Despite having watched Catfish at the Leeds International Film Festival, you will find no review of it here.

As curator of Entertainment History at the Smithsonian, Dwight Blocker Bowers spends his days surrounded by movie costumes and props from past and present, including the Lone Ranger’s mask and those famous red shoes worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Speaking recently to The Collectors Weekly, Blocker Bowers explains what his job entails, the most popular exhibits at the museum and why Carol Burnett wore a dress with a curtain road attached. Entertainment Curator… Blocker Bowers: I’ve been at the Smithsonian for 28 years—I never thought I’d stay that long! The first job I had was as a producer and annotator of recordings. We used to…

Ann Roth’s Emmy nominated costume design for Mildred Pierce has received considerable press, mainly for Kate Winslet’s richly tailored suits and Evan Rachel Wood’s glamorous Katharine Hepburn-esque lounge ensembles. Yet the show’s outwardly dowdy housedresses and waitress uniforms are just as interesting. Further to our earlier essay on the former, we shall analyse the displaced sex appeal of the latter. The sex appeal of the uniform, in this case Mildred’s plain white cotton waitress uniform, buttons at the front, trimmed in brown gingham with a simple rever collar, is entirely one-sided. Lecherous customers grope Mildred as if they have somehow earned the right. These men are aroused by Mildred’s uniform,…

Despite having watched Catfish at the Leeds International Film Festival, you will find no review of it here.

Just a few words to inform you all of Vanity Fair’s interesting looking Fashion in Film festival upcoming this weekend at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. We would say lots more but are too grumpy that Clothes on Film cannot attend (3,500 miles to travel is a bit much). The event is essentially in honour of NY Fashion Week so all of the screenings are tied to that theme in some way or have inspired catwalk trends from the screen. However, the line-up is surprisingly diverse, featuring a few you may have seen, Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) and Qui Êtes-Vous,…

A few costume design links on this fine day. Orange is the New Black Jenn Rogien talks about this season’s costumes. Colleen Atwood She’s making handbags now, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, look a bit like a cross between Fendi and Hermès. Jem and the Holograms Soyon An is the stylist tasked with bringing the best dressed cartoon of all time to life. The Women Kay Noske nails it again with this post about Adrian’s brilliant and totally bonkers costumes. Pretty Little Liars Video: Even if you haven’t seen the show (it’s huge in the US), this interview with uber cool costume designer Mandi Line is well worth four minutes of your…

More clip than teaser trailer, but Meryl Streep certainly does look the part. A prevalent theme in the first episode of Mildred Pierce starring is how domestic costume can be read as a signal for sexual availability. This coral pink ensemble encompasses and challenges the absolute femininity of Grace Kelly. Judianna Makovsky demonstrates that contemporary fashion with a plot is far more fun than a flick through Vogue.

Despite having watched Catfish at the Leeds International Film Festival, you will find no review of it here.

Suzy Benzinger, the costume designer of Blue Jasmine, chose iconic brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Missoni to serve as visual shorthand of what the modern-day wealthy socialite wears, but it is the white Chanel jacket that follows Jasmine from the beginning of the movie to the end which tells its own tale of what is happening to its owner. When we first see Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) she is flying first-class from New York to San Francisco to see her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins). On the flight she dazzles a fellow passenger with the story of how she met her wealthy businessman husband Hal (Alec Baldwin). Or so she thinks.…

Starring: Michael Caine, Jude Law Directed by: Kenneth Branagh The filmed stageplay is often just avant-garde cinema for the masses; this new version (2007) of Anthony Shaffer’s mystery play Sleuth, here rendered so post-modern by director Kenneth Branagh it was practically dated the moment it was shot, is no exception. Strictly speaking this is a remake of the 1972 movie of the same name starring Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier; Caine remains on board (now playing Olivier’s part with Jude Law taking his original role) and bolstered by a screenplay from renowned playwright Harold Pinter. The plot is similar to seventies version, though Pinter, who hadn’t seen the previous film…