We chat to costume designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer about her work on terrific new Amazon comedy, Troop Zero. With Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), costume designer Deena Appel created one of the most iconic screen looks of all time. That is no overstatement; Austin Powers has been copied and homaged and wheeled out every year as a Halloween costume, with very little credit put Appel’s way. It is a rather sad indictment of how the industry works that, despite its importance, especially in a film such as Austin Powers, a costume designer will rarely see any kudos come their way. Awards? Well, you might have a chance if your…

Based loosely on the real life theft of £12,000 of gold bullion from a moving railway train in 1855 (though in the movie the amount had swelled to £25,000), The First Great Train Robbery (1979) features a hefty slew of period costumes for its modest $6,000,000 budget. It is also Michael Crichton’s best film as a director, adapted from his own novel published in 1975. 1855, London: most definitely a time of gentlemanly excellence. Before the lounge suit took hold in the late nineteenth century, the frock coat (or variations thereof) and trousers, whether single or double breasted for formality, was considered the only way for man to dress in…

Recently debuted at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Mr Nice (directed by Bernard Rose) is the 1970s-80s set biopic of drug dealer turned author Howard Marks (played by Rhys Ifans). Costume designer Carloine Harris has enthusiastically recreated the era’s vibrant fashion look, so here are some images to whet your vintage primed appetite: Levi’s classic sawtooth pocket denim shirt. Arrived as an update to the company’s original denim shirt (now in several guises) in 1954. Denim was ubiquitous by the 1970s (moreover in 1976 Levi was the world’s foremost denim manufacturer). It was worn by upper classes, lower classes, old, young, kids and even criminals. The customised version seen here features…

Costume designer Ann Roth’s template for Working Girl (1988, directed by Mike Nichols) is especially astute with regards to the social and geographical make up of its characters. Protagonist Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is a homely girl raised and living in Staten Island, New York. Currently working as a secretary in Manhattan (not ‘executive assistant’, reflecting vernacular of the time), as is her best friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack). Tess, however, has gained a degree through night school and harbours ambitions to use it for more constructive tasks than answering the telephone and fetching toilet paper for bawdy stockbrokers. After being set up for a ‘date’ that turned out to be……

Contributor Birdie McAra explores the fantabulously non-male gazey world of Birds of Prey. The leggy lure of Bombshell. A brief video dip into the costume design of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 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,…

The arrival of Scarface on Blu-ray grants ideal opportunity to indulge in Patricia Norris’ exemplary, disco couture costumes. Boardwalk Empire heralds the return of the dandy man.

Beach pyjamas, or sailor pants, of the 1920s owe their popularity to Coco Chanel and her appropriation of the wide-legged trousers as a functional addition to the female wardrobe. Chanel hit upon the idea of pants for women while visiting Venice during the early part of the decade; she felt they were the only practical way to properly climb in and out of a Gondola. In The Cats Meow (2001), a rather humdrum murder drama set in twenties Hollywood, Kirsten Dunst plays bright young thing Marion Davies. It’s appropriate that the first time we see her character she is aboard the yacht where ninety percent of the movie occurs (and…

Our first Dual Analysis with Costumer’s Guide. To kick off, here is what Chris from Clothes on Film had to say. Final part of our analysis of Sherlock Holmes complete with insight from costume designer Jenny Beavan. With insight from costume designer Jenny Beavan, we commence our sartorial analysis of Sherlock Holmes.

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……

A hint at what costume designer Janie Bryant has in store for Mad Men season four. A straightforward loosely tied scarf around the handbag and Joan is the most stylish woman in the office. As office vamp Joan Holloway, Christina Hendricks gets the lion’s share of groovy outfits on 1960s set TV drama Mad Men.