Disney has just released an international trailer for their latest, Scotland set Pixar offering, Brave (directed by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews). Delightful, it is. Brave takes place in fairytale ‘ancient times’, telling the story of Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a flame haired, headstrong tomboy keen to break convention and change her destiny in a male dominated land. Nothing new there, but this does look sumptuous. Plus the level of detail on the costumes is immense. Just look at Queen Elinor’s (Emma Thompson) Tudor style green dress as it realistically shimmies and sways around her. If you are still not convinced that costume design has any place in animation,…

Clothes from films set during 1970s It was late November, 2016 when I visited the set of The Conjuring 2 (directed by James Wan). The reason I never wrote about it for Clothes on Film or anywhere else was because of my official role on the day: I was playing an extra (or background artist if you like) during the film’s Maida Vale pub scene. Specifically this is the moment when real life husband and wife paranormal investigator team, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) meet with noted experts in their field to discuss the validity of their current case, aka the Enfield poltergeist. I made the finished…

We get a lot of questions at Clothes on Film about where to buy garments similar to those seen in the movies. We always respond, though being as these are listed as comments you may have missed them. As such here is a brief list of the most commonly requested items and where you might seek them out. It is worth noting that we are not affiliated with any of these companies. We may like some of them, but none are paying us money to send you there. In fact, on arrival, please tell them we sent you. Much obliged. Flashdance (1983) Jennifer Beals’ ripped grey sweater: Buy a plain…

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt Directed By: Rian Johnson Often wildly preposterous as it leaps from sci-fi to horror and back again, Looper is still accessible thanks to an engaging plot, excellent chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Willis, and gently futuristic costume design by Sharen Davis. Davis (The Help, Django Unchained) strikes right at the heart of character personification. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as ‘looper’ Joe Simmons in a fitted leather jacket, white shirt and tie is flashy and full of himself. With the ignorance of youth, his look channels the 20th century as a rejection of the present (2042). Joe believes he can buy his way to happiness, yet emotional…

Tron Legacy arrives in UK cinemas on 17th December, but you can see it over two weeks early! We have TWO PAIRS of tickets to give away to a screening in London’s West End on Thursday 2nd December at 6.00 pm. If that is not an early Christmas present then we don’t know what is. As you are doubtlessly aware, Tron Legacy is the story of 27 year old Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) searching for his missing father Kevin (Jeff Bridges), once the world’s leading video game designer, in a high-tech cyber universe – the ‘Grid’ – where he has been trapped for twenty years. Help comes in the form…

The green suit worn by Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels in The Birds (1963) has become increasingly symbolic in recent years as we delve ever deeper into the semiotics of film. In this case it is hardly surprising as Hedren only wears three costumes in total; the suit is so visible we cannot fail to draw meaning from its presence. But what was director Alfred Hitchcock trying to say with it, and more importantly, why? If you visited the V&A’s Hollywood Costume exhibition (now closed in London but moved to Australia and the U.S.), seeing The Birds’ suit would likely have stuck in your mind. It was given prominent placing…

The scruffy gumshoe style of Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart (1987). With very special trousers. On the surface the Babadook is just another bogeyman: prickly, sinewy, all arched limbs and spiky digits. And this is the point: he is just another bogeyman; it is what he represents that really matters. Without spoiling too much, The Babadook is larger than life because he is the exaggerated physical manifestation of our demons. In this respect he could look like anyone – wherever our fears lead. Nonetheless for the purposes of dressing up as the Babadook for this Halloween, and having anyone actually guess who you are, the following is required: top hat,…

James Bond is back and he has never scrubbed up better. Tom Ford now exists to make Daniel Craig suits. The votes have been counted, the prizes dished out… Harry subverts his identity to get lost in the crowd during this blistering new trailer for New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. If you like Potter, you are going to like this. Cannot say fairer than that.

The Costume Designers Guild Award nominations right some wrongs and ignore quite a few others. Oscar announces their Costume Design nominees and at least make up for one BAFTA shortfall. BAFTA Costume design nominations announced. Worthy, but no surprises. Les Misérables is drenched in costume symbolism, specifically revolutionary red, white and blue. Subtle was never its intention.

The latest MCU smash-hit, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), features one of the strangest villains in the wallcrawler’s rogues’ gallery. When it comes to movies based on comic books, the outfit a character like Mysterio wears is not supposed to work on-screen. On the printed pages of comics, the outfits can be impractical and outlandish, and nothing is more of those things than the villain’s fishbowl helmet, lavender cape fastened with giant eyes, and green, scaly tights. Still, costume designer for the film, Anna B. Sheppard, met the challenge of making a fantastic look for Jake Gyllenhaal’s villain. Instead of running away from the crazy roots of the character, she……