Ghost Town (2008) is one of the finest romantic comedies ever made. It’s a grown up film about grown up problems (regret, companionship, second chances – they’re all themes); it’s not a sickly sweet teen romance. Even though the situation is fantasy, the characters themselves are totally believable in their world. Moreover the screenplay by David Koepp and John Kamps is written with absolute economy and constructed without an ounce of fat. Not one scene in the movie is wasted, each being packed with character and story revelations – some subtle, some part of the main plot, but all driving the narrative towards a deeply satisfying and moving conclusion. One…

More straightforward clip than teaser trailer, but worth checking out anyway – surely you must be curious to know if Meryl Streep has nailed the accent? She certainly looks the part. It is appropriate that our first ‘action’ glimpse of Streep’s Margaret Thatcher shows her wearing blue, albeit light which she tended to favour less, as this colour represents the Conservative party (i.e. her political allegiance). Costume designer for The Iron Lady is Consolata Boyle, who was Oscar nominated for her work on The Queen (2006). While costume design is not historical re-enactment, there will obviously need to be a certain level of real life authenticity in place here, as…

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 London. The subjects under discussion were, respectively, the unexpectedly colourful clothing of Prohibition era gangsters as portrayed in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, and the influence of movies and movie star style on fashion during The Jazz Age. After Christopher and Amber finished their talks to a delighted audience (they clapped), everyone reconvened to the elegant backdrop of the main library grounds to swig cocktails and dance the…

SPOILERS Despite all the hoo-ha over films such as Blue Jasmine and Stoker contemporary is still pretty much overlooked as a form of costume design. If it’s invisible, well, nobody notices it, and if it’s designer it becomes all about ‘the fashion’ (OMG TOTES WANT THOSE SHOES). We are currently in an age when costume design means period and sci-fi. It comes to the extent that if a costumer wants to tell a story through contemporary attire, he/she needs either a director with a key grasp of semiotics, or one that doesn’t care less about semiotics and offers a degree of autonomy. Watching About Time we presume that Richard Curtis…

David Lynch has premiered his twelve minute commercial for Lady Dior and it is every bit as ‘Lynch’ as you might expect.

Denim in cinema has been popularised by some of the great screen icons of the twentieth century. From Marlon Brando (The Wild One) to Steve McQueen (Junior Bonner), Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke) to John Travolta (Urban Cowboy), Grace Kelly (Rear Window) to Brigitte Bardot (And God Created Woman). Similar to the business suit, denim is a sartorial way of life that confers immediate personality on a person without them having to do or say anything; this personality has evolved through time and trends, though one facet remains intact: rebelliousness. Denim’s symbolism has been created on film from real life frontier mythology. Art imitates life; imitates art. At one time…

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…

Muddy looking fantasy fun. Some photographs from the recent So Dior exhibition at Harrods. Crazy, Stupid Love is every inch the ‘fashion film’, both in terms of narrative and costume designer Dayna Pink’s elegant menswear styling. Mark Bridges exclusively explains his costume choices for retro epic Boogie Nights. The Big Lebowski is brilliantly designed; the characters are concisely and efficiently illustrated, says KB from FrockTalk.com. Let’s tell you why The Big Lebowski costume design rocked in an almost completely non-subtextual way. Recently Clothes on Film chatted with Kristin Burke from FrockTalk about The Big Lebowski. We discussed weightlifting pants and feminism. Costume designer Janty Yates has taken time out filming…

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……

Written, directed by and starring Adam Deacon, Anuvahood is the antithesis of grimy thrillers set on run-down London housing estates. This is a bright, vibrant film, its knowing costume design differentiating sharply between individuals and sects within the community. Anuvahood’s protagonist, Kenneth (Deacon), or ‘K’ as he longs to be known, is typical of his ilk. Someone who has watched one episode of The Wire and somehow thinks he is living the life, Kenneth aspires to be a gangster, or at least a gangster rapper. Dressed in cotton jersey tracksuits, wraparound sunglasses, even an ironic ‘Timmy Mallet’ (and Mallet’s Mallet) vest, Kenneth selects random style notes with no real clue…