The first full-length trailer for Disney’s new live-action adaptation of Cinderella was this week and featured tantalising glimpses of what promises to be a visually gorgeous film. The costumes, designed by three time Academy Award winner Sandy Powell, appear to be absolutely stunning. With a clever mix of the eighteenth century, the 1830s, and a little 1950s couture thrown in for good measure (Powell has been quoted as saying she was aiming for the look of “a nineteenth-century period film made in the 1940s or ’50s”), Powell has created another jewel to add to her already over-bling crown. Here is a quick rundown of some of the looks we’ve been……

MINOR SPOILERS Like any film with an extended period of time between the original and sequel(s), T2: Trainspotting (2017) is required to form an immediate connection with its audience. Twenty years have passed, yet we must feel accustomed to this world. For every element of change, something else must remain the same. We take comfort in what we know; it allows us to enjoy the new without fear of the unknown. If T2 had been released a couple of years after Trainspotting (1996), it could potentially have been set in Benidorm. Transplanting our anti-heroes from Scotland to Spain is fine when they are fresh in our conscious mind, but twenty…

Costume designer Michael Kaplan reminisces with Clothes on Film about creating dark tourist Marla Singer in Fight Club. Lord Christopher Laverty 3 Comments 2 Apr ’12 1 Jun ’10 11 May ’12

Second and final part of our retrospective of The Grifters with insight from Mark Bridges. First in our two part retrospective of neo-noir classic The Grifters with exclusive insight from the film’s assistant costume designer Mark Bridges. Betsy Heimann chats exclusively about one of the most iconic costumes of the 1990s.

Though really nothing more than an extended, backlit music promo, Flashdance (1983, directed by Adrian Lyne) has garnered a considerable cult following in recent years. Savaged by poor reviews on its release, the film is now embraced as a musical and stylistic record of the second most hedonistic decade in western history. In this respect it is actually a stronger movie than, say, Wall Street (1986), and Flashdance even has a biracial woman as its star; unusual at the time, we should perhaps be grateful producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer didn’t opt for Goldie Hawn instead. The clothing in Flashdance can be separated into two categories: dance wear and…

Doctor Who, the quirky British sci-fi television series about a time travelling alien and his friends, premiered in 1963. Since then there have been twelve Doctors (and a War Doctor), each with their own unique looks to match their unique and often eccentric personalities. With the debut of the Twelfth Doctor fast approaching, this post takes a look back at the three Doctors we’ve seen so far (not including the War Doctor) on Doctor Who since it was rebooted in 2005 (or New Who, as some like to call it) and guesses at what we can expect from Doctor number twelve. The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) arrived on our screens……

Two-part BBC drama The 7.39 could have been your average ‘man meets woman and has an affair’ tale. However, the overall verdict has been one of admiration at not only the amazing acting from its star players but also the script, which took the audience on an emotional rollercoaster throughout its glorious two hours. But again, often overlooked is the costume, in this case contemporary. The story of the female lead, Sally Thorn, played by Sheridan Smith with a wonderful naturalness, is particularly clearly told through what she wears (costume design by Lucinda Wright). Carl Matthews (believably played by David Morrissey) is stuck in a rut. Tired of his job,……

A trailer for Brighton Rock has arrived online. Remake, reimagining – whatever you choose to call it, director Rowan Joffe’s new vision sees the 1938 crime novel by Graham Greene updated to the 1960s. This means Mods, Rockers, skinny suits and selvedge turn-ups. Thankfully this two minute preview does not run away with the notion. The Brighton Rock we all know and love was made in 1947, directed by John Boulting and starred Richard Attenborough as vicious local hood Pinkie Brown. Now we have Rowan Joffe (writer of The American) and Sam Riley (Franklyn, Control) in their place. Graham Greene’s book is a grim morality tale set against the backdrop…

The importance of costume colour for the colourblind casting of The Personal History of David Copperfield. Amongst staggering aural and visual assault, perhaps one of the quietest aspects of Dunkirk (2017, directed by Christopher Nolan) are its costumes – and this is to its credit. Dunkirk is the type of film that requires you to engage quickly with everything you see on screen. Jeffrey Kurland’s costume design is masterful in this regard. A sea of subtly differentiated green and brown with the pop of naval uniforms and briefly glimpsed civilian wear. This is 1940 at its most spare and rudimentary. Here, Jeffrey Kurland chats exclusively to Clothes on Film about…

Swing Time (1936) is full of lovely outfits, and all very luxurious thirties to lure cinemagoers out of their economic depression. Fred is near permanently attired in full evening suit – bar an immaculate fur collared overcoat and silk scarf for the snow sequence, while Ginger dons costume designer Bernard Newman’s flowing gowns for dancing and Chanel style suits and fox fur for day wear. Among all this luxury is a plain, yet deliciously feminine black dress worn for the ‘Pick Yourself Up’ waltz. This is a classic example of 1930s praise for a curvy female form. Post Hays code, dresses displayed less flesh but were pulled in tighter for…