Clothes on Film were fortunate enough to be invited to a display of costumes from the latest adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express (2017), plus interview its costume designer Alexandra Byrne. An Oscar winner for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2008), and well known for her period design work, since 2011 Byrne has become connected to the world of Marvel, her most recent project being Doctor Strange in 2016. Here she chats candidly about recreating the (mainly) glamorous side of the early 1930s and the challenges that faced her and her team. Alexandra Byrne on shooting in 70 mm: “Director Ken (Branagh) and I did Hamlet (1996) together which was…

Well if this doesn’t look staggering. Set from 1841, via upstate New York to the cotton fields of Louisiana, 12 Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man kidnapped and sold into slavery. As the title suggests, he remains in this Hell for 12 long years. It’s an agonising subject, especially when not satirised like in Quentin Tarantino’s recent Django Unchained. What jumps out of this trailer are the fabrics…so many beautiful fabrics. Just look at the shirts worn by the plantation slaves: linen, tunic style (as they were), cut full with sleeves blooming from the elbows. The film will be particularly…

Lucinda Wright talks to Clothes on Film about her contribution to The Suspicions of Mr Whicher starring Paddy Considine. For those of you lucky enough to live in LA, literally racks of costumes have just on display at The FIDM Museum.

Author Caroline Young has just released a fascinating new book entitled Hitchcock’s Heroines (published by Insight Editions). It celebrates and studies the women in Hitchcock movies; their influence, semblance and iconography. What’s more, Young also examines the role costume design plays with these women, both the characters and the actresses who played them, and how they can be interpreted as far more than just ‘icy blondes’. Here we have an extract of the book exclusively for Clothes on Film: Kim Novak’s grey suit the colour of San Francisco fog in Vertigo, Grace Kelly as the too-perfect woman in Rear Window, and Janet Leigh’s black and white sets of underwear to……

Everyone who wishes to has seen and digested Inception by now, and still the most popular topic of discussion is Jeffrey Kurland’s inspiring costumes. Introducing costume design to cinemagoers who perhaps never would have noticed the craft before, Jeffrey has truly broken down barriers with Inception. Very kindly, he has taken time out of his busy schedule to once again speak exclusively to Clothes on Film about his intended meaning behind the costumes, plus some further details about the outfits themselves. Clothes on Film, Chris: Were the leather jackets worn by Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur custom designed by yourself? Jeffrey Kurland: I designed and had…

Give us three minutes; we’ll give you the costume world. Amy Adams Current actress of the moment and friend of costume designers everywhere, Amy Adams, is to be honoured at this year’s CDG awards on 22nd February. Totò a colori Satin, peplums, artsy tortoiseshell spectacles and Sophia Loren with unshaven armpits. Superqueen explains exactly why we should all seek out Totò a colori. Game of Thrones Finally someone has realised it is ALL about the embroidery. The Great Gatsby Catherine Martin chats to HitFlix about “colour obsessed” Baz Luhrmann. Easy to Love Engrossing post by Kay Noske at Movie Star Makeover, all about Helen Rose’s fantastic colour combinations for Easy…

Part two of our essay looking at sartorial identity in Sons of Anarchy, featuring exclusive insight from series costume designer Kelli Jones. Catch up with part 1 HERE. The women of SAMCRO include porn stars and pole dancers, but the club matriarch is Gemma played by Katey Sagal, formerly known as Peg Bundy in Married with Children. Gemma is the Queen of this world so her look is regal rock chick, “to make her look badass without looking like a slut. This sexy mama bitch doesn’t need to TRY” costume designer Kelli Jones says. With her background in music (she has performed with the likes of Bette Midler, Gene Simmons…

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell Directed By: Michel Hazanavicius NB: We recommend you only read this review after having seen the film. The Artist paints a comfortingly nostalgic view of 1920s Hollywood, beginning with the conveyor belt production of silent films in their final years and then slamming head first into a wall of sound. Mark Bridges’ irresistibly pretty and readable costumes chronicle an era that, as The Artist implies, perhaps only ever existed in cinema. There are some actual 1920s era outfits and dresses seen in the film, though most vintage stock was too delicate for the leads. This is a movie that celebrates movies. It is…

Directed By: Francis Lawrence Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Robert Pattinson Old fashioned and sentimental, Water for Elephants still has much to offer those in search of spectacle and matinee romance, not least for its readable costumes by Jacqueline West. Set during America’s Great Depression, the story gathers pace with an empathetic opening and initially captivating performance by Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski, an as yet unqualified vet who, following a family tragedy joins up with a travelling circus. Unfortunately after this exciting set up, Water for Elephants settles into the predictable search for identity via discovering oneself; Jacob falls in love with circus performer Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a glamorous…

The secret is finally out, and it had to be Vogue who made the announcement for their September issue, because this is not something that could just slip out under the radar: Miuccia Prada provided Carey Mulligan’s gowns as Daisy Buchanan for The Great Gatsby. Vogue interviewed Prada who exclusively revealed that she was not directly influenced by the story’s 1920s setting but rather tweaked her own designs (some 40 dresses) to be reflective of the period. Prada, who is granddaughter of the label’s founder Mario, has already worked with The Great Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann three times before, so her involvement should not come as too much of a…