Near silent and shot entirely in black and white, The Artist is a captivating and irresistibly romantic vision of old Hollywood. With international and hopefully Oscar success on the horizon, we talk exclusively to the film’s supremely talented costume designer, Mark Bridges. Seemingly specialising, though perhaps not intentionally, in bringing to life period stories that are culturally defined by their era (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood), Bridges has again expertly recreated another, almost mythical bygone world. Here he explains to Clothes on Film his thought process behind costume design in The Artist, his passion for the silent era and how he managed to get every outfit ready to shoot…

Filmmaker Nic Fforde discusses how he come to realise the importance of costume design in his projects. Stories in films are all familiar to us in some way, no matter how remote the setting. The hell that unfolds aboard the Nostromo in Alien, LA’s icy criminal underworld in Heat or Rope’s Ivy League dinner party – a good story well told will whisk you away to its own self–contained world. All the tools of filmmaking are there to help create these worlds. What part does costume play in all this? My day job is to make films for advertising. We work on low budgets with small documentary crews. Whatever our…

Matt Spaiser analyses the suits of George Lazenby’s James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and draws an interesting comparison with Daniel Craig in Skyfall. James Bond fans know George Lazenby as the man who played Bond in one of the best films of the series, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Before Bond, Lazenby was a car salesman, a mechanic and a model. Except for in a few commercials, he was not an actor. Despite his limited acting experience, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was still an excellent film due to its great story, capable director and talented cast. From his modelling days, Lazenby knew how to wear clothes…

Does costume design exist in animated film? Simulation supervisor for Brave, Claudia Chung, discusses its creation, processes and role in the finished movie. Disney has just released a new international trailer for Brave. Delightful, it is. The best film Pixar have ever made. A new clip of Toy Story 3 has hit the internet. It’s got Ken. It’s got Ken wearing jeans. It’s got Ken dancing. Here are some images of the Toy Story gang, principally the one most obsessed by fashion: Ken.

Just days behind our first glimpse at Prince of Persia, we have a minute or so teaser trailer for Clash of the Titans. It’s certainly loud. Watch the HD trailer HERE Frenzied, deafening, BIG scorpions and hairdo – just a few words that spring to mind upon seeing this montage. Not much chance to soak up the costumes, but the look is calculable: tunics and armour, Keffiyah headdress and kilts. Costume designer for Clash of the Titans is Welsh born Lindy Hemming. Noted for putting Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in Brioni for GoldenEye (1995), Hemming has notched up a sizable Hollywood CV with enough blockbusters to start her own franchise.…

We’ll put our hands up and say right off the bat that we were not looking forward to this remake of Chan-wook Park’s 2003 South-Korean masterpiece Oldboy. It really seemed like the absolute definition of why not to remake a film: namely that it’s brilliant in the first place and because it’s not in English. Unfortunately this (admittedly earlyish) red-band trailer of director Spike Lee’s 2013 interpretation has done little to change our mind: Lee has again worked with costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who make no mistake is a genius – Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, Amistad, these and more are reasons why she is at the top…

Somewhat misleading as nowhere is this photo officially tagged as being ‘Catwoman’; officially this is our first shot of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, on a Bat(cat?)pod, wearing what appears to be a proto-Catwoman costume. The suit, as designed by Lindy Hemming, seems to be a one or two piece, with separate wedge sole boots and past the elbow gloves, constructed of some kind of dimpled, rubberised neoprene – certainly not leather. It looks functional, perhaps with the intention of being waterproof or insulated against cold. The headgear is pure function too, we assume. Externally at least resembling a type of LED or night vision…

Scrupulously period accurate TV drama Boardwalk Empire (screening on Sky Atlantic) is set in early 1920s Atlantic City, a then hotbed of political corruption and prohibition racketeering. Not that such a description would be alluded to in the holiday brochures; on the surface everything was salt water taffy and Temperance League matriarchs fighting the good fight. Via John Dunn’s striking costumes, the show broadly ensures that men are the primary objects of exhibition, in particular corrupt county treasurer Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi). This is because women of the era had yet to break away from history’s designated roles of wife, mother, sex object; they had no freedom to choose their…

Some on-set photos of Wall Street 2 have just made their way ONLINE. As per our previous article, Shia LaBeouf in leather – an unremarkable looking black leather bomber jacket in fact – was spot-on. We didn’t predict the Gucci loafers though. And Michael Douglas in a black and white twill check shirt and black shades? Godron Gekko clearly did not keep up his GQ subscription in jail. Ellen Mirojnick created Gekko’s memorable look for the original film and she is back on board here. © 2009 – 2018, Lord Christopher Laverty.

American Gigolo is not about its protagonist, it is about what he wears. American Gigolo is about Armani.