’s costume designer – and original Hunger Games changer – Judianna Makovsky HERE. Mad Men Janie Bryant launches ‘Janie Bryant Couture’. So basically that’s techy tights designed…
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Costume Stories: This Week, Look of Love and Man of Steel | Clothes on Film
This week’s world according to costume design. Man of Steel Superman’s cape was CGI for much of the movie. Makes sense when you think about it. Look of Love Stephanie Collie on recreating 1960s Soho. Fascinating for anyone who knows the time and/or setting. Behind the Candelabra Deirdre Clemente and Aisling O’Connor explain why Liberace’s costumes mattered, because they really did. Beyond Gatsby Typically engrossing DTSFT piece about interpreting the 1920s on film. Examples from Thoroughly Modern Millie, Chicago, Midnight in Paris… Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Costume design in the Indian film industry. Revenge ‘It felt like a natural extension’, Jill Ohannesson talks about her upcoming Revenge clothing line. Living…
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Henry Cavill | Clothes on Film
The top half of Ben Affleck’s new Batsuit has been revealed, as created by costume designer Michael Wilkinson for the barely in production Batman vs. Superman. At first this black and white Bats looks kind of pettable, thanks to those smaller, kittenish bat ears. However getting in closer the suit is far more visceral than Lindy Hemming’s version for director Christopher Nolan. It actually resembles a (very buff) human body stripped of its skin. Nolan is where most comparisons will be drawn; his Batman is still the benchmark in cinema, and while director Zach Snyder is less obsessed with plausibility the new suit is obviously intended to be functional as……
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Girls in Films | Clothes on Film
Outfits worn specifically by female actors on film We revisit sci-fi classic Inception a decade after its release with MVP, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland. A new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has dropped and it’s undoubtedly going to be the best film EVER. Contributor Birdie McAra explores the fantabulously non-male gazey world of Birds of Prey. Join Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty for a special Oscars Red Carpet Livestream. You better believe he’s wearing a custom made crown. The importance of costume colour for the colourblind casting of The Personal History of David Copperfield. The final trailer for The Rhythm Section features more costume changes than a Lady Gaga…
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Zach Galifianakis in Due Date: Theatre Geek | Clothes on Film
Costume design in comedy film is a delicate balancing act between straight and farcical. How far can an outfit go before a gag is too conspicuous? Floppy hats? Clown shoes? For Due Date, costume designer Louise Mingenbach worked closely with Zach Galifianakis to create his character’s look. Immature and unaware, yet still believable; Ethan Tremblay is the archetype of comic dress up. Speaking exclusively to Clothes on Film, Louise explains her costume choices for the movie, how to keep a joke from becoming tired and the process of designer/actor collaboration: Ethan’s costume is manifest in two stages, when he swaps out a plain grey t-shirt for a coral ‘Lilith Fair’…
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Review: Cosmopolis | Clothes on Film
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Durand Directed By: David Cronenberg POSSIBLE SPOILERS Cosmopolis is visual shorthand for David Cronenberg: vaguely futuristic setting, bursts of sex and violence, body horror; its literal and/or figurative consumption by disease, and a lean male protagonist driven by obsession and unable to reconcile his life. Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) is a billionaire broker travelling across Manhattan in his white limousine for a haircut. He sets out wearing black single breasted Gucci suit, plain white Gucci shirt, black silk necktie, black leather lace-ups, black leather belt, titanium Chanel wristwatch and black Oliver Peoples sunglasses. As Cosmopolis progresses, Packer’s attire disintegrates alongside his business empire and…
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Deena Appel on the Costume Design of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | Clothes on Film
With Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), costume designer Deena Appel created one of the most iconic screen looks of all time. That is no overstatement; Austin Powers has been copied and homaged and wheeled out every year as a Halloween costume, with very little credit put Appel’s way. It is a rather sad indictment of how the industry works that, despite its importance, especially in a film such as Austin Powers, a costume designer will rarely see any kudos come their way. Awards? Well, you might have a chance if your film is set in Victorian England or Disney-verse, but other than that not so much. With this…
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Fight Club: Remembering Marla, the Dark Tourist | Clothes on Film
She arrives at the support group just as the hugging begins. “This is cancer, right?” she asks, her pallid skin and sunken eyes suggesting she could well be a sufferer. Except this is a support group for testicular cancer and Marla doesn’t have any balls, not the kind that can be removed by surgery anyway. Mischievous Marla Singer: black fur coat, sunglasses, squashed black hat and breathing through a cigarette. On the surface Marla looks like a femme fatale, though in truth she is not manipulative enough to fit the mould. In Tyler Durden’s words she is “rock bottom”. Once mislaid, now gone for good. As an embodiment of affected…
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Marla Singer | Clothes on Film
He is the whitest of the white trash, the kind of man who dumps raw sewage in a storm drain and kidnaps your boss as a Christmas present. And the only man to ever combine a leather belt with a bathrobe. Randy Quaid has played lovable moocher ‘Cousin Eddie’ in four separate National Lampoon films, but his most famous performance still resides at yuletide. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989, directed by Jeremiah C. Chechik) has weathered years of apathy to become something of a seasonal favourite. Watching Chevy Chase’s bipolar family man Clark Griswold lose his rag every December is now a festive tradition . Yet Clark is not really……